Can I vote downhill instead?
Fat Old Dude
As @SpareCycles states:
This is just a small example of how significant aerobic contribution is to power output at virtually all intensities. Even maximal 1min or 30sec efforts show a surprisingly large contribution from aerobic energy pathways
(I’ve also read (somewhere) that anything over 10sec has aerobic contribution… 
)
More aerobic “base”, more available power.
But I’d be careful prescribing tons of Z2 volume as a cure all for speedsters. Everyone responds differently to different stimulation.
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Same here. I am 53 yo 74kg triathlete and have a ball park 3.5w/kg that I can push up to 3.8 when doing an A race prep. However, I can sprint up to 1200w (my PM is a Powertap G3 which is quite reliable).
I can put out VO2Max workouts quite well but SS is a pain and I always need to scale down.
I used the covid thing to do a huge volume at Z1/Z2 and my FTP just went from 238 to 262w in a couple of months (ramp test). The strangest think is that I had huge improvements in the short side of the power curve without performing any work in that effort segment.
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That is what the article have stated 
Aerobic conditioning is a base for everything, even short efforts have significant aerobic contribution to them:
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When you doing long Z1/Z2 rides, do you go over Z2 with power at the uphills? Or is it superimportant to keep power in check for the whole ride?
I did all of it indoors so I kept it really within the range.
Since this approach meant increasing the volume to crazy figures when compared with the previous history, I kept my IFs below mid Z2 so that I could recover for the next day.
If I was doing this outside, I would try to route my rides avoiding hills that would have forced me go get into Z3.
Seiler and Maffetone somehow suggest that any time above LT1 will trigger a metabolic/fatigue response that will move us away from the ideal balance between availabily to sustain the consistent volume and targeted adaptation.
But let me get this straight. I am not saying this is the silver bullet for everyone.
A) if one cyclist is consistently working 8 hours per week using a mid volume program for years with a lot of intensity above 90% of FTP and suddenly starts riding 16 hours at Z1/Z2 with nothing above that but for comparison sake getting the very same TSS, I am pretty sure she or he will see an improvement in all the power curve. But if we are talking about someone who is already doing a lot of slow volume spiced up here and there by some harder efforts, increasing the weekly hours a bit and reducing the intensity will probably be neutral if not detrimental. In this case a lower volume, higher intensity block would probably be a much better idea.
B) Horses for courses
If the power profile of the cyclist points to he or she being a slow twitching diesel engine, maybe the best stimulus to improve sustainable aerobic output would be working the much higher intensity side sacrificing volume in needed. Stuff like the Ronnestad 30/15 intervals would be a suggestion I would make.
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Man, I relate to that last bit so much. I just can’t get myself to do more than an hour Z2 on the trainer. And up until last week it was snowing (not normal for May). Last week I was able to get out for some 2+ hour rides finally. So I can probably really add some Z2 rides to my training. I am set to go back to work in a few weeks, which is a bummer, but I can still get out on weekends.
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Yup. Aerobic metabolic pathways will be engaged essentially instantaneously to begin recovering energy stores, eg. ATP & PCr that are rapidly depleted at the onset of an effort.
I’m still learning about bioenergetics at the cellular level, but if I understand things correctly, interestingly all those diagrams showing ATP-PCr works from for the first 10sec, glycolysis from 10 to 90sec, fat oxidation beyond 90sec, etc. are more true for an all-out effort from a cold start. But less true the further away you get from that scenario.
The reality of course, is that all ‘energy systems’ are engaged at all times, at all intensities. Just the relative contribution of each will change over time and intensity.
For example, for that cold-start all-out sprint interval, oxidative energy production might not be contributing to the mechanical work output per se for the first ~10sec. Since ATP-PCr will be depleted at a much faster rate than can be re-synthesized via oxidation, until the oxidative pathways get up to speed. So ATP-PCR will be fully depleted before aerobic metabolism has a chance to contribute much. It’s kind of a matter of ‘what fails first’.
That’s going from 0 to 100%. If you’re already starting from 50%, say from a warm-up, a recovery interval between work bouts, or leading into the climb in a race. Oxidative and ATP-PCr pathways will already be engaged to produce the current effort. So (a) you might have less capacity remaining for an all-out sprint above your current working intensity, compared to starting from rest. And (b) aerobic pathways will therefore contribute relatively more from the start of the subsequent effort.
I think of my aerobic system as an engine that chugs away in the background to constantly re-charge the battery of my anaerobic reserves. The bigger the aerobic engine, the faster it can re-charge the anaerobic battery. Therefore it can keep the battery more topped up, giving me more capacity, and greater ability to turn on the afterburners at the end of the race.
Not sure what the background conversation was about, but hopefully this was a relevant & interesting tangent 
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Who cares what the background conversation was about with a post like that. Very nice! 
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Where did you find that figure?
(Figure 4)
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Thanks!
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I did my very best to keep the intensity in check.
Very occasionally I totally cracked and did some sort of mad 3 to 7min effort.
The more you drift into higher power outputs the more rapidly you fatigue over the consecutive days. Meaning, you cannot maintain the same high volume. I believe it’s the combination of low intensity training, high volume and the fasted low glycogen state that leads to the greatest development of mitochondria.
Dr Inigo San Millan has done a bunch of research on this. Additionally, a top coach (I’m sorry I’ve forgotten who it was) detailed on a recent podcast how differently he trained his World Tour sprinters to his other riders in regards to intensity. Lots more long slow distance to build aerobic endurance. Very small volumes of high intensity. Us fast twitchers crack easily, we’re fragile.
At some point when you feel you’ve finally developed an aerobic base you switch to your build and race prep etc. I’m doing this soon as we’ve all but eradicated Covid here in NZ and races are being announced. Party time 
I picked flatish routes suited to this riding. I also run compact gearing and a 30 tooth cassette.
When I originally began this training I used my MTB as it has significantly lower gearing allowing me to ride hillier routes.
It takes a very focused mind, as depending on your fitness, you are constantly being passed by other cyclists. Especially on hills.
From my observations, I don’t think I saw a single cyclist riding consistent low intensity the entire 8 weeks. Virtually every road cyclist here in Auckland NZ rides mid hard on the flats, hardish to very hard on virtually every climb and repeats this year round.
Obviously there are some that don’t, but they are few and far between when you pay attention.
There’s nothing wrong with just going out and riding happy hard for pleasure, however if you truly want to improve, at some point you have to get a little more disciplined.
Or not…
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And Brennan Wertz can do 460-480 for an hour 
!!!
350 would be his “baxter” all day pace. Just insane!!!
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I refer to the extra 5 pounds hanging around my waist as “downhill muscle”. 
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Cwazy! I got started too late!!!
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I’m a little heavier than you, and also know that I wasn’t born a climber… Not exactly a fast twitch guy either, so gonna go ahead and declare myself a diesel.
Are these charts from intervals.icu?
Hey… to all of you mealy-mouthed whiners out there: don’t tell me YOU suck.
At 100kg and 2W/kg (TR FTP 199W), I seem to be generally placed “in first”… meaning at about the first percentile… 
I think there’s just 3-4 people my age in this population who are slower than I.
New goal: 5th percentile.
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