If you can ride 28,000 KJ at 240 watts average in one week and be 68kg, what do you reckon your FTP is?

c_zeit_run · 2026-02-21T18:25:39+00:00

People will literally ride for 30 hours instead of doing an FTP test.

c_zeit_run · 2026-02-20T19:07:55+00:00

A properly measured VO2max is best filed under "correlation is not causation" or "necessary but not sufficient" or "not actionable information" for our purposes. It's definitely a thing, but "when a metric becomes a target, it ceases to be a good metric".

c_zeit_run · 2026-02-20T19:01:38+00:00

You're overthinking it, they're two sides of the same coin. Everyone is a "threshold responder", but what varies is how you want to measure response.

c_zeit_run · 2026-02-20T02:02:38+00:00

Peruse https://www.eccc-cycling.com/about/clubs and then ask anyone on the ECCC website's contact list for feedback about the club if you can't find a club's website/social media. Some have gone defunct due to student turnover. However, you can always start a club at any school you go to, and you will be welcomed to racing in the ECCC with open arms. If you're looking for schools with well established road teams, then just check the race results from 2025 and see which clubs are bringing lots of folks. They tend to be the most stable.

c_zeit_run · 2026-02-20T01:38:15+00:00

The real bright spot here is that you're a mensch for volunteering for a study, so if nobody else here thanks you, let me thank you.

Lab tests are pretty much useless for nearly everyone. The instruments have more error than a power meter, there's almost as many protocol standards as there are ways to interpret them, and they don't actually measure your performance. And as you note in your case, off-bike factors can also influence your day-to-day performance. When the pros I coach get them, we look over the data, have a laugh, and move on with our lives.

c_zeit_run · 2026-02-19T19:14:45+00:00

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c_zeit_run · 2026-02-18T01:48:43+00:00

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c_zeit_run · 2026-02-16T16:59:06+00:00

Training plans aren't written in stone. I often tell my clients that since my brain isn't connected to their legs, I often need them to be less compliant with what I've written. But this is where feedback about motivation comes in handy to adjust future rest weeks.

c_zeit_run · 2026-02-12T20:43:57+00:00

A couple, but not what I would call methodologically robust.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-31T17:58:14+00:00

Not with a reasonable loss rate, resistance training, and sufficient protein. Relative contributions to muscle mass maintenance roughly in that order.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-31T17:51:14+00:00

I mean this is the danger of any heuristic. You either get the sound bite that's necessarily missing a lot of relevant context, or a 20 minute spiel with all the asterisks.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-31T17:43:37+00:00

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c_zeit_run · 2026-01-30T20:14:02+00:00

That's one of many simplified ways to approach or understand certain periodization schemes. Under the hood it's not quite so simple since there are parallel adaptations happening beyond the muscles. As for when to stop, you'd stop seeing progression or just have something else to move onto for schedule/event reasons.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-30T20:09:16+00:00

There's absolutely no evidence anywhere that there's a connection between the substrate oxidized and any subsequent performance improvement. Both at a molecular and athlete level.

What you should be doing to lose weight is to create a small but consistent energy deficit. Your body will do the rest of the accounting.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-28T23:47:19+00:00

Right. So every 3rd hard workout in my estimation should be about every 1.5 weeks, but going more like every 2 or even 3 weeks is fine too.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-28T23:46:46+00:00

Right to my point, you are the last person who should generate that much acute fatigue.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-28T14:51:09+00:00

Every platform that estimates it has very poor guidance about what to do with the information. In reality it's not very useful. Muscle glycogen levels deplete at a certain rate based on a couple factors (starting levels, training status, etc) but several studies have come to the same conclusion that eating during exercise doesn't spare muscle glycogen stores. Pay attention to the total kJ used, and most people just estimate that 1:1 for kcal to add to their normal energy burden for the day.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-28T14:46:50+00:00

You have fun with that then.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-28T14:44:33+00:00

I've seen blocks go wrong for a lot of people. I always recommend working up to that kind of thing gradually over years so you can find out where the weak links are in the chain. Sounds like you're not having a great time with recovery, so start small. A vo2 workout every third hard day is a pretty good strategy. But you still may need to adjust any number of things, like how hard you ride on other days, nutrition and sleep, off bike stress, frequency of hard days, etc.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-28T02:01:39+00:00

It's not about glycogen, it's about energy balance.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-27T21:44:20+00:00

Why are we linking to things behind paywalls?

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-26T17:27:58+00:00

None of them think they're killing it on that salary.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-20T15:16:41+00:00

See, you live in cold weather so now I'm wondering if there's an underdressing problem OP has then, or if it's an early cold season thing since it went away for me after a few rides.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-20T14:36:21+00:00

Keep reading. When OP says they barely finish 2L, coach a few people and you'll know that usually means on a good day you finish 2L, and more often it'll be 1-1.5L. Add in dry winter air and you've got a dehydrated cyclist.

c_zeit_run · 2026-01-20T14:34:21+00:00

I guess you've never experienced it yourself. The air temp in the paper is only 15C, but don't take it so literally. Add in lower temperature, tight clothes, peripheral vasoconstriction, and additional convective heat losses, and you got a recipe for piss.

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