Hey guys, Jason here from the burn out question. Thanks for reading my question and going into such depths about the topic. That is exactly why I love the podcast so much. It's a gold mine of information to us athletes who wants to learn. Here's some more info I didn't think of adding at the time I submitted the question. I work at a job with quite low hours and very low stress as well so I had a ton of time for this volume. Not sure if I've mentioned it in the original question but I am a male in my mid twenties at 179cm tall and about 57-58kg. During that high volume period, I used to do around 700-900 TSS per week except for recovery weeks. Can't remember the actual TSS for them but they were much lower in volume and no intensity at all. Probably around 6-8 hours for the whole week. Also, I did focus on getting 8-10 hours of sleep for recovery and proper fueling throughout my workouts. I did my hard days and races with about 95g of carbs per hour from white sugar in my bottles (was still doing gut training to try and get that 95g up even more but then the burn out came). I also add some Himalayan salt for electrolytes to my bottles. The sugar and salt mix with a bit of cooldrink concentrate just for taste isn't the best tasting mix out there, but it's cheap and for me personally worked better than most sport products I've tried and it's easy to measure out. Please note: I can't eat on the bike, I only use liquid calories and maybe some gels here and there but I rarely use them. I used that homemade mix last December to do my longest ever ride on the MTB of 10 hours moving time/12 hours total time/250km/425 TSS all in 35-40 degrees Celsius temps and had no issues due to using sugar only or the heat making it hard to consume calories except for way at the end of that ride I then started to feel like I was over fueling actually (just felt "full"). For all my rides I use that homemade drink mix in my bottles mixed to the amounts needed for the day's training, but always just two bottles. so one day it might be 100g per bottle ( I use two bottles) and another day it might be even double that per bottle. The bottles are just for fuel and electrolytes and then I use my Uswe pack to get the needed fluids in from only water in the pack. Also for the off the bike nutrition, my whole life even before I started cycling I struggled to eat. I'm built like a noodle. With this high volume training I tried my best to eat as much as I can, sometimes even resorting to traditionally "unhealthy" foods just to get calories in. I also made use of some home made gainer shakes with loads of calories but even then I'm not sure I even got in enough. So yeah, that could have been a reason but I honestly don't know how I could even eat any more than I have eaten during this period. I also feel like I should make this point clear. I didn't feel much physical burn out, but rather mental burn out. It was my mental strength and mindset that started going down. The point you've made about losing weight was the exact opposite for me. I was trying to gain a few extra kilos of muscle mass to try and get my actual power to back the high w/g up. I always felt like having a high w/kg while having relatively low actual power is the definition of "all bark but no bite" haha. However, with my high volume on the bike, I was cautious with the gym work and talked to my coach always before hitting the gym to get that go ahead from him first. Also, I noticed that I need the high volume to make gains. For those 3 years I've been doing consistently 10-13 hours o structured training from a cycling coach with only around 3-5 watts improvements on my power PB's every year, but when added just 2-3 hours extra, suddenly my 2.5 hour avg power went up by over 30 watts in just 10 months. Unfortunately I did get to a FTP test during that fitness peak as I was planning on building further. But I guess I would have had a massive jump in power there too. My previous FTP's are as follow 2022- 252w, 2023- 260 then 268w and this year haven't tested yet. I would have tested after my last race for this year and given the percentages of my previous 2 and 2.5 and 3 hour power improvements, if my FTP improved at a similar rate it would have been at around 295-300 (5.17-5.26w/kg). But that is just guessing. Coming back to the training of this year: My biggest TSS days were usually the 5 hour rides with intervals with a TSS of 260-300 depending on the actual intervals. Next thing, I did work my way up to those 15-16 hours and didn't just suddenly have a massive jump in volume. The way I added volume was to add more endurance rides after my shorter interval rides. Usually the shorter interval rides were about 1-1.5 hours so I then added another 1.5-2 hours strict zone 2 on top of that, either directly after the intervals ride or sometimes as a complete separate ride on it's own. I did that maybe once or twice a week and on recovery weeks didn't do any extra work at all. I took recovery weeks extremely seriously for obvious reasons, sometimes doing even less than what my coach