Ramp test today half way through general build (LV plus one extra ride a week … so half way to mid vol!).
Went from 290w to 294w. Pleased with increase even though quite small rise. Wanted 300w but never mind!
Just looked and end of May last year ( so about 10 months ago) I’d been cycling for about 4 years fairly seriously but not following specific plan and riding on zwift for couple years. Then started with TR 10 months ago roughly.
May 18 - ftp 272w, weight 13 stone 4lb / 186 lb / 84.4kg = 3.22 w/ kg
March 19 (now) -ftp 294w, weight 11 stone 11lb / 165 lb / 74.8kg = 3.93 w/ kg
I’m 6ft 2 in height and lost reasonable amount of weight which helped lot. Due to family reasons (wife v sick but hopefully sorted now) didn’t race much last year so hopefully some good improvements this year given 20 odd % rise in w/kg!
Annoyingly close to 4 w/kg but can’t break magic 300w Mark I need!
Roll on TR!
TrainerRoad is the best thing I’ve done for my health and fitness in the last 30 years. I’m 58. Always been in halfway decent shape doing my regular sit ups, push ups, pull ups and dumbbell workout. As a kid and in college I was in great shape through sports and bike riding, but as life goes on, it became more difficult to get on a bike and ride for any length of time. My weight had stabilized between 185-190 (I’m 5’11"). Too heavy.
Last fall I began working out more regularly (body weight exercises), and dropped 5 pounds immediately, but was still 10-15 pounds over my historic in shape weight.
I found some good local bike trails and got on my bike regularly - I dropped another 5 pounds - feeling great. In December (2018), I bought a Wahoo Kickr Core and joined TrainerRoad. My first FTP test (131) was a one hour/20 minute FTP test. Began Sweet Spot Base (Low Vol). Next FTP test (Ramp Test) was in January 2019 and FTP improved to 168. Just finished Sweet Spot Base (Low Vol) II and did another Ramp Test - FTP improved to 193!
Over the course of using Trainer Road I’ve dropped another 10 pounds and I’m holding steady at 168 pounds - a weight I haven’t maintained in 20 years. And needless to say, feel great.
Thank you, Trainer Road.
Nov '18 SSB1MV: 232W; 3.30 W/kg
Jan '19 SSB2MV: 247W; 3.51 W/kg (+7%)
Baby 13 Feb during SSB2MV recovery week (convenient)
Feb '19 SuPB LV: 263W; 3.73 W/kg (+6%)
Mar '19 SuPB LV: 267W; 3.80 W/kg (+1%) I bumped to 270W since I checked out early, (3.84W/kg)
I cruised through the first four weeks of sustained power build LV without much issue, usually adding some zone 2 rides. Then week 5’s ramp test - Washington+4 - Fish -2 gauntlet hit me like a ****ing freight train and I was bailing right and left on everything. Fighting a cold, lack of sleep, etc. excuses. Pretty much nailed Dade +1 yesterday; am going to try a longer rest interval for tomorrow’s suprathreshold stuff and see if that helps.
Plan after is to go back to SSB1LV in a few weeks, and then I leave home for a few months (no babies!) and I’m planning SSB2MV again, followed by either SuPBMV or GBMV depending on which events I opt for this summer/fall.
Based on my experience with an inaccurate Trainer I would suspect the Virtual power/dumb trainer combination. Maybe you can borrow a power meter and run a calibration on your setup. That would get you alot closer, and a better idea of the actual power/speed relationship.
Started really doing TR on February of 2018. Followed mid-high volume base-build-specialty until October. Probably around 75% of the workouts were followed, some were done outside.
The other 25% were rides with my mates outside, although I keep in mind what workout is it on that day and probably do some of the intervals mid-ride.
Feb 2018 : 225w @ 3.1w/kg
October 2018: 305 @ 5.01w/kg
Then, offseason until the holidays with just unstructured/random rides until the end of the year.
Then did an FTP ramp test as 2019 enters.
Did the Highs Sweet Spot Base, then Sustained Power Build , was really following these two, with a sprinkle of rides I get from Specialty Plan when a local race suddenly pops out. Did the Climbing Road Race on September as I was aiming to join Taiwan KOM
What really skyrocketed my w/kg was my weight loss, I usually do fasted rides on rides below 70% . Really helped (although this topic is not related here)
I see. I did not have the chance to follow a complete base, build and speciality plan yet but it’s interesting to see how many with great results did the SSB-phase first.
Regarding fasted rides:
I know. I’ve lost more than 38kg with the help of IF. Still do fasted rides especially outdoors.
November 2018 - 199
March 2019 - 210 (midways through general build)
What gives? I followed the ss base plans then general build, only skipping days if I was racing. Tapping out on super structured training at this point.
I guess I see it more as 10 watts, on someone who’s at only 3.2-3.3w/kg. Seems like there would be a lot more growth for almost 5 months of training, 5 days a week of some real suffering.
Maybe I’m just burned out. Trying to make it to Sea Otter. Was really hoping to be close to 3.5 w/kg by then, just makes me sad that I’m not going to hit my goals is all.
How often have you been racing? It’s possible you’ve racked up a ton of fatigue in addition to the training load, which might take longer for your body to absorb.
April 1 - 1hr circuit
April 2 - 50min crit
April 9 - 30min crit, 1hr crit
April 10 - 1.5hr circuit (.9IF), 2hr circuit (.8IF)
Recovery week
April 17 - 50min crit
Adjusted schedule still feeling fatigued
April 24 - 30min crit
Adjusted schedule for 3-day stage race this weekend
All races at about .95-1.05IF except the two labeled.
My TSS has still been around the listed number except the weekend I did 4 races I was 120 tss over, but figured I’d bounce back with a recovery week following.
Maybe I just need a little more recovery time or rest? I really want to be awesome in two weekends (aka win)
Yeah, IMHO, I think you’d benefit from some extra recovery with a few doses of high intensity between this weekend and Sea Otter to keep your sharpness up, hit Sea Otter hard, and then take a few days off the bike. That’s a lot of racing in a short period of time and the TSS doesn’t capture the stress associated with preparing.
I’ve personally always benefitted from a bit of a mid-season break as a nice mental and physical reset and there are a lot of pros who also do it.
Yeah, I’m feeling like I need a few days in a row completely off the bike. But everything was planned in preparation of Sea Otter.
When you say extra recovery with a few doses of high intensity, do you mean more recovery days than high intensity days or do you mean rides that are majority recovery with a little bit of high intensity sprinkled in the same ride?
The last week of your choice of Speciality is a good example to look at.
I wouldn’t go more than a few days without a short+intense workout to avoid detraining, but I’d treat it like a taper where you are trying to shed a bit of fatigue.
If you feel like you need a day or two off the bike, I’d listen to that instinct. It will probably benefit you.
Well Ok, the gainz continue, which amaze me. I can safely say this because I finished a 6x10 threshold workout today that I don’t know if I could do completely if my FTP was lower. I’m now training with a 300w ftp (4.3w/kg), when I had been at 275w since March of last year. Not sure where all the improvements are coming from, I was largely training indoors with TR last year with a high level of consistency (with high volume plans). Regardless, I’ll take it, but I really won’t expect anything more after this! Thanks trainerroad team!
In summary:
SSB HV 1: start 275w, end 285w
SSB HV 2: start 285w, end 295w
Sustained Power Build HV (first half): start 295w, changed to 300w first week of 2nd half.
(aka win)
