Project 5 watts per kg.

Good work Nath.

Pretty much stopped training here so I’m quite intrigued to see how quickly I can go the other way. I reckon by mid Sept I’ll have lost a fair bit. From 5 to 4 will be a big ask but I reckon I can easily get down below 4.5 😆

Losing it is a bit careless MrB. Better to bottle it and sell on the black market. Bet you could fetch a good price for .5W/kg

Going well here. Added on a few more kg and becoming a bit less trained 😆 Interestingly weight always goes up a lot quickly when I stop training then comes down a bit, expect it’s water retention or something like that. Probably down to about 4.8 right now.

Getting fat and out of shape every now and again has never done anyone any harm 😉

Bumpy…
I retested today.
Not quite what I wanted…289 FTP, 3.55w/kg. Improvement over my last test about 6/7 months ago (275/ 6kg heavier). Strava guesstimated me at 308 FTP so was hoping G to break 300 on test…

I’ve been enjoying just riding over the summer, getting back to structure from next week as I’m back to work tomorrow.

Think I’ve put some weight on too having had a few holidays on the last 4 weeks.

2 steps forward 1 step backwards. Onwards and upwards though!

Marginal gainzzzz and such things…!

Apologies if this has already been asked/addressed fully in the thread – but I want to know how long a piece of string is.

How long are people finding it takes to add 1W per KG?

I’m in my 40s and starting to train hard, and with good structure from a plan – I’d love to go from 2.5 wkg to 3.5 wkg. Is that more likely to be three, six or 12 months?

I don’t have much weight to lose. It’s gotta be strength/fitness/power gainz.

I started serious training about 3 years ago and without losing weight went from around 3w/kg to 4w/kg (for 20minutes, so reduce that accordingly for FTP) over about the first 8 months.

Since then I’ve got to just under 4.5w/kg over 60minutes (actual performance, not 0.95x20minutes).

However, other aspects of my power profile (i.e. 5 seconds, 1min,5 Min, 20min, 3 hours) have changed – mostly improved.

You’ll get the biggest gains to start with and then it tails off. It really depends what you’re training for, as to what time duration you should be worried about your w/kg for. 10mile TTing is different to all day in the saddle obviously.

2.5W/Kg is essentially untrained, so should be able to make good initial gains up to ~3W/kg, then it starts to become much harder.
It’ll depend a lot on how you personally recover and adapt to training, and possibly if you’ve been very fit (nit necessarily cycling) in the past.
I’d say 6 months at the very best, but 12 would be a more realistic expectation.

Well I’m sad to say I think I’m back to square 1. Broke my elbow a few months back and the inactivity and difficulties I’ve had meaning I couldnt spend much time on a turbo means I’m feeling a lot less fit and I’m back up to 83kg.

Not going to let this stop me though new routine starts today.

Plan to be back to 300ftp and 80kg by Christmas day.

How’s everyone else getting on progress wise?

im just about to jump back to getting fit Paul . may join you for motivation on this front.

i mean ive never got “unfit” ill still ride all day at a fair clip and dont worry about 100miles+ on a bike in the slightest(i rode 2000miles across british columbia in the summer) BUT im carrying a bit of chunk – anyone that knows me will say **** off mind but when you have been at x level its very difficult to not compare your self to your peak.

anyway – got redundancy hanging over my head and im hoping to use the opportunity to cover a couple of life goals on the bike – how ever to make the most of it i could do with shedding about 15kg and get my power to weight back to where it needs to be – a power increase would be a bonus.

how ever for the training part i have at my disposal 2 broken exercise bikes (that i broke…. basically doing sufferfests on bin fodder exercise bikes means they no longer have any resistance) i have 2 decent treadmills and i have a multi gym. – All going well tomorrow i should have most of a bike and a turbo trainer with – but trying to pack it down into 2 boxes that are less than 300cm lxbxh is proving difficult…… even with a small frame ! no power meters , just got an HRM and an old garmin

weighed in at 87kg just there – so its more like 17kg to shed. – im 188cm.

although i dont have power my self i will do FTP using my mates power tap pedals – otherwise i may as well join the STW fat club….

Currently sitting on my best ftp of the season at 323w and with my weight around 87kg for 3.7.

I think 340 @ 85kg is doable next season for a spring peak.

I’m pretty much going to ignore my weight though- feeling strong enough to push the watts in training is more important than trying to morph into something I’m not.

Regardkess of the numbers, I want to be able to hold 26mph for 10minutes or so on my race bike which isn’t so dependent on ftp anyway unless I get it to 380w 😆

Watching this thread with interest.