planned if I felt I needed it. For the past three years I've been doing 10-13 hours on the bike and also worked with a coach to help with scheduling training and recovery. I've also done some 20 hour weeks here and there but those were just a once off week followed by a proper rest week and then back to 10-13 hours. The main reason I trained these high volume weeks is because one of the mentioned goals was to actually get into one of the local pro MTB teams so I was trying to go from just an amateur to a "semi pro". Last thing, even with those high w/kg, I wasn't actually very fast since I am super light weight. At an FTP of about 4.75w/kg the actual power was just 270 watts and those 4.2 w/kg for three hours was 240 watts. Not that impressive whatsoever. Also, to Nate's point of me achieving the goal which was the race causing me to lose motivation, this isn't the case. That race was a Mid priority race I didn't really care too much about. My target race would've actually be one I was planning on doing at the end of January 2025. So my plan was to target that race for a year or so with dedicated training because that race suites me very well with loads of climbing and quite high temperatures. Out of all the races I do throughout the year that one would have been the best chance I could have had to get podium on a relatively high level race in my country. The rest are all too flat for my power profile and the others with loads of climbs aren't that much of a high level race. Oh and the reason I don't use Trainer Road is because I have a massive difference in FTP from outside to indoors. 270W FTP outside vs +-200W indoors and from my understanding there isn't a way to use "dual FTP" on Trainer Road and I would assume the differences in power from outside to inside training will make the machine learning function on Trainer Road almost useless. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though. It's been almost three months of very little training and I lost more than half my CTL but motivation is now slowly starting to get back. Nowhere close to where it was but I'm happy to say this week I did my first 3 hour ride again since September. Was a challenging one of 1200m elevation gain over 40km but was in a new area in the mountains and forest so was quite enjoyable to be out on the bike again like that.
@@f2.8- Jason, I also train 800 to 1100 TSS per week. I am a 39yo single father with a full-time job. I think you can still improve your nutrition by switching to a low-fat, high-carb diet. I currently eat vegetarian, and honey is the only animal product I still consume. I used to be on a conventional diet, but I could not do half of what I am doing had I not changed my diet. Embrace the refined sugar, mate. For example, when I wake up in the morning, my breakfast is a low-fat cereal with a minimum of 90g of sugar and lots of fruits on top. That’s only the breakfast. Before I go on a training ride, I would have the same cereal with 120g of sugar and usually 300 to 400g of sugar in my bottle for the ride. Coming back from the ride, I typically drink a protein shake with 30g of Soy protein, 5g type1 and 5g type2 collagen, plus 30g of sugar to increase the absorption rate. Lunch would be rice or bread with beans plus a big bowl of salad dressed with honey; the same goes for dinner. And snacking on fruits in between. I do not think you deliver the right calories to your body. Fat is not what a cyclist needs. The only fat we need is the essential fatty acids, which you can get in capsules. If you want, we can chat offline, and I could walk you through my daily diet. Cheers.
@@JulAlxAU Thanks for sharing! I wouldn't say I eat low fat diet but I most definitely eat a high carb diet. When not training, I try to get my carbs in from foods like oats, rice, potatoes and pasta etc rather than sugar. I still consume sugar even when I'm not training. While on the bike, I use a ton of sugar like I've mentioned before. I still consume some healthy fats, not for cycling performance but rather for general health. Foods like fatty fish, nuts, peanut butter, olive oil etc... Before my big rides I normally eat a bowl of oats with sugar that is roughly 80-100g of carbs and after the ride I'll have a fruit shake with some more oats, protein powder and a variety of fruits and berries. This is usually where I add peanut butter for the healthy oils and also to increase the calories in the shake.
I think there's also a point to just having fun on the bike. When you're in off season or taking a break, I would think that you can go on a really fun ride once in a while that would be super beneficial, right?
Just want to pop in and give Jonathan some love. Your swimming video could easily have been me 10 years ago. Hannah and Nate gave great tips. One idea I had is to find a tri club swim group. The swimming level tends to be a bit lower (depending on the club of course). Maybe you will find the level more approachable. Swimming with a group has been huge for me. And FYI I’m still improving on 3 swims a week so I think it’s possible!
