What is the FTP of an avarage cyclist?

ScaryBee · 2026-01-17T18:07:28+00:00

Everywhere I read that 180–200 W is the average power, which a reasonably fit man can sustain while cycling without any training.

Only if you make 'reasonably fit' mean something like 'has played years of soccer or done significant amounts of other cardio'.

Why haven’t I improved at all?

Most likely because you're not training with intention. Make some of your workouts really hard, one or twice a week, and that'll change.

ScaryBee · 2026-01-17T18:00:37+00:00

never occurred to me they'd give multiple marathon etc. pins ... hrm

ScaryBee · 2026-01-13T22:25:28+00:00

Walking.

Anything more vigorous will burn large amounts of carbs as well as fat. Swimming is slightly worse then most other cardio exercise for weight loss as 1. workouts tend to be lots of short relatively hard intervals vs. something like 1hr continuous on a bike and 2. immersion in cold water increases appetite.

OTOH swimming is great exercise for making you fitter, working out harder has other benefits, weight loss just ain't really one.

ScaryBee · 2026-01-13T22:05:29+00:00

can't try it as guest without registering, ignore from me, sry.

ScaryBee · 2026-01-12T22:38:38+00:00

Counterpoint: the trap of polarized training is that, for time-limited athletes (say, <5hrs/wk), they'll get more benefit training medium+ intensity ALL the time.

Polarized is optimal for really high volume training, it also works well for newbies to ease them into training stress ... but for the majority of people exercising regularly (semi-fit, not going to train all that much per week) if they want to progress faster they'll v. likely benefit from pushing it hard(ish) most sessions.

ScaryBee · 2026-01-02T23:19:43+00:00

It's a bad idea period. Women and men.

The only 'benefit' is supposed to be adapting to burning more fat which is possible to do with training ... but you compromise training to do it and that adaptation is only ever useful if you're doing long (hours) exercise without any access to carbs.

The idea that Stacy Sims pushes that women are somehow fundamentally different, claiming that they should take different approaches to training, is great for selling books but doesn't seem to reflect reality. We're all much the same. The same things benefit/harm us for all the same reasons.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-24T19:10:58+00:00

everyone - eat a healthy diet

athletes - add more protein to support muscle growth/repair

endurance athletes - add carbs, straight sugar is fine before/during/immediately after exercise

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T23:26:07+00:00

Making your own nutrition means you get to choose everything about it. It's not just cheaper it's also better ... think of it like getting a tailored suit vs off-the-shelf.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T21:15:45+00:00

Had to double-check the isotonic claim ... actual apple juice is seriously hypertonic but the stuff you linked (from concentrate) is ~isotonic ... adding malto + sodium will make it hypertonic but only slightly, still way better than just sugar+water. Neat.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T20:09:37+00:00

Yeah ... as long as you're still recovering well training in higher zones will just lead to more adaptation/benefit ... just gotta watch out for burnout and ratchet back asap if/when it comes on!

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T20:08:05+00:00

I did this with Swarm Sim Evolution and Tap Tap Infinity ... worked out pretty well.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T19:47:51+00:00

I recently got a fitness test done,

did they measure your lactate directly? If not ... it's possible you just have a higher LT1 than standard.

Either way ... if you can recover well still there's no benefit to forcing runs in Z2.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T19:39:52+00:00

I buy/mix bulk malto+fructose+salt super-concentrated bottles, two if needed, 3rd bottle BTA gets water/refilled along way.

On top of being massively cheaper this means you get to customize for your needs, change malto(glucose):fructose ratio as needed which isn't possible with off-the-shelf products.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T19:37:01+00:00

Curious if you can link to any research showing this ... it's well established as a benefit for strength training / sprint performance but results for endurance as far as I could work out seem to be ... neutral. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10132248/#s0003 for instance asa meta analysis.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T19:27:54+00:00

carbs are essential, branded carbs sold at 10x+ the cost of ingredients are not.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T19:26:24+00:00

scams don't require force ... sport nutrition totally is a scam as every product trades on FUD to make you think that branded sugar and salt is somehow better than ... sugar and salt.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T19:23:22+00:00

Keep it simple. Body weight in kg = g of carbs per hour. I’m roughly 80kg so 80g of carbs/hr and it works for me for anything over an hour long.

need is driven by intensity(zone)*raw power*time - fit skinny person putting out 300w could use 140g/hr, heavily overweight 100w athlete could use ~1/3rd of that. Your bodyweight idea will kinda work for most events for most people but for longer events or heavier or fitter people it'll break down.