I need to work on my fitness and drop about 15-20kg myself. I recently relocated to Estonia and they love Xc marathon races over here. Did my first in September (over 5000 participants!) and soon realised I need to shed some weight and actually train! So got myself a smart turbo and TrainerRoad subscription for the winter – next to impossible to ride outdoors here in winter when it’s -20 and covered in thick ice. Need to shift my cold then time for an ftp test this week. My goal is to be top 500 in the same event next September.

I want to be able to hold 26mph for 10minutes or so on my race bike

Crosshair, you should have got out midweek with that tailwind 😉

Halted the decline here, back on it now 🙂

Lol! I saw that nice trophy you got 🙂

I more mean in terms of Hillingdon lap speed. I’ll find out next Saturday what if any new options I have 😆

Sorry to hear about the redundancy Terry. Saw a load of the photo’s from your trip… looked amazing!

Im just off out to do my ftp test for my 4 week build block planned.

Its -1 degree in the garage, best find the long bibs!

Good luck!

Managed 285 watts that’s adjusted using the 5% rule from holding 300 for 20 mins with lots of anaerobic bursts before the 20 min block. Think it might be a touch higher though as I was able to hold 400 for the last 2 mins maxing my hr out and I think I should have been hanging not fresh enough to do that.

Actually think the -1 really helped as keeping cool wasnt difficult.

Thats at 83kg. Need a 3kg drop and 15 watt gain by the time I break for Crimbo, shouldn’t be too difficult coming off the back of essentialy 10 weeks off. Watch this space!

how you getting on then paul ?

Well it’s been 3 weeks since that last post Terry and I’ve been averaging just 2 turbo sessions per week. I got ill AGAIN last week, having a 1 year old is crazy for viruses!

It’s hard coming back from injury, I’ve been doing a bit more weights and plyo stuff too just re-hab for the broken elbow. Weight is pretty stagnant, but the turbo sessions are seeing me “feel” fitter. I think next ftp text will be Jan 1st (I’m not drinking at new year)

I’d like to be posting more progress, but in all honesty I’d be lying. The aspiration is still there but with a more realistic goal of a solid 4w/kg by the Fred Whitton next year in May. That’s doable at 75kg and 300 Watts.

A

@chilled76, Paul, can you summarise your starting point and what you achieved prior to your injury to elbow?

Im searching for inspiration for the new year…

I have not been able to get a power test done but I’ve been averaging 2 interval sessions a week , some z2 and running 25 mins most days and squats and body weight work

I’m down 2 belt notches.

Be interesting to do a FTP when I get home

@chilled76, Paul, can you summarise your starting point and what you achieved prior to your injury to elbow?

Im searching for inspiration for the new year…

Yeh no worries, started out at around 260 Watt ftp and 88kg.

Training and diet saw me peak at 79kg and ftp of 303

That’s a gain from 2.5 to 3.8w/kg and you couldn’t half tell! Took minutes not just seconds of some fairly short climbs. Then I broke my elbow… and got a bit fatter but not as fat as I started at. And my ftp is back at about 270 as I did very little at all for 10 weeks.

Good stuff Terry, that’s some commitment!

Well a mate suggested a comeback for wembos 2018 when he heard I’m training again

Not sure how fiesable that is to be competitive but we can see.

After working down here riding my bike for 24 hours seems like child’s play- it’s just a case of finding my rhythm again and how fast that rhythm is.

Thats ace! Im really getting my act together to do a two pronged attack on the weight and ftp.

Anyone else in for a weigh-in and ftp test in early Jan?

This topic inspired me to set myself a goal for 2018 of 4,5 Watt a kg in my 20 min test. This as 1 hours tests are horror and the are many 20 min climbs around here for people of my fitness level.

Only have a power meter since a year and a half.

Training is manly focused on having fun as I don’t like intervals anymore did my share in the previous century.

So in 2017 I hovered a long will around 300 watts making it a mere 3,45 because of my 87kg weight.

In may 2017 I went for it on a climb that ws just to short and we got at almost 320 so up to 3,7.

In september I did a cyclo and some nasty bastard climb got me at 350 watts confirmed by a 15 min effort a week later with similar values so we got to the lovely <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>4 Watts </span>a kg.

Focus on 2018 is getting the number up a bit and getting the weight down to 80 kg at least.

Not done any dedicated efforts recently because of winter lack of shape. Wont be for a while as I had a hard crash on the mountainbike 2 weeks ago which did quite some damage to the musle fibres in my right thigh limiting the hard effort and burst for a while to get it to heal.

Got an about 300 watt effort early jan on my commute putting me around 3,65 watts pre crash

Got some post crash 10 minute efforts with heart rate on average 10 to 15 beats below treshold at 280 Watts so guess that if the leg could sustain the pressure would get we at a guestimate 320-325 actuall form which thanks to the weight loss equals about <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>4 Watts </span><span style=”font-size: 12.8px;”>a kg again. </span>

Just to loose some more flab(still above 80kg) and get the power back up to last years values. Just half a WATT to go. But all depends on the leg injury how bad it is and the healing time. It already cost me a training camp can’t afford to loose another one.