Really appreciate your comments about gym culture. Fear not the lifting bros! They see you put in the work, they embrace you. You're one of them. It's a welcoming place.😊
Some people in my area ride everyday, I notice they don’t have enough gas, and they never pull. I’ve been taking days off in between, it helps. One thing I notice I need to do is simply eat more, especially after those 2K calorie burning rides.
My best show ever, Candid and informal, I loved that we have Jonathan to pick on his swimming woes :) thanks for being there, and Kudo to Anna who well shared the burnout vs overtrain
Hey guys just started using your platform, did a ramp test and was slightly disappointed with the results it after listening to the pod it’s a good base and just build on it now 🤙🏻
JONATHAN - I WAS YOU!!! You can improve your swimming. I used to be last out of the water in my AG, now I am out first at local races and top 10-15 at nationals. Here is what I did. Agree you do need to swim often, but it does not have to be high volume every time. Get in and do a 1000m of drills, but you have to swim 5 days a week min - 6 is better. I don't agree you can't still do other sports. On easy swim days you can do bike/run wo's. Also, masters is a must a few times a week and WEAR SIM SHORTS for these wo's to take some of the pressure off. "Real" swimmers will poo-poo you for wearing them, but they have no idea what it is like to learn to swim at age 25+. The shorts help reduce the work and also teach your body to be in the correct position - these are an essential tool....not a cheat tool. If you are learning as an adult you need tools to learn proper technique. Use them all...fins, paddles, shorts, buoy. When doing drills, wear fins. Dills are essential every day...agree work on one thing at a time...focus on pull technique and body position - one arm drill is a great one. You will eventually be able to do them without fins. Other rules - never take more than 2 days off in a row- EVER. Like any sport, consistency is key. Finally, sometimes I find I swim best when I am super tired as my body is more relaxed. Swimming is about not fighting the water so try a swim after you have done a long bike/run earlier in the day. You can do it! Stick with it. Good luck! PS: Love the podcast!
I hope Jason's nutrition and supplementation is on point. At such a volume, you need heaps of sugar! I am on a simillarly aggressive plan and I eat like 800 to 1000g of carbs per day, most of which comes from refined sugar supplemented with protein and micronutrients. I ride 550k a week and recover very fast. I could not imagine doing half of that had I not have my nutrition dialed in properly. Listen to your appetite folks. If you are hungry, eat, but eat high-carb, low-fat.
Hey man, Jason here. Yes I did Focus a ton on nutrition during that period. If you look into the comments of this video, I added some more info about my training during that time I you're interested.
Another importance factor of not eating enough over a period of time is reducing testosterone levels. Something I learnt the hard way and now fully appreciate that food is hugely important, more so than any other factor with training. Over the years TR have been instrumental in banging the same drum… ‘EAT’ not just on the bike but before and after. Don’t be scared of eating. Fuel, fuel and more fuel… “The more you eat, the more you can train and get faster"
hell yeah I would like to see how I am progressing compared to myself last year and against all TR athletes. Let's make it fun and competitive. The only reason I go into my trainer is because I wanna win races!
Adding to the weight-loss discussion: losing weight isn’t just about being lighter-it fundamentally changes the challenge. Dropping weight will make maintaining balance and control significantly harder. If training feels tough now, imagine how much harder it becomes with x amount of mass gone. If you're prepared to make balancing on a knife’s edge even more precarious and believe the trade-off is worth it, go for it. But the downside will most likely be far greater than it seems.
Also if you‘re burnt out: food food food. Get on top of those carbs again. Long term glycogen depletion COULD be a huge part in what you are experiencing.
