Garages are for when you’re having lots of friends over for dinner… can temporarily relocate your bikes somewhere warm and dry so you can get to the table in your dining room.

Other option is to put a dining table in the garage I guess?

Can you use the 4iii ones with a Garmin 810? I’ve been looking at these and just realised I’ve got £80 worth of Evans vouchers in my drawer.. will make it £300 for a power meter :-)

Thanks for this, I just need to work out how to get to this slider on the android app ( I use my phone to control it).

I’ll have a play over the weekend and email if I can’t sort it.

Cheers

Will be interesting. I’m hoping for a Labour snp lib dems progressive coalition… probably wishful thinking though. Would be ace to see our Jez at the helm!

Where’s this resistance slider? That sounds exactly what I need for those blocks?

Steak and steamed broccoli. Lower carbs today as I’m not training. #5wattsperkilogoal

I will say that especially in MTB racing, numbers are just a small part of it, take for example your 5 minute max power, one may have a large one, but If they can not be repeated near it, then its not all that useful in racing, ie take the national course this weekend at Dalby and the main climb, you need to be able to get up it fast 6/7 times not just once.

The best measure of performance is performance it’self.

And there is a mixture of other factors, which is why XC Physiology really interests me.

It terms of seeing how your average fred would go, It would be much safer in the labs, can do a genetic screening as this will determine certain aspects, ACTN3 gene for example has a large amount of literature on it. normal performance testing would give a degree of what they are/would be capable off.

Happy to turn up to a Lab and have someone tell me if this is theoretically possible.. would be very interested to know?

Lighter without losing muscle. Thanks Alex, that was my plan.

Anyone following this my first proper ftp benchmark is going to have to wait a week or two. The cold I had has turned into a chest infection.

Les Get bike park circa 2006.

Haven’t got many photos of me riding. This ones prob my fav.

No but I’m really interested to read it.

Interestingly when doing zone 2 work I generally don’t use a hr monitor, I just breath through my nose and if I have to start breathing through my mouth I back off.

I’ll have a look at this.

I’ve read a few of Joe Friel’s books but not read any wider than that.

Thanks

That’s because they aren’t on drugs.. or at least ones that mimic copious amounts of testosterone.

Single figure body fat % isn’t natural whilst retaining muscle.

What exactly do you think I’m doing to shift the weight? Eating slim fast shakes and not training?
It sounded like you were “cutting”, and from the few weight lifters i know, it consists of trying to kill yourself through a shitty diet and trying not to black out.
And in agreement with the last few posters, power first, weight later, it’s far far easier that way round. It’s what every pro i know does every year. Ignore weight until a few weeks before the season starts. Then even a minor dip in food will see weight falling off. Though it’s all relative (Usually only talking 4 or 5 kilos), and doesn’t work for everyone.

Hey apologies for the slightly arsey response matey. It’s just I posted the diet changes in my original post.

Not coming at this from a bodybuilding cut stance at all.

I agree power first then cut second… but that also works in cycles. Having ridden quite a lot and fairly hard for the last 12 months with not much weight loss I want to start with a cut for now.

I think you’re right. Will be happy with 4.1 w/kg in the next 12 months. Doesn’t change the end goal though

OP how will your plan work for the whole of the next 12 months? I’m Primarily thinking about winter months…

Right now the next 3-4 months probably make it seem doable, lots of miles through a summer full of eating right and being outside with lots of daylight hours available (He says looking out the window at wind and drizzle) but by the end of october/beginning November people’s motivation often starts starts to waver with shorter days and colder weather.
So what are your plans to maintain progress through the the winter?
Will you be Zwifting the whole winter away or are you planning a more varied winter training program?

For my own part I know I need to mix things up much more than I have before and that means finding a way to keep doing structured activities that aren’t too weather dependant, So by late September the Garage needs to become a bit more of a budget exercise space and I will be running, swimming and possibly doind kettle bells/circuits just to vary things, the MTB will probably not get ridden between Nov-March and it’s going to be Turbo, Road and CX.

Maintaining 8-10 hr/week cycling in the depths of winter could well prove enough of a challenge, 12-16hrs/week will be hard even with a Turbo/rollers, so what value could substituting other activities/sports maybe add? does this fit with the whole “polarized structure” thing too?

Anyone got any suggestions to keep a winter exercise regime interesting and varied?

I’m not that far into putting this together yet. Weight off first whilst maintaining power. Then when I am at 70kg I’m going to up the intensity. My focus is diet right this minute as that’s been the piece of the puzzle that REALLY needed to change in order to lose excess flab.

I managed about 10 hours a week through this winter, bit of commuting, couple of night rides and a long weekend one. But totally unstructured.

Come next winter it will have lots more HIIT involved alongside low and slow base miles.