Have been close to  a VAM of 1000 or at it on the steeper climbs and would like to get it at around  1100 for 15-20 min efforts so that I can get some reasonable results in the local cyclo’s here in hilly France.

Ive lost another 6lbs.

As for performance I was only a few minutes off the leaders of strathpuffer on lap 1 and kept that consistently(on each of my 6laps as a quad…I know Keith was a soloist ) within a couple of minutes for each of my laps instead of my last attempt(post my 2010 peak) where I fell off a cliff time wise as the event went on Consistency is the key for me , means my head and legs are working together…..no doubt I could have held the leaders on lap 1 ….. But i’d not keep that up, knowing your continuous pace is key.

Canada touring/my turbo / running all making an odds and I feel alot more comfortable just jumping on a bike when I get back where previously I’d get back from Africa and dread starting again at the bottom. Managed 220k in a day the week before puffer 12 hrs saddle time which is a good omen for the shit I want to achieve this year.

Never managed to get an FTP on this trip , next time. My mate with the power meter is upgrading his set up for zwift atm so everything is out of order

Will continue to smash it blindly and test next trip

How you getting on Paul …. You have been very active on Strava it seems. Is it yielding results ?

Sounds awesome Terry. I’m working on endurance for the Fred Whitton at the min, no idea what ftp is but I’m down to 80.5kg. Not 100% back to where I was before I broke my elbow but it is getting there. Not sure when I’m going to test again, prob 8 weeks from now as my training plan hasn’t got space for a random test; it’s a very specific plan

Sounds awesome Terry, well done! I’m working on endurance for the Fred Whitton at the min, no idea what ftp is but I’m down to 80.5kg. Not 100% back to where I was before I broke my elbow but it is getting there. Not sure when I’m going to test again, prob 8 weeks from now as my training plan hasn’t got space for a random test; it’s a very specific plan

Update time:

So after beiing injured(well stil have some piece of bone floating around in my right thigh musle) and beiing told to hold the high intensity work for quite a while. Doc cleared me to do some racing but take it steady don’t bloody try to win the thing.

So we go to the local cyclosportive two weeks a go. Rolling wel make that crawling start with a brake check from the lead car at the foot of a 3k 7% climb. My lardy 83 kg ass got shelled out of the back from the lead group almost immediately but we got some figures from the machine 405 watts(that 4.9 a KG) for the 5′ effort and 325(that 3.9) for 20′

Actually quite chuffed a s a s said I have been of the bike for three- four weeks and riding quite a bit with the handbrake on. The 5′ effort is a PB since I have a power meter, definitely went quite a bit higher in the past but thats 15 years ago. 20′ effort in comparision a bit weak but I backed of not to blow when I knew the lead group was gone after 10′. 262watts in the first hour including the descent back down into the valley.

The week after saw another race with three nice 20′ effort climbs sadly conditions were bleak rain all night and on the start line and well 3 degrees thats at the bottom of the valley. When we crested the 2nd climb to access al was white very white. 20cm of fresh slush next to the road, 50 cm of powder a bit higher up the mountain. The roads went up a bit higher and started to get covered in snow. Powermeter was a lot smarter then we so it went in hibernation mode and just chucked out some rubbish data from time to time. It was as smart as many riders who balled before the start or on the route. Bonked nicely on the last climb to limp home just outside the top 10.

Going back at it tomorrow but the shorter climbs and a bit of lower back pain I am not expecting much of 20′ data.

Any update from the OP? I’ve got my A race out of the way for this year and contemplating my own “Project 4” (75kg and 300W FTP). I’m about 82kg right now and need to do a test.

well i seem to be making some progress. another belt notch and hovering around 83kg and ive got up to 10k running without pain.

and just completed the cairngorm loop so my staying power is up. no idea whats going on with my power though.

Just throwing my hat in the metaphorical ring.

I finished a two month block of work in Manchester and Bury being the spiritual home of black pudding I ate a lot of hotel breakfasts, carb based lunches and dinners out. I was not in good shape!

First commute back 13.5mph, on a road bike over 25miles, not so much disappointing as actually embarrassing!

So rather than take any advice or follow any sort of structured plan I’ve thrown myself into commuting and just doing miles/hours on the bike as possible. An average week is now 3 commutes (5h20 on the single speed mountain bike), one techy night ride (12miles in 2 hours, a bit slow but I can’t keep up in the fast group!) and Sunday club run (60miles at 16mph).

So far I’ve lost 1kg/week. But haven’t paid much/any attention to diet so a lot of biscuits have been eaten.