A super interesting and relevant to me podcast - thanks guys! So I feel like i might be starting to overtrain just a bit - Hannah's reflections on getting sick more often struck a chord. I plan to take some time off over Christmas. And then your 42 year old triathlete - I'm 40 myself, 31 months and about 1400hrs back into training after a long time off. Raced as a kid. My FTP is up to 4.3w/kg now and rising fairly quickly still. What's unusual is that I'm 102kg and 203cm, so my absolute value is quite high. Given the amount of time that it takes to build the aerobic engine, I'm curious to know how long I can still progress for. I feel I still have a few years of progression ahead of me before age starts to catch up. UCI Gravel Worlds qualification (age group of course) is next year's goal, for which I hope to increase my FTP to over 460w (currently 435w) and maybe drop my weight to about 97-98kg. I then get close to that magic 5w/kg figure. And thoughts on how long these newbie gains can continue would be greatly appreciated 😁
Advice on weight good but if you are triathlete you have to run off the bike. Less mass less oxygen to move same speed. There is a balance. My bike stays pretty similar 4:35-4:45 for a full but run pace changes dramatically based on body mass. At Kona they weighed me before (rules to compete) and i was so bulked up. Ate whatever I wanted for the 3 months leading up. Recovery was great and had some amazing power but run speed was impacted. Reality of running sadly
I am 54 and my current wkg is 3.31. In the last 6 years it has dropped from 4.28 to 3.31. But, since I have added strength training and my high / top end 15s-4M has gone through the roof. I just can't figure out how others my age seem to be getting stronger in all day power as I ride the same volumes up to 20+hrs during peak summer weeks and seem to be going backwards.
I personally would love to see the comparison to yourself. Against others would be cool too but not as important IMO. I’m also 4.3 w/kg (at sea level) and got smoked my Jonathan at Downieville but I think the heat (and lack of heat training on my part) played a huge role on the climb at least, if only I could be that fast descending😢😂.
Hey guys, Jason here from the burn out question. Thanks for reading my question and going into such depths about the topic. That is exactly why I love the podcast so much. It's a gold mine of information to us athletes who wants to learn. Here's some more info I didn't think of adding at the time I submitted the question. I work at a job with quite low hours and very low stress as well so I had a ton of time for this volume. Not sure if I've mentioned it in the original question but I am a male in my mid twenties at 179cm tall and about 57-58kg. During that high volume period, I used to do around 700-900 TSS per week except for recovery weeks. Can't remember the actual TSS for them but they were much lower in volume and no intensity at all. Probably around 6-8 hours for the whole week. Also, I did focus on getting 8-10 hours of sleep for recovery and proper fueling throughout my workouts. I did my hard days and races with about 95g of carbs per hour from white sugar in my bottles (was still doing gut training to try and get that 95g up even more but then the burn out came). I also add some Himalayan salt for electrolytes to my bottles. The sugar and salt mix with a bit of cooldrink concentrate just for taste isn't the best tasting mix out there, but it's cheap and for me personally worked better than most sport products I've tried and it's easy to measure out. Please note: I can't eat on the bike, I only use liquid calories and maybe some gels here and there but I rarely use them. I used that homemade mix last December to do my longest ever ride on the MTB of 10 hours moving time/12 hours total time/250km/425 TSS all in 35-40 degrees Celsius temps and had no issues due to using sugar only or the heat making it hard to consume calories except for way at the end of that ride I then started to feel like I was over fueling actually (just felt "full"). For all my rides I use that homemade drink mix in my bottles mixed to the amounts needed for the day's training, but always just two bottles. so one day it might be 100g per bottle ( I use two bottles) and another day it might be even double that per bottle. The bottles are just for fuel and electrolytes and then I use my Uswe pack to get the needed fluids in from only water in the pack.
Also for the off the bike nutrition, my whole life even before I started cycling I struggled to eat. I'm built like a noodle. With this high volume training I tried my best to eat as much as I can, sometimes even resorting to traditionally "unhealthy" foods just to get calories in. I also made use of some home made gainer shakes with loads of calories but even then I'm not sure I even got in enough. So yeah, that could have been a reason but I honestly don't know how I could even eat any more than I have eaten during this period.
I also feel like I should make this point clear. I didn't feel much physical burn out, but rather mental burn out. It was my mental strength and mindset that started going down.
The point you've made about losing weight was the exact opposite for me. I was trying to gain a few extra kilos of muscle mass to try and get my actual power to back the high w/g up. I always felt like having a high w/kg while having relatively low actual power is the definition of "all bark but no bite" haha. However, with my high volume on the bike, I was cautious with the gym work and talked to my coach always before hitting the gym to get that go ahead from him first.