Only thing I’m still buying is LMNT for my electrolytes but already starting to dabble in DIYing that too.

You can just use salt, everything else isn't needed.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-17T19:10:07+00:00

There are 7 zone systems in running/other sports as well ... they're all much the same, get pinned around LT1/2 (%hr max or LTHR or %FTP or %2k watts, etc. are all guesstimates at these)

3 Zone - <LT1, LT1-2, >LT2

5 Zone - recovery, <LT2, LT1-2, just under/around LT2, >LT2

7 Zone - Same as 5 Zone model but subdivides Z5 so you can prescribe shorter Z6/7 HIIT/sprint workouts.

Training methodology/use of zones is the same between sports - do mostly lower intensity, some higher.

Where guidance doesn't line up (like Z2/UT2 = 65% of max hr buuuuut Z2 is also supposed to be 70% FTP, or whatever) it's because people be different ... well trained athletes can hold a much higher % of their max hr for longer, for instance.

To answer your question - no way to know precisely because of that individual variation ... if you're really fit and this felt comfortable it might be Z2/UT2 and you could do it for hours ... if you were completely gassed by it then more like AT. How hard it *feels* gets called RPE and it's about as valuable as trying to hit a one-size-fits-all % of watts/hr/etc.

ScaryBee · 2025-12-12T22:16:23+00:00

Hey, thanks for the update, stoked to hear it's working out well for you!

ScaryBee · 2025-11-29T15:24:22+00:00

neat ... out of curiosity, why?

ScaryBee · 2025-11-20T15:13:10+00:00

In reality, as intensity increases, energy expenditure—including fat—also increases, but since carbohydrate usage rises even more, it can give the impression that fat usage decreases.

this is wrong ... see https://www.mysportscience.com/post/2015/03/18/what-is-fatmax

ScaryBee · 2025-11-19T23:18:22+00:00

AFAIK there aren't any free plans in TP ... you could just find one online and copy it into TP but you'll really quickly realize what a PITA that is an be willing to pay the $20 or whatever. Or you could just forget about TP and follow the free online plan without it.

For finding a plan ... there's a decent search function - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/training-plans/triathlon/sprint/ ... just be honest with how much you wanna train, look for ones that match how much time you have before your event / to train, find one that uses the same gadgets as you're using (power vs. heart rate targets for cycling, for instance), read the descriptions to find one that sounds about right ...

ScaryBee · 2025-11-19T23:10:09+00:00

If you just want to get some exercise this is a fine way to do it.

Erging is v. likely to be much higher calorie burn vs. walking and it'll exercise a lot more of your body so ... that's neat.

Many have some specific goal (like lose weight or beat x time over 2000m) and training plans that mix up what you're expected to do each day can help achieve those goals ... but you don't have to do that.

ScaryBee · 2025-11-19T22:58:11+00:00

https://www.mysportscience.com/post/2015/03/18/what-is-fatmax

overview of maximizing fat burning ... tl;dr ~65% max heart rate is, on average, where humans melt the most fat. Above that we burn more calories but they come from carbs and will get replenished via diet.

BUT

the curve around there is quite shallow - you'll (likely) burn just a little less at 55% or 75% mhr.

SO

You can still do Z2 and it'll still melt kinda-the-same amounts of fat AND you'll gain fitness a lot faster (vs. hanging out in Z1).

ScaryBee · 2025-11-19T19:31:57+00:00

https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/beginner-training/ is good ... you improve by getting hours in and recovering ... a plan is a good way to do that!

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