Jonas Abrahamsen’s most recent masochistic Zwift session caught a bit of attention recently in the cycling press:
He did 10 sets of 20 minutes at LT1, with an average of 360w, or 4.5w/kg.
This is obviously nuts, and the will power to crank that out on an indoor trainer is beyond mere mortals like me.
I would however like to propose a challenge. Choose either 360w or 4.5w/kg - how many 20 minute sets can you do?
It looks like from the laps that he had an extensive warmup, and then did it in two phases of 5, with just 4 minutes of rest between efforts. Between phase one and two, there was a 25 minute “break”.
I will give this a go when I have a spare half day. Close to where I’m working here in Scotland is a decent climb (Cairn o’Mount) which on a gravel bike at 360w is about 20 minutes for me (I am very tall and very heavy).
Ten repetitions of the hill would be pretty unpleasant, but I have no chance of holding that power for that amount of time on the flat. I should also add that I would be out of zone two for this. 360w is above LT1 for me.
Anyone else up for a bit of unnecessary suffering? Remember - you choose. 360w or 4.5w/kg. How many sets of 20 minutes can you do?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to do the actual workout? Like 10x20m at lt1? Why try to do the same power, it completely changes what the workout is (unless you are Jonas).
I might manage a couple of minutes at 4.5w/kg. At 4.5w/kg you’ll get up the Cairn O Mount in considerably less than 20 minutes. I’ve done sub 20 at only 3.8w/kg. With a low enough gear on my mountain bike I might just make it up below LT1. I live in a village close to the climb and can ride to the top and back home in less than an hour.
Your biggest problem at this time of year will be the snow gates are frequently shut even when there is no snow because the road is not gritted often.
Nice that you know the climb too - it’s a cracker. Since starting to work in the area, I’ve been up it twice (and I’ll climb it again today) on my gravel bike. The last time was with a block headwind, so 461w only got me 16.5 minutes.
I do have studded tyres on my second wheelset, so I could ride an ungritted road, but I can see that for most people it’s a road that requires grit.
I’m always looking for people to ride with, so give me a shout if you’re around at weekends. I only have a gravel bike with me, but I’m avoiding the rough stuff at the moment because I’m sick of cleaning me bike.
You of course make a fair point. At my size, the only way I can do it is to match the watts, not the watt/kg. I’m carrying upper body muscle from earlier gym training that I can’t easily shift, and honestly I don’t really want to. 360w is 3.6w/kg for me. My FTP would be well into the 500s if I was able to do 4.5w/kg!
Considering If I done 360W or 4.5w/kg (267W) for 20mins, id be setting a new FTP significantly higher than my current, I can estimate my number will be somewhat low
I think there would be a good many on this forum that could achieve that volume at LT1. Probably way, way more than actually know what their LT1 is! But, seriously, that amount of work at LT1 is good work, but only that. It’s not some insane stimulus it just requires attention to nutrition/hydration & patience.
The thing that is extraordinary is that his LT1 is at 4.5 w/kg. Think about what that means…he is tooling around at 4.0 w/kg & blood lactate of (most likely) less than 1mmol. THAT is exceptional, for sure. His ‘all day pace’ is 4.0 w/kg. I’ve seen a lot of lactate curves…I’ve never seen one even close to approaching that level of fitness.
But, seriously, that amount of work at LT1 is good work, but only that. It’s not some insane stimulus it just requires attention to nutrition/hydration & patience.
