How did you 5w/kg+ riders make it there?

Pretty much everything under the sun.

But it’s really okay, I only really compete against myself so its not something I lose sleep over. I just think people tend to have a skewed viewpoint sometimes.

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Definitely nothing to get depressed about. Amd really, it’s not about ‘fitness’, it’s about specific genetic ability. I was a great track athlete, played JuCo football, among other things, and after a year of training after I took a year off, my FTP is only 225 giving me a 3.2 w/kg. It is what it is. I just enjoy the journey and pushing myself.

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I mention earlier in the thread that it was a 4 years grind for me to get to the 5w/kg, but I think one aspect of it has been overlook. It’s the consistency.

If you look at the graphic below, I never let my fitness level completely fell apart. So when I start training in November for the next season, I feel like a have a slight head start compare to the previous year. Also, there is no crazy 1000+ TSS week. It’s always between 250 and 700.

It’s a slow and regular grind,

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Thank you. I appreciate the clarification. Not trying to derail the thread btw. I think 5w/kg is possible for me (if I stopped running anyway!) and trying to figure out what my physiology says for me.with what are fairly low overall numbers, particularly at the top end.

Current FTP is around 280 at 65 kg but last year for both my target races FTP was similar, but at around 60.5kg so around 4.6W/kg. I know that when I’ve had running injuries in the past and just ridden (although I didn’t test at the time) I would gain a reasonable amount on the bike which puts me fairly close to the 5W/kg mark

I’m just trying to correlate some of the data I have from the lactate testing to see if there’s any actionable information.

That HR data for example (just to keep it sport specific as that’s the data I have) had my MLSS HR at around 162 (16.7kph roughly), from a max of 170. I averaged a HR of 153 for my last marathon, so pretty close to MLSS I percentage terms which in turn is pretty close to my max.

Obviously it’s sports specific but the HR numbers I have from riding data correlate well to the running numbers so show a similar trajectory with a fairly small decrease as the distances go up.

This x10. Consistency is king.

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As has been mentioned on the podcast, whole-body sports such as running, XC skiing, will result in higher VO2 numbers than cycling. Probably similar-ish for a cyclist though.

I’ve had the same thought over the years, and I did have a chance to start seriously when I was 15…but I had the typical teenager bad attitude and didn’t follow through until years later. Not sure I could have handled being “pro”…it really is a LOT of work.

To be honest - probably not.
And nope. Did one year of kickboxing when I was 20 or so. My max reps for sit-ups was 800…does that count as aerobics? :man_shrugging:

That’s a 140 race weight! I usually sit around 150-155. I know when I’m hitting performance weight when I start dreaming about food and concocting my post-race gorge. Last year I wanted a doughnut pizza. That’s right, :doughnut: + :pizza:. Ended up making a jumbo pan of fully loaded nachos. Gained a few pounds that week. :persevere:

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You did 800 situps?

That consistency really is impressive. I’d also say you’re naturally gifted. Most people don’t/won’t see that kind of performance from relatively low training stress.

Indeed I’m light at 60kg. So getting to 300 watts was within reasonable reach. Well, at least more than a 75kg person trying to hit 380 watts.

Regarding the TSS, I want to point out that as your w/kg gets higher, the harder it is to accumulate the TSS. When I was at 260, I might get 140 TSS by doing a group ride with my friends. Now, for the same ride, it would like 110-120 TSS. It’s really when I train alone or with teammates I can hit my TSS goal.

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Yup.
One day at the gym I was doing my warm-up at the same time a straight up boxer was doing his warm-up. As so often happens with young men of competition, it turned into a machofest.
45 minutes and 800 sit-ups later…:crazy_face:

Nowadays…could probably crank out a solid 8. :+1:

I hope @Captain_Doughnutman realises his username will be revoked when he gets to 5w/kg. Official forum rules. I’m not sure Captain_Kale_man will have the same ring to it.

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Here’s a little cycling secret, you don’t come out of the grind phase unfortunately. It’s a continuous grind and 5w/kg on a ramp test is not the finish line.

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Indeed, whole-body sports have a greater oxygen demand – but that’s not really the issue with throwing out that a biomechanically efficient runner with a VO2 of 70 could run a 4:15 mile.

When I was in my 20s, my VO2 was over 70, and I was a lousy runner – big flat feet, and I’m too flexible (which actually slows you down when running). A VO2 of 70 does not automatically mean you will be a very fast runner unless your gross mechanical efficiency is also good.

Running and cycling have very similar oxygen consumption rates – there are huge differences in how the power gets generated (upright vs. sitting in a flexed position), but the O2 demand is about the same.

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2nd year of riding a bike, 1st year ever doing structured training I did a total of ~360h purely on TR went from ~2.5 w/kg to 4.5 w/kg in around 7 months. Then I moved into specialized plan for CX and did some races and power went down and down and down. At the beginning of the next year I was right back at 3w/kg and that made it incredibly difficult to stay motivated to try and gain it back. That year I made small progress but still not there yet. Now it’s the next year and I’m almost back at my peak. Right now I’m sitting at ~4.2 but not focusing on weight anymore. I’m about 10w away from hitting my best FTP back (although I’m a bit heavier now). I hope that by focusing on power, the weight will come down naturally and hopefully reach close to the 5 mark

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What did you change to get back to 4.2?

Wow, falling from 4.5 to 3 in a short time while still training/racing is terrifying - how did it go so wrong?

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You would demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of the body image pressures women are under. Associating low body weight with looking terrible is a necessary defense mechanism against overwhelming pressures to exist at horrible calorie deficits and still feel bad about your body. So, you know, it’s nice that you can lose weight for your hobby, but it’s not the same.

EDIT: And this is just my own experience, but at “binge eating weight,” I tend to be a bit of a d*ck to the people around me. So I suspect them telling me I look too skinny to lose any more weight is their way of shielding themselves from that, also. :slight_smile:

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GAH!!! My arch-nemesis! :angry:
I know he’s out there lurking villainously, waiting to try and kill me with his dreaded kale smooothies!

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This is what I was getting at earlier. It’s not just fitness or athletic ability, but rather specific ability.

I was running sub 5 minutes miles when I was in junior high school, but will never have an FTP over 300. It’s just the cards I was dealt.

+1.

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