Trying to get to 4w/kg

Depends how the race is set up. If you can only see your cat it’s position in cat. If you can see all cats then it’s overall.

hey all,

4.0W/kg intervals.icu eFTP (294W at 73.2kg) came unexpectedly fast thanks to some hard races (including 22nd in prime time zracing yesterday).  Not sure I could quite do an hour at 294 but the breakthrough race was 279W for 57 mins a week ago and I’m stronger now.  So it’s not far off.

@didnthurt – one thing I’ve realised since covid is that I can’t ride everyday now.  The easy recovery days would need to be so easy that I can’t be bothered getting into lycra and would rather just go for a walk or gentle jog 🙂  In the last 2-3 years I have gotten ill quite easily and find proper rest really helps.  I did a blood test yesterday and found I have a low white blood cell count, which I’ll investigate.

@sheck – nice going!  I am still on W7 (but with races thrown and social rides thrown in).  I’m finding the increased volume and FTP makes it tough to tackle them.  Right now I am posting here and “letting my dinner settle” instead of getting on Cucumber.

@tpbiker – I know the feeling of looking at past numbers (actual or estimated) and falling short but I guess we are (mostly) advancing in years.  It is just harder..

@Jamz thanks!  I’m not doing any sweet spot other than what’s in the BMU workouts (nowhere near 2×20 recently).  I might trying throwing some in.  I did a good zRacing last night in the prime slot and gave up on TdZ so have some flexibility now.

@joebristol – agreed about boredom.  Now that the novelty of Zwift has worn off I mostly watch videos during workouts.

I don’t think 4W/kg is some special threshold at which mtb suddenly becomes more enjoyable.  I’d probably have barely scraped 3W/kg in spring 2023 but still had some fun rides 🙂 Anyway sure you can keep making progress!

@Haze I’m a erg mode convert now.  Makes it so much easier to watch videos or chat etc.  I get the point about learning to pace but I think that can be done with a relatively low amount of free/pace group rides.  Having said that I still get it wrong in races sometimes :/

@Kryton57 hope the new coaching programme goes well.  From other posts I saw it sounds like your son is smashing it, which is great.  I might come to a beastway race this year.. maybe see you there.

@Ro5ey – I haven’t done a proper (long) FTP and also going by zFTP and eFTP.  I think zFTP is slight under estimate for me (in October I’d done a 59min AdZ at 251W and feeling good but zFTP was 245W) and eFTP a slight overestimate.  In races the adrenaline makes it feel less painful and it’s more fun!  Before I attempt the long FTP test want to be confident I’ll actually hit the mark.

Sorry if I missed any posts, hope everyone keeps smashing it (4W/kg or otherwise!)

@twowheels – big update! Sounds like you’re smashing it – good work. Wish I could get near those figures – if I can avoid further medical dramas I’d like to think I can get my ftp up around 275w and my weight down to 75kgs again over the next few months. Already feeling stronger on the mtb so any increase in power and decrease in weight will help even more.

Did my first leg weight training session since October on Tuesday this week and it still hurts to walk or go from standing to sitting 🤣

Thanks Joe – yes I was chuffed with it 🙂  I did prime time zRacing again last Monday and zFTP now also exactly 4.0W/kg (at 73.0kg).  Will do the proper (long) FTP test in week 12 of BMU.

Great you’re feeling stronger on the MTB.  I did my first 2024 outside ride yesterday at Cannock and logged my fastest “Cardiac Hill” climb since ~2018 (but according to Strava stopped a few metres short of the segment end before turning round).

Argh, yes I know the pain of DOMS after a break from weights! I tend to rotate around squat, deadlift, hipthrusts and hamstring curls (different days). I will try some single leg romanian deadlift soon.

I just spotted the Zwift thread and thought I’d update this too now I’ve finished BMU and cancelled my sub.

Ended at 299W intervals.icu eFTP and 297W zFTP at 73.5kg (4.04W/kg).

I did 48m 301W AdZ in April but didn’t quite have the energy/motivation to push zFTP to the nice round 300W mark.

Maybe next winter.  I am dabbling with IndieVelo racing now.

Should there be a Roadie forum section for this sort of thing?

No

Quite timely, with my new coach I’ve moved to W Prime. But anyway after 4 months of clean training and a bit of racing I yesterday  tested to a massive…….. 3.2wkg!

The Winter ’22 Covid/Bronc/Flu 2 months leading to diagnosed EBV has really hit my Vo2 system, but I’m making improvements, 5% in FTP over that period.