It’s not. Matt’s 5w/kg thread was always stated to be an aim to achieve for 20mins.
This one was always about getting assessed ftp (via any method) to 4.0w/kg or above
Aaaand the balloon has been popped
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A new test yesterday after 6 weeks since the last and 6 weeks of not doing much in terms of training, however a nice increase from 294-301 estimated FTP (ramp test)
But w/kg down from 3.6 to 3.5 haha - oops 
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First official retest since the above. Various zwift rides had given me ever increasing judgements of FTP based on 95% of 20min efforts, the highest being a reported 273. I’d ignored them however.
An Alpe ascent a few weeks ago where I had held 261w for 52mins did make me nudge it up to 260.
Similar to the last test, I went into today not ideally rested. Somehow my ride on Saturday morning has left my legs feeling trashed. Lateral quads and itb’s are very tender. When I started the test and 180w was feeling an effort, I wasn’t optimistic!
However I got through a full minute at 354w and managed about 10s of the 369w minute. Yielded a 267w output.
Definitely my legs that gave out today, not the lungs. So if I can time one of these where I feel good, I think there’s something a bit more in there. With 2-3 TR sessions, plus zwift races and outdoor rides occurring each week, I’m still happy to play it conservative.
Based on my 70.5kg weight from this morning, that has me at 3.79w/kg. Creeping closer. I definitely have some weight to lose, but it’s hard to find the motivation to stop the chocolate etc. Especially with my final race of the year (Wales) having been binned this morning.
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Creeping closer here courtesy of Zwift tritalk team time trial tonight. I was suffering like a dog on the 3rd lap
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I think we need a no trotter rule for photos on this and the weight in thread.
I’ve seen too many manky plates 
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Fair point especially near mealtimes 
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“Creeping closer” is what you do. It takes ages! I reckon I gained about a watt per week over a few months, and lost maybe a kilo per month…
That’s quite a jump, you obvs just needed some motivation
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Shaving toes = gainz
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Actually only a jump from 266 W 
The reason it looks like that was I have been being a tight wad & using my son’s account. Until last night, when riding in the TTT finally forced me to cough up for my own account.
Did zero cycling over the whole winter, just running and swimming. So had lost a lot of bike fitness. But it is true that the numbers have been edging up from around 230W in April - first ever test. Back then I didn’t think a FTP of 4w/kg was likely then but now I do, at least on Zwift. Just need to find another 3 W as I don’t fancy losing 750g
As for the TTT providing motivation - hell yes! Perhaps we could enter tritalk 2 teams next Thursday?
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After racing all out on the bike yesterday and an impressive 2hours sleep last night I gained 6W on the ramp test just now.
Up to a new high of 264W FTP and 3.3W/kg. Nice but Id be lying if I said I wasnt hoping for a big jump. 
In fact I lost a few kilos on the scales this morning but Im assuming thats a variation based on the race/sleep etc.
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But you know that these two sentences are in direct opposition!!
In fairness I was hoping yesterdays race would set my new FTP but that was, how can I say… a poor expression of consistent power
Ive been gathering 4-6 watts fairly consistently since October despite several interruptions in training, Im up 20W from my “no training” state which makes me feel better.
The next six weeks will decide how a feel about my training, the last two years my training has been low, and Ive still made some gains. This year all being well I should have significantly more bike training, about 50% more than the build phase for Lanzarote when I was distracted with marathon training.
Basically, I cant imagine losing more than five kilos, so I need to gain 36W 
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Keep chipping away at it. Do a tapered test and properly do it justice and see how you go, you’ll probably be better than you think…
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I’d say a ramp test the day after a hard 1hr effort is about as sub-optimal as you can get! But you still saw improvement, so I would definitely take that.
I’ve been doing similar. I’ve not gone into a ramp test feeling fresh, as my “recovery weeks” on the trainerroad plan have been supplemented by various things either on zwift or outside that has still made them pretty taxing. But I’ve improved my ramp test results each and every time, and if anything, as I’ve said before, I’m happy to play it a bit conservative and not notch it up too fast that I start failing at sessions.
When I look at my ramp test progression so far this year, I can’t be too unhappy. 254w was the highest I’d ever tested before this year (06/06/18):
Jan 14th: 222w
Feb 17th: 244w
Apr 7th: 253w
Jun 9th: 267w
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You say that, be he did have a massive 2 hrs sleep 
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Thats very good 
I dont see nearly so much variation, 8 weeks before Lanzarote 2019 I was at 254(April), the week after 247(June), almost no bike training into IMCH or after tested at 246 (August) faffed about until testing 248 (October) when I started training again. On the plus side I dont lose much FTP, on the downside…I dont gain much either! 
How long have you been athletic?
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Well, I’ve been on tritalk since my first triathlon in 2013. Depends what you mean by athletic … I played team sports to a reasonable level before that (and the injuries).
The bike has always been my weakest point. But the bigger falls are largely driven by marathon training. When I stop cycling, my bike power falls off a cliff. Running offers no transference of performance to my cycling, whereas cycling does to my running (to some extent).
The Jan test was after the Malaga marathon build following Nice 70.3 Worlds (I was at about 240+ at that time, but had struggled to recapture full bike power following a focus on London marathon in the spring), and then a solid month off training afterwards, including 2-3 weeks of holiday over Christmas/NY. I landed back in the UK a couple of days before that test. So it was very much measuring the worst case.
I think it’s fair to say I have never put so much focus on my cycling volume as I have these past 6 months. As my trainerroad career TSS chart shows:
That’s only cycling TSS, and only cycling with power data (so ignores all my commute riding and any other riding on my “transport” bike in and around London, as that has no power meter).
My trainerroad power curve is almost entirely made up from this season as well
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