Congratulations! How much of your w/kg increase came from FTP improvement?
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Great question. In short, the bulk of it.
I’m generally pretty lean from living an active lifestyle and keeping a (mostly) clean diet. I lost about 4-5 lbs of body weight but the rest was all watt gains.
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I think the two big things are volume and then long-term consistency with structure. Volume is self-explanatory - increasing training volume has consistently helped me break through plateaus in the past.
But long term consistency with structure is the other one that I think people don’t comment on as much. I’m talking about doing structured training for over a year straight, rather than just a few months each year. Like the metric would be average number of hours spent riding in a training plan over the past 18mo, not just CTL which is only looking at the last few weeks. Yes you can still take a week or two off to go on vacay, but this persistent structured riding (rather than temporary paroxysms of it every year) has made a difference for me in the past as well. It is mentally draining though, and motivation is often the rate limited step for this.
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“a lot of long 5h commutes”
I would be interested in hearing more about how you set this up and worked it into your life.
I worked in a city 35 miles away, so I rode there and back about twice a week (2.5 hours each way). It took about an hour longer than taking the train, so it wasn’t too much extra time.
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%. In my case, I have structured training year around (except for my planned off season) and miss MAYBE 1-2 workouts a YEAR. The sunrise is jealous of my consistency!
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Fully agree with this. Structured training, namely the consistency and progressive overload that comes with it, are absolutely paramount to seeing progress and breaking through plateaus. That said, it’s very easy to burnout as that means saying no to some fun rides with mates and generally missing a lot of the fun that comes with cycling.
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I too am old. Unfortunately, for us older athletes this sport is all about minimizing the decline. One thing that has not been mentioned is the importance of a super stable core to be able to push against. While I think this is important for all cyclist it’s something many don’t take into consideration as it’s hard to impossible to measure.
Also, since max HR and VO2 decline so noticeably in our 40’s and 50’s being lean becomes that much more important to delay going into the red. Not that this helps with generating more watts but, it will keep you in the game a lot longer.
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You know that at 48, 8 hours per week, and not enough sleep you are already on the right side of the bell curve for cyclists. How much improvement do you think you have in you? Even the FTP of pros peak relatively early in their career. FTP cannot go up and up and up into infinity. What improves is fatigue resistance.
Nate’s chart - bell curve of TR cyclists:
Everybody has already sorted out all the easy stuff:
be more consistent with structured training
ride more hours
sleep more hours
eat better
I think a good coach might be great for you. It would make you more accountable and probably more consistent.
For me, working on TTE has been a revelation (Kolie Moore / Tim Cusick style). When you can do 90% of your FTP for hours, you’ll perform way better than your FTP number indicates.
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Right. Here is the thing that I see over and over and over again, for all ages from 20s to 60s. Build up to doing long ftp efforts, no matter if that is Zwift or Tuesday worlds or doing it solo. Age and experience will determine how many times a week you can do it. Ride easy the rest of the time, as much as you can without interfering on those 40-60 minute threshold efforts. I’ve seen dedicated interval people get and stay faster by doing that, versus intervals. The indoor trainer crowd will gravitate towards Zwift racing. In this area you can ride outside all year, so most of the people I know are doing it outside. No matter. This method is backed by the science (Andrew Coggan posted about it on this forum, Empirical Cycling podcast, Inside Exercise podcast), and further backed up by empirical data from coaches. FWIW I’m also an over thinker, but I really believe it is that simple. As many hours without worrying about power, build up to threshold intervals, if you run out of headroom then a block of vo2max. Take time off when needed. FWIW.
Hey there – totally hear ya on the frustration with the plateau. We’ve all been there as competitive cyclists.
I think a couple of changes might help.
First, stick with it! You mentioned that prior to last summer, you’ve just done a lot of unstructured riding. Following a plan with structure and sticking with it over a long period of time is likely going to make you stronger.