Also, I noticed that I need the high volume to make gains. For those 3 years I've been doing consistently 10-13 hours o structured training from a cycling coach with only around 3-5 watts improvements on my power PB's every year, but when added just 2-3 hours extra, suddenly my 2.5 hour avg power went up by over 30 watts in just 10 months. Unfortunately I did get to a FTP test during that fitness peak as I was planning on building further. But I guess I would have had a massive jump in power there too. My previous FTP's are as follow 2022- 252w, 2023- 260 then 268w and this year haven't tested yet. I would have tested after my last race for this year and given the percentages of my previous 2 and 2.5 and 3 hour power improvements, if my FTP improved at a similar rate it would have been at around 295-300 (5.17-5.26w/kg). But that is just guessing.
Coming back to the training of this year: My biggest TSS days were usually the 5 hour rides with intervals with a TSS of 260-300 depending on the actual intervals. Next thing, I did work my way up to those 15-16 hours and didn't just suddenly have a massive jump in volume. The way I added volume was to add more endurance rides after my shorter interval rides. Usually the shorter interval rides were about 1-1.5 hours so I then added another 1.5-2 hours strict zone 2 on top of that, either directly after the intervals ride or sometimes as a complete separate ride on it's own. I did that maybe once or twice a week and on recovery weeks didn't do any extra work at all. I took recovery weeks extremely seriously for obvious reasons, sometimes doing even less than what my coach planned if I felt I needed it. For the past three years I've been doing 10-13 hours on the bike and also worked with a coach to help with scheduling training and recovery. I've also done some 20 hour weeks here and there but those were just a once off week followed by a proper rest week and then back to 10-13 hours. The main reason I trained these high volume weeks is because one of the mentioned goals was to actually get into one of the local pro MTB teams so I was trying to go from just an amateur to a "semi pro". Last thing, even with those high w/kg, I wasn't actually very fast since I am super light weight. At an FTP of about 4.75w/kg the actual power was just 270 watts and those 4.2 w/kg for three hours was 240 watts. Not that impressive whatsoever. Also, to Nate's point of me achieving the goal which was the race causing me to lose motivation, this isn't the case. That race was a Mid priority race I didn't really care too much about. My target race would've actually be one I was planning on doing at the end of January 2025. So my plan was to target that race for a year or so with dedicated training because that race suites me very well with loads of climbing and quite high temperatures. Out of all the races I do throughout the year that one would have been the best chance I could have had to get podium on a relatively high level race in my country. The rest are all too flat for my power profile and the others with loads of climbs aren't that much of a high level race.
Oh and the reason I don't use Trainer Road is because I have a massive difference in FTP from outside to indoors. 270W FTP outside vs +-200W indoors and from my understanding there isn't a way to use "dual FTP" on Trainer Road and I would assume the differences in power from outside to inside training will make the machine learning function on Trainer Road almost useless. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though.
It's been almost three months of very little training and I lost more than half my CTL but motivation is now slowly starting to get back. Nowhere close to where it was but I'm happy to say this week I did my first 3 hour ride again since September. Was a challenging one of 1200m elevation gain over 40km but was in a new area in the mountains and forest so was quite enjoyable to be out on the bike again like that.
@@f2.8- Jason, I also train 800 to 1100 TSS per week. I am a 39yo single father with a full-time job. I think you can still improve your nutrition by switching to a low-fat, high-carb diet. I currently eat vegetarian, and honey is the only animal product I still consume. I used to be on a conventional diet, but I could not do half of what I am doing had I not changed my diet. Embrace the refined sugar, mate. For example, when I wake up in the morning, my breakfast is a low-fat cereal with a minimum of 90g of sugar and lots of fruits on top. That’s only the breakfast. Before I go on a training ride, I would have the same cereal with 120g of sugar and usually 300 to 400g of sugar in my bottle for the ride. Coming back from the ride, I typically drink a protein shake with 30g of Soy protein, 5g type1 and 5g type2 collagen, plus 30g of sugar to increase the absorption rate. Lunch would be rice or bread with beans plus a big bowl of salad dressed with honey; the same goes for dinner. And snacking on fruits in between. I do not think you deliver the right calories to your body. Fat is not what a cyclist needs. The only fat we need is the essential fatty acids, which you can get in capsules. If you want, we can chat offline, and I could walk you through my daily diet. Cheers.
