I used to do all of my workouts without breaking fast. Get up at 4:15, brush my teeth, hop on the bike. I could complete the work for the most part. 90 minute efforts are a bit more of a challenge. In full disclosure, I get up now and get a cup of coffee and an english muffin before riding now. Not sure if that constitutes fueling, but it takes a bit of the edge off.
I didnât know I had averaged 300 watts for the first ~12 minutes until afterwards⌠I also wasnât sure how long you can realistically be expected to hold 5-10% over FTP without being fed, caffeinated, and warmed up.
Coffee and breakfast make all the difference for some people.
I ve only ever done 2 fasted rides. Once, a 2 hour zone 2 ride and once bike packing because Iâd run out of food
Apparently women do not gain from fasted rides (Sonya Looney podcast).Phew , so no more fasting!
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I think you need to do more testing to really determine whether it was nutrition or maybe this is your ceiling right now (12 min @ %110-%120 FTP)
Like others have said I donât think not fueling before a 12 min above FTP is a reason you canât sustain longer efforts. Lack of eating / poor hydration the day before could be though ? But further testing to understand what your Max Effort is would help.
This is also a good example why the step test isnât always the best tool since the intervals are so short itâs hard to get an idea of what your sustained power is at above threshold.
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Um, the 8-minute FTP test is done at 111%.
Think about that for a minute.
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For me breakfast/fueling-during-the-ride-properly makes all difference for the workload I can absorb over a week. Does not make a huge difference for one session (depends on the session of course), but I notice it in the following sessions. Messed up an entire season with falling for this fasted/low craze. Fueling properly simply allows you handle more training load. Fasted/low may makes sense for obese people or people with a messed up insulin sensitivity, but for performance oriented folks you got to fuel the engine properly. And Iâd say not eating enough before and during is probably the main differentiator between pros and amateurs.
No I canât do it, did Perkins the other day in the afternoon fasted, no problem. Did Muir today at 6am and sort of struggled, more like it felt harder than it should have.
In ideal conditions I can hold 108 - 110% FTP for 20ish minutes in zwift TTs and it feels like death, so 12min with no warmup is pretty good in my opinion. Usually the 10min mark is about the point where I start to question my life choices.
As with others Iâve done up to 3hrs Z2, 2hrs SS, and 1.5hrs VO2 without breakfast on a regular basis. Coffee is a must for me though, just because I like it. Doing VO2 workouts at 5am did require some mental adjustments though. lol.
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Not sure what youâre getting at ?