Me: You have more of the little powerhouses of the cell (sorry, but you did say like you were a 5 year old, so I’m going to go ahead and do it that way). They can create more energy using fat molecules that the other ones. So after a bit of proper endurance training you have more of these. As such, the “before training you” would have used less fat than the “after training you”. When you have to dip into the other way of producing energy (the faster but less energy way) you just can’t produce as much of it and it is often difficult to eat or drink enough to keep up. Also, there is only a small amount in reserve compared to amount of fat you can use.
Five year old: but what if I have an FTP of 500 and you have an FTP of 285.
Me: still works the same way, but the 500w FTP fellow already has a bunch of little powerhouses.
Translation for the adults reading: I’m just making the do endurance training and fat ox takes care of itself argument Nothing that needs a citation or bro science. Eat during rides so that you can get through rides. What percentage MvdP burns as a percentage of total versus what I might burn as a percentage of total is immaterial. I care about what I burn compared to what I burn. Compare me to different time of year me.
It occurs to me that you guys might have meant higher percentage compared to what percentage THE OTHER GUY is burning. If so, then yeah. No one cares.
But I VERY MUCH care to increase that percentage in me. Everyone does, whether they know it or not.
Yes, I suppose it is misstated a bit. My point is that there is no award for simply burning more fat than someone else at a given intensity if you don’t have the capacity to go above this intensity and drop them in a race. Obviously, Keegan Swenson will utilise a greater ratio of fat to carbohydrate at 300W than I do, given that his FTP is 400W, and mine is 300W. My point is that this is not why he beats me in a race. He beats me in a race because his FTP is higher and he is much stronger. There are athletes that can “fat adapt” their way to utilising almost entirely lipids very near FTP, but if they lack the ability to punch much above that, they still won’t win many races.
As for the comment: “the greater your tendency to use carbohydrates for fuel, the greater your tendency to produce lactate, and thus the LOWER your lactate threshold (also known as ‘anaerobic threshold’, or ‘maximal lactate steady state’ or ‘FTP’***)” - yes, this is true, but it simply describes the physiological workings of lactate steady state. The fitter you get, the more fat (rather than glycogen) you can metabolise at a given intensity. My point is that this adaptation simply follows fitness, not a focused attempt to get “fat adapted”.
Applied to the author’s question, my point (although perhaps slightly poorly communicated), is that focusing on eating less to burn more fat during long rides will improve the fat to carb ratio utilised at a certain intensity, but so will simply getting fitter. Thus, faffing about with trying to eat less and risking poor recovery etc seems rather futile unless you’re already knocking on the door of absolute physical limits of performance. Fuelling well and recovering will likely raise your FTP much faster, and in accordance with the mechanism of steady state by High North above, you’ll end up burning more fat at a given intensity in the process.
this was true under my last coach; i’ve reverted back to the mega of recent though. they do anecdotally seem very helpful, but I just need to keep an eye on managing the fatigue. for me, the difference between 5 and 6 hours is noticeable, same with 6 to 7; kinda wrecked after 7 hours. rarely ride over 8
I guess so. I had rode 10-12hpw for the past 2 months before a taper and tested 20min, but typically I ride 8-9hpw. This was a recent PR.
I also keep my ‘ftp’ still set at a lower range so my zones are easier. I think I’d burn out if I adjusted to the higher ftp based off 95% of my 20min test.
I do believe that your aerobic fitness increases with volume, but I don’t really buy into the ‘train like a pro’ to race short races stuff. I think if you race 5 hour races, or stage races composed of multiple 4-5hr races, then 15-20+ hpw makes a lot of sense. If you race for an hour in crits or CX, I don’t really understand the mind set. 100 miles per week for a collegiate runner is 11-12hours per week. I get that there’s more ‘pounding’ on the body, but that’s a ton of mileage. So I approach the bike that way too
Nothing that needs a citation or bro science. Eat during rides so that you can get through rides. What percentage MvdP burns as a percentage of total versus what I might burn as a percentage of total is immaterial. I care about what I burn compared to what I burn. Compare me to different time of year me.