The 4w/kg thread

As a few of us have expressed an intention to try and reach this mark, I thought it might be good to track our progress and the sessions we are doing to try and get there (and maybe spark some inspiration in others). I imagine this thread will largely focus on the FTP growth side of things…

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As a guide, for me to reach 4w/kg I need to get to 275 FTP at 69kg, or 280 FTP at 70kg.

In my last Ironman year I got down into the 69’s, and was at 254w two months prior to the event.

Hmmmm, 230W & 96kg = 2.4W/Kg, this may take some time :hot_face:
Lose 6kg and another 130W would do the trick!

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Yep, I feel like I’ve lost a bit of power over November and December.

On the turbo I’d say if you only did 2x20 - 3x20 - 2x30 and 3x30 A few sessions a week will sort you out.

Done in the region of 85-95% of ftp should see you right

Although I’d say it’s probably more beneficial to do more than going harder.

So better to do 3x30 at 85% than 2x20 at 90-95%

That’s interesting, I’ve been trying to do 2 sessions per week. One similar to your examples but then another with some shorter intervals over FTP, would you not include that, especially starting at the level I’m at?

Guess it depends on what you want to train.

I know that shorter intervals can bring your power output up but for time trialing and triathlon I’d say longer intervals in that sweet spot area would be more beneficial. Certainly for tri race situations where you’ll likely be riding under your ftp anyway

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I’m in!

i’m not a million miles away at 3.6W/Kg (FTP 229 and 63kg), but at the stage where FTP gains are in a watt here and a watt there… so its going to need a lot of work… not much room for weight loss without getting a bit crazy about it… so ot’ll be drop a kilo, and gain 19W :flushed:

I’ve started doing some Zwift racing again, which will help I suspect with encouraging more above/below FTP work, but also some VO2max sessions and a lot of easy Z1/2 riding.

I’m focusing on more aerobic stuff at the moment - lots of z2 work basically. Also including one vo2 session a week either running or on the turbo. Will re-test in around 6 weeks but will keep an eye on W:HR as I go along

I managed to hit 3.7 the week before Xmas. Currently 3.6 according to Garmin. At my current FTP, I’d have to be 66kg to hit 4w/kg. Not happening! Most realistic would be a small weight loss, but a significant power improvement (72kg/290w). Currently 73/267.

At 73kg recently one of my wife’s friends has already said I’m looking unusually ‘slight’.

Currently on 3.6.

4 is either 7kg or 33 watts away.

3 years ago I did 1 25 TT at exactly 4w/kg. Not been close since but would love to get back there.

As a coincidence if I put my height and weight into Alan Couzens ‘ideal weight for Ironman’ calculator it gives me the exact weight that equates to 4w/kg off current FTP. I’ve no idea how to get my weight down to that level, can see 2-3 kg at best.

Current on Trainer Road sweep spot base to try and add a few W instead…

I’ve just used the calculator and it brings me out at 66kg. That’s really light for me. Was aiming for 68kg this summer! :man_shrugging:
As for the W/kg, I’m so far behind you guys it’s not funny… if I weighed the same as Mo Farah, I’d be somewhere near!

My current w/kg is 3.4. That’s with an ftp of 250w and weighing 73.5kg.

Although today’s sweetspot session was pretty awful (long day at work yesterday, first early morning turbo in a long while / fasted) most of my sweetspot sessions have been quite comfortable, so I will be doing a ramp test soon and it should be a bit closer to 260W.

I got up to 280w when I was only cycling and doing a couple of TR sessions per week, so, in theory, the capacity is there. 70kgs is probably a bit too light for me, but if I can get down to around 71kg, that should make a pretty big difference. When I set my TT pb’s over 25 and 50 miles I was around 76kg.

About 3.7 at the moment, hope to be back to 4+ by July.

It’s weird isn’t it.

This was my ‘race power’ for about 3 seasons. It would drift in the off season, be nearly there in training and the last taper boost and weight loss would push 5-10W up from about 265 to 275 and the weight would drop from about 69 to 67.5 and I’d be there.

The past couple of seasons it has moved further away and the race boost hasn’t turned up. Now I reckon it would only be 3.5W/kg @70kg right now with maybe another 10W in the bag and a 1kg drop. Not doing anything different other than a little less volume (but still above 10hrs/week).

So I dunno. Will stick it in the goal box nevertheless.

Are we having a unified method for measuring FTP or should that be a separate thread?

ETA: I’m in though BTW

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Yeah unified would be good, cause based on a ramp, an FTP or an effort within a ride I’m either;

3.92
3.86
3.68
Currently trying to shift 5kg of excess weight too!

All my FTP tests, back to my 2018 Ironman year which is my key comparable, have been the trainerroad ramp test. So I will be sticking with that one for consistency.

Thanks Stenard - thats my highest number :grinning:

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It’s called ageing!