Aim is to concentrate on loosing weight until Christmas, which will probably require increasing amounts of focus on diet. Hopefully by Christmas my BMI will be around 22 (conveniently 1kg/week) which seems average for pro cyclists so seems like a good target.  I<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”> might measure my power before then if I get a chance, but I’ll worry more about increasing power once I’ve lost the weight.</span>

From previous experimenting with power, exercise  and my general riding I’m definitely on the side of power+weight rather than power/weight so it’ll be interesting to see what impact being lighter has.

hows this going for all.

I did an FTP test in august last year after i decided to drop the weight and get quick again .

I popped out a 245watt 20min ave @ 95kg. = 2.47w/Kg

I did an FTP test today after a winter of 80/20 split no specific power training/TT efforts other than those occuring during my duathlons and dropping to 82kg.

today did a 292w 20 min average @ 82KG = 3.38 w/Kg

time to do some specific speed/hill work sessions.

Not really in the hunt for 5W/Kg but I think 4 is achievable.

started training in a loose sense of the word about 2 years ago, before that I was just a road commuter (100 miles/week) having been a mountain biker in my teens.

At that time I was around 95kg and although I could hit some high power for short periods, I think FTP was probably around 260. = 2.7 W/Kg

By summer last year, after some helpful illness, I’d lost a load of weight and with some hard training over the spring I was down to 82kg and the FTP on a spin bike was between 300 and 310 over several weeks = 3.7 W/kg

Now, after loads of travel for work and much less time on the bike i’m 86kg and more like 290.

Some friends do fast laps of richmond park in the early morning and last year i was just about hanging on, but this year they are way too fast, which is disappointing.

Today, I tried my first wattbike ramp test and got a result of 370 minute max at a heart rate of 180 (i’m just about 40 so this is a good fit to the 220-age!).

I’m aiming to do a lot more over/under workouts and really need some more time on the bike. To that end, I’ve just bought my first turbo so need to decide between trainer road/ sufferfest and zwift and get on with it.

To throw my hat in the ring, I ride MTB, do own a roadie but doesnt see much use, have been doing some gym work to strengthen the legs and help get fitter, have had some spare evenings due to the weather and have headed to the gym to play on the watt bike.

Last night after reading lots of diff things on the internet I went down and did a 20min effort and a 5min effort and then some sprints over an hour. I think I am correct in saying the 20min effort counts as an FTP test? It also doesn’t matter that has been done on a watt bike and indoors?

Hoping I can use this as a base to actually quantify if I am getting fitter. My figures werent anything to shout about and appear to be around 2.6 watts per kg

Keith, an FTP test will be the only thing that you do that session other than warm up and cool down, and you’ll want to be rested before you do it. A 5 minute effort after an FTP test shouldn’t be possible 😀

Part of the gains that you’ll see in FTP testing is actually just from getting better at FTP tests, in the same vein as TTing it’s learning about pacing to empty the tank and how much suffering/pain your body can tolerate while still performing.

I’ve just done my first ftp test since getting my Direto trainer. Probably not that accurate being a first attempt at it but somewhere to start. I got an ftp of 182 watts which possibly means I didn’t push hard enough consistently enough as I’ve averaged slightly higher on sessions of just over an hour. Anyway that gives me 3.3W per kg and I’d like to see how close to 4 I can get. As you can guess from those figures the losing weight option isn’t really one I can take so it’s going to be just trying to increase power while maintaining weight. Threads like this really help with the motivation and it was partly this thread that made me finally get a smart trainer. After a couple of months use I already think it’s the best cycling upgrade I’ve ever made. I looked at all my bikes and what might make them better and concluded that the best value for money was to upgrade the engine!

Dipping a toe in myself as I’ve started a structured plan for the first time ever with a view to the 2019/2020 CX season.

Did a ramp test with a professional coach on a smart trainer of some sort, yielded an FTP of 287W which I was quite proud of, had always thought I’d be lucky to achieve 250W. I’ll treat it with a pinch of salt for now, more importantly it helped me work out my heart rate zones and these seem to be working for me.

Am 85kg, so 3.3W/kg. This also sounds high based on my own perception, I’m lucky to be fighting for mid-pack in the Senior category in Scottish CX, albeit some of that could be down to poor strategy/tapering/warm-up etc.

Not sure how to lose weight, I’ve twice made a decent fist of calorie control (i.e. 3-4 weeks of a 500kCal deficit/week) and it’s made precisely naff all difference to my weight, 85kg going in, 85kg coming out. Given that both times I eventually cracked for want of beer and crisps I decided anything more strict just wasn’t worth the misery. Plus when I look in the mirror I don’t genuinely see much flab to shift! What’s the official body fat test called, pinch test or something?

Two sets of intervals a week, 4×8 and 30/15s (3 sets 10) and 4-6hrs Z2 depending on whether I can fit a weekend ride in . Only one week in so interested to see where this will go, injured and overtrained probably! 😉