This current phase is all about weight off and maintain my leg mass though.

There’s been some conflicting opinions on here as to whether this is a sensible option, but it’s the one I’m comfortable with and going with.

I currently ride about 8 per week, but not structured. I’m upping it to about 10 for now with some polarized structure. In 8 weeks I’ll up it to about 15-20 per week for 6 weeks as I’m off work. After that it will have to drop to 10 again for a while.

What’s IF stand for?

Train hard and eat sensibly and it’ll come off

This is what my cut is consisting of. Cutting out alcohol cakes and biscuits and processed meats is eating sensibly. I’ve not taken up atkins or something daft.

Shifting my carbs to slow release is going to support the goal too as I’ve got less insulin spikes.

What exactly do you think I’m doing to shift the weight? Eating slim fast shakes and not training?

My carb cycling I’m doing is nothing drastic either, just slightly lower carb intake on lower volume days and days where I’m just doing zone 2. Bigger rides and harder workout requires more fuel so more in on those days strategically timed.

I have no idea though as I’ve not tried to cut like this properly in 10 years and used to do it with very little cardio but maintaining weight training.
Don’t forget that cutting for bodybuilding doesn’t also require you to be improving your athletic performance at the same time. You can’t expect to do threshold and above workouts without fuelling properly

Well aware of this, I’m carb cycling for workouts and re-fuelling well after them.

Also as I’ve mentioned I’m attempting to retain my current performance whilst shifting the weight not improve it. I agree with what someone posted early on… both at the same time will be unlikely.

Thanks Matt. I’ll see how I get on.

When I used to lift seriously (over a decade ago) I used to shift fat at about 1kg a week when in a cutting phase. I’m happy to lose muscle (from top half) with this cut too so I think 1kg per week will be ok.

It will be an exponential decay curve though I’m sure. This first week I’ve lost 3kg. Prob be 2kg next week then 1 the week after… then I might be into halves or it could carry on for a bit at 1kg per week.

I have no idea though as I’ve not tried to cut like this properly in 10 years and used to do it with very little cardio but maintaining weight training.

I’ll be having the obligatory “cheat meal” every 7 days or so too to keep my metabolism from stagnating.

Weighed in this morning. 81kg. I’ve been on a diet for 6 days! Was 84kg last Tuesday. I have been ill as well though.

Sugar cravings have all gone and I’m loving being off the booze, actually feel like I’m sleeping deeper.

You wouldn’t believe the crap I’ve eaten over the last few years and riding and lifting weights had generally stopped me piling it on. But I am far from lean. That’s why the sudden focus on diet to help shift the timber before the hard graft of raising ftp.

I’ll be happy to just maintain current strength whilst losing weight for now as I’ll be at 4w/kg (or thereabouts) when I hit 70kg if I maintain current outputs.

I’m aiming for a steady 1kg per week loss over the next 10/11 weeks. Going to keep plentry of squats and deadlifts in to retain raw power as my sprint is my party trick at the minute and don’t want to lose that snap.

I’m blind drunk on 5 beers these days already (maybe 6)

I’ve got a friend who’s done really well in triathlon (was 1 place off representing GB at Iron Man distance a few years back), and he’s always said to me do 80% of your training in zone 2 and then the other 20% needs to be really hard.

I’ve never heard it called polarized before but it’s the same principle.

I try and keep my commutes in zone 2 to help with this balance.

Ok. We’ve got evidence the Vortex isn’t properly up to the job in the long run.

Its a bench mark though and will have to do for now, I’ve considered buying a watt bike but it will have to wait 6 months. For now the Vortex with TAC x software and also trainer road software will have to do due to finances.

Yeh.. although it was more of a “it can’t be much lower” kind of comment.

Local gym has a watt bike. I’ll see if I can get ad hoc membership to do am occasional check in to see how my turbo stacks up.

For now it’ll have to do.

Yeh good point.

Should be consistent with itself though and I’d trust them to have made something that’s within 10% accuracy… I’ll be taking it back if not lol

Anyway. That’s me done…

Will post back when I’ve done my first FTP test properly

Interesting. I bought it based in great reviews about it’s accuracy lol.

Saying that, I reckon I must be pushing those kind of wattage otherwise my current wpkg would be too poor for some of the strava times I put in. Got a few top 10s on a ride the other day without targeting anything (976 people on one of the boards). I’m inclined to think mine seems about right.. I’ve got no way if verifying it though. Can’t imagine tacx creating a product that is out by miles though?

Out of interest, how many hours have you done in 2017 so far?

One of the reasons I love the Training Bible so much is that it addresses all of these points and quantifies them.

I *think* he says you will struggle with volume increases of greater than 15% per year..

It’s varied a lot. I’ve had a period this year where I was doing 150 to 200 miles per week. Some weeks as low as 30 miles. Really not been “training” at all, just riding.

