Hi there, reading that you reached 3.7 W/kg in your 40s is quite inspirational.
I am wondering if you manage to maintain high W/kg as I myself am 45 and striving to improve. I’m hoping to reach 3.3-3.5 W/kg but I don’t know if age would be a limiting factor.
I’m now 41 and 4.2w/kg
Consistent structured training year round (not just the winter) and adequately fuelling the hard workouts has been key. I just use sugar dissolved in water with a pinch of salt. If I had learned to fuel the workouts when I was younger rather than ‘bank’ calories for cheat meals later in the day I probably could have done so much more in my younger years. It’s amazing how much easier workouts are when your body has what it needs. It also recovers so much faster too especially the fuelling in the last hour of a workout
I have also found that using caffeine as a tool has made a huge difference to get the VO2 and threshold workouts done inside on the trainer. I have not been able to do VO2 max work indoors in the past so it’s been a game changer. I try to have very little on the easy days and just have it on the hard days
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Following. I’m at 3.4-3.5. But I need to gain weight, not lose it, so I have quite a way to go in terms of power to hit 4.0. I am thinking maybe in 2 more years if I keep up this ~12 hour a week average (3 15-18 hour work weeks, 1 8-10 hour rest week).
Weight lifting seems to be helping, though I’m finding it exhausting.
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I’m restarting cycling after an 8 year lay off (played field ball sports in the meantime so I wasn’t inactive but definitely not endurance).
Previously I cycled for 4 years or so and got to >4w/kg by doing lots of group rides with fast men so I was hanging in for dear life… Had my best performances after a 3 week solo trip to the Alps where I just did loads of what I guess we call sweet spot climbing, unstructured, and sprinted a bit for fun when I felt like it. I always had a better sprint than FTP though.
I’m just getting back into cycling and have a turbo trainer for the first time - my FTP is just under 60% of what it was so I’m intrigued and excited about the process of pushing it up in a structured way this time, rather than just smashing my legs to bits 4 days a week! I’m 31 now and I don’t think my body could handle my old method…
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I didn’t make it quite that high but started working with a coach (who prescribed workouts that were not rocket science by any stretch) BUT enforced resting and easy days. Shockingly it worked. Not “banking” calories also helped. In 3 months I put about 20 W on my FTP. Got to ~3.4W/k up from 3 or so. I turned 47 while working with this coach so age didn’t seem to affect my training 
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That’s amazing, well done! I’ve got a coach too for the first time and I feel like I cycle more than ever but don’t feel as exhausted as before. I also lift twice a week, so fingers crossed 
Amazing 
, well done!!
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