When the gains slow down, that’s not the time to stop. I think part of the reason you keep pinballing between ~270-300W is that you mentioned you keep bailing on training once you stop seeing quick progress.
Endurance training is a long game – it takes a long time and a lot of consistent training to get stronger. I’d argue that even a single year of training with structure isn’t enough time to truly see the gains you might be able to make.
The next thing that sticks out to me is sleep. Prioritize getting at least 8 hours, if not more. The more you sleep, the better you’ll recover, and the faster you’ll likely get.
You also noted that your diet might be a little low in carbs – prioritize carbs in your diet as well so you can support the training you’re doing.
Since you have a stressful job, I wouldn’t try to increase training volume or intensity yet. I’d recommend following a structured plan like you’re doing now, sticking with it, and focusing on improving your sleep and getting more carbs into your diet.
Plenty of great advice here in this thread – I hope it helps you out! Feel free to let us know if you have any additional questions. 
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That word again - stronger - wrong word LOL. Seems like yesterday somebody posted about lifting heavy in the gym to get “strong enough” to do a big climbing event.
Metabolic fitness.
Apologies for not using the correct word – I hope the point I was trying to make was clear all the same.
I think a lot of people get confused, only reason I’m mentioning it!
This. Every racer wants a laterally stiff bicycle frame so that you don’t waste power flexing the frame during climbs and sprints. Well if your torso is not stiff because you have a weak core, part of your power is being wasted to move your torso around. A strong core is like a stiff frame: efficient at transferring power.
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Aside from the “i keep slipping back to 270” weirdness - losing 10% of your fitness will take a concerted block of time with no training, so I don’t know how you’re measuring this or if you’re actualy getting frustrated and chucking the bike away for like a month. De-training is fast but it isn’t immediate!
The obvious thing you haven’t mentioned is Strength Training.
You’re 48. Sarcopenia is looming. Even if it doesn’t make you immediately faster, it will make you healthier and happier.
And here I mean decent simple barbell training - not the “50 pressups then a few jump squats then stand on a wobble board doing curls then 20 kettlebell swings” in vogue at the moment (because it’s easy and gimmicky and sells £100/month virtual subscriptions to a “health app”) and much lauded on the podcast.
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Rad, thanks. I may be in a position to do something similar starting this fall sometime, always good to know that it’s worked for someone.
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I think this is the most important piece of information you’ve shared. If you have 10 hours a week to ride but are doing a plan that only has 6 hours a week in it (assuming you’re not doing more outside the plan) and aren’t doing your long weekend ride, I think you could gain a lot from more volume (not more intensity).
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At first I thought you might be referring to the StrongFirst minimalist programs, but they generally are 2 exercises and not in vogue as far as I know. They are available for the cost of a book (Kindle or physical), or you can find reviews of them for free on YouTube.
As a relative strength beginner, I had about 3 years of barbell training prior to really focusing on kettlebells a year ago (in my early sixties). What I find fascinating is that, as advertised, the Quick & the Dead’s most basic plan (015) at 3x per week is not interfering with cycling. Yet in the process I’ve regained strength & muscle mass (both upper body and legs) & improved body composition. Some arm/thumb issues that have bothered me for a year are gone. Feels like I’ve erased at least 30 years of aging.
Also have experienced some of the “what the hell effects” (WTHEs) that StrongFirst describe in their books. Including WTHE on the bike. I’ll note that the SF minimalist programs are general conditioning / general physical preparation training. After a year I’ve got plenty of headroom to keep growing - I’m still doing 2 handed swings and expect to start doing 1 handed swings in the coming months. All in the space of my Wahoo mat.
Two books in particular (Quick&Dead, AXE) describe the philosophy behind their respective approaches in terms of biochemistry and physiology and progression, along with how they experimented and arrived at choices. As someone without any exercise physiology or biochemistry background, the AXE book was like listening to a simplified and understandable version of the Empirical Cycling podcast.
Simple plans at almost no cost. Simple equipment. Compatible with cycling.
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