Just checked Strava 1500 miles so far this year. About 500 are serious mountain bike miles though so probably equivalent to having done about 2000 road miles so far this year.

Still been doing a bit of weight training in top of this though so body is used to regular beating.

I don’t believe volume is the key to greater power output though, structured training to increase power is what I’m going with for that on top of my current riding. As I’ve said though… first phase is to shift 13kg or so of weight whilst keeping my legs the size and power they are at 83kg.

700 a year is achievable 1000 probably not quite.

It will be interesting to see what he can achieve if he really has a sprinter’s body.

How are you measuring FTP? On the turbo? I always found it far far more difficult to maintain power on a turbo that I knew I could do on the road. Maybe 15-20% less for the same RPE.

Definitely a sprinter, rode with a new road club chaingang last week and didn’t realise at the end we’d entered a sprint race for the final stop (I just thought we’d picked it up a bit). When I realised what was happening I opened it up and dropped 95% of the field. Ask anyone who rides with me and they’ll tell you I’m happiest when sprinting.

As I say I haven’t properly measured it yet. I’m using a tacx vortex for power. At 265 my hr is at a level I know I can hold for a long time. At 280 it’s at a level I know will tire but at what point I don’t know. It’s currently an estimate. Will do a proper test when I’ve shifted a cold I’ve had since Wednesday.

I would be interested to see how your experiment goes, but I’m more interesting to see how general stamina and endurance last as weight goes down and what sort of training regime you manage to work in around daily life.

Yeh I’m conscious as I drop weight my power might start coming down too. Won’t know until it happens though.

Training at the minute is loose as I’m more focused on a highly strict diet to shift the weight but loosely for the next 8 weeks until I break for 6 weeks off in the summer (school teacher)

Monday- zone 2 commutes plus turbo hiit
Tuesday- mtb night ride with club
Wednesday- road chainring
Thursday- zone 2 commutes + hiit in the evening.
Friday- heavy squats
Sat or Sun one long ride minimum 4 hours. Rest the other day.

Plus, presuming that number in your username is your DOB then there’s your age to consider too.

But you are likely to make some serious gains, be healthier, faster, fitter and happier so go for it!

Good luck with the project

Cheers, it’s not… I’m 34 born in 82. Long story behind the username

Yeh I’ve not extrapolated it. As I say I havent done one to verify it and it could even be a bit higher.

I’ve looked at what my heart rate is doing at different powers on some light intervals I’ve done recently and am 99% sure I could hold 265 for well over an hour (that’s using the output from a tacx Vortex I’m using). Could be as high as 280 but not higher as I know at 300 I fade slightly after about 10 minutes.

I’ll do a proper ftp when I’ve shifted this cold.

No downer taken fifeandy. I don’t take no for an answer and I certainly don’t set out saying I don’t think I can achieve this. I’ve got a goal and I’m shooting for it. If I fail to hit 5w/kg I’ll be faster regardless

How long.. aiming to peak high at the Fred Whitton next year (didn’t get an entry this year and have a couple of very quick friends I want to prove a point to). Got a time in my head of like to achieve (sub 6hr45).

But if I’m not there then that doesn’t mean it stops. Might take 4 years… who knows.

First stage is to shift this timber. I’m aiming for 1kg per week whilst training both turbo and weights hard to maintain power and mass in my legs as my bodyweight comes down.

What type of rider… I’m currently a sprinter but can happily ride century’s. Ride road and mtb.

I’d agree molgrips for most people, however I’ve got a good 10kg of muscle up top I can shed. Which I hope will be the difference. As stated I’m also a bit tubs too. Guess we’ll find out.

Presuming it’s one long climb (Can’t see the profile from strava) about 3hrs up and then 30 to 40 mins back down at a guess from distance and elevation.

I’m an out and out sprinter and a bit heavy for long climbing. Working on getting my weight down though.

Is it a superstar ring by anychance?

I fitted one the other day and have had the same issues with a 9 speed chain on it.

My father in law was following a car that hit one a few months back. Made a right mess of the bumper and bonnet apparently.

I’d have loved to see the guys face though as Ian pulled out his openel and gutted it by the side of the road. Took it home and hung it in the cellar and they’ve still got half of it in the freezer. Nice meat!

Can I suggest a blueberry jeu for anyone doing venison steaks ;-)

Nice sentiment. I like that.

You should get an mgb gt to drive at the weekends :-)

I’d go iDave for that periid. You’ll probably end up leaner despite being off the bike. I find it hard to ride when on a reduced carb diet but it’s great for periods off the bike etc

Thanks for all the responses. I’m interested to try it.

Would you go for an Ultegra di2 over a dura ace mechanical is now the question? as both groupsets can be had for about £900

What’s a climbing shifter?