@@JulAlxAU Thanks for sharing!
I wouldn't say I eat low fat diet but I most definitely eat a high carb diet. When not training, I try to get my carbs in from foods like oats, rice, potatoes and pasta etc rather than sugar. I still consume sugar even when I'm not training. While on the bike, I use a ton of sugar like I've mentioned before. I still consume some healthy fats, not for cycling performance but rather for general health. Foods like fatty fish, nuts, peanut butter, olive oil etc... Before my big rides I normally eat a bowl of oats with sugar that is roughly 80-100g of carbs and after the ride I'll have a fruit shake with some more oats, protein powder and a variety of fruits and berries. This is usually where I add peanut butter for the healthy oils and also to increase the calories in the shake.
I think there's also a point to just having fun on the bike. When you're in off season or taking a break, I would think that you can go on a really fun ride once in a while that would be super beneficial, right?
Hannah and Magnum PI on the same episode? You know it's going to be good!
I think the watt / kg calculator link is missing?
Just want to pop in and give Jonathan some love. Your swimming video could easily have been me 10 years ago. Hannah and Nate gave great tips. One idea I had is to find a tri club swim group. The swimming level tends to be a bit lower (depending on the club of course). Maybe you will find the level more approachable. Swimming with a group has been huge for me. And FYI I’m still improving on 3 swims a week so I think it’s possible!
Great episode, thanks TR, and congrats on 500. It’s evident you’ve been doing this for a while and you all have great chemistry, fun episode.
Great topics for discussion! Excited to listen this episode
Thanks for listening!
Really appreciate your comments about gym culture. Fear not the lifting bros! They see you put in the work, they embrace you. You're one of them. It's a welcoming place.😊
Some people in my area ride everyday, I notice they don’t have enough gas, and they never pull. I’ve been taking days off in between, it helps. One thing I notice I need to do is simply eat more, especially after those 2K calorie burning rides.
Eating more is a huge thing people overlook! Good for you.
My best show ever, Candid and informal, I loved that we have Jonathan to pick on his swimming woes :) thanks for being there, and Kudo to Anna who well shared the burnout vs overtrain
Man I miss being in the Corps.
PFT was 3mi, so not quite 5k, and I would routinely run 17:00-17:15.
Those were the days...
Burn out is one of my challenges with training. I have to manage my training load carefully or it start to be a second job.
Just the fact that you recognize that speaks volumes to your maturity. Great work!
Thanks, Nate-I'm glad I'm not the only one who bumped on "upset tummy" 😆
Great episode. Thanks!
I just came in to say “what’s up” to the three of you.
I have been out of cycling but am planning to get back in it and on TR soon as possible. Cheers
Hey guys just started using your platform, did a ramp test and was slightly disappointed with the results it after listening to the pod it’s a good base and just build on it now 🤙🏻
Hannah is awesome!
JONATHAN - I WAS YOU!!! You can improve your swimming. I used to be last out of the water in my AG, now I am out first at local races and top 10-15 at nationals. Here is what I did. Agree you do need to swim often, but it does not have to be high volume every time. Get in and do a 1000m of drills, but you have to swim 5 days a week min - 6 is better. I don't agree you can't still do other sports. On easy swim days you can do bike/run wo's. Also, masters is a must a few times a week and WEAR SIM SHORTS for these wo's to take some of the pressure off. "Real" swimmers will poo-poo you for wearing them, but they have no idea what it is like to learn to swim at age 25+. The shorts help reduce the work and also teach your body to be in the correct position - these are an essential tool....not a cheat tool. If you are learning as an adult you need tools to learn proper technique. Use them all...fins, paddles, shorts, buoy. When doing drills, wear fins. Dills are essential every day...agree work on one thing at a time...focus on pull technique and body position - one arm drill is a great one. You will eventually be able to do them without fins. Other rules - never take more than 2 days off in a row- EVER. Like any sport, consistency is key. Finally, sometimes I find I swim best when I am super tired as my body is more relaxed. Swimming is about not fighting the water so try a swim after you have done a long bike/run earlier in the day. You can do it! Stick with it. Good luck! PS: Love the podcast!
Another vote here for the ability to compare progression rate compared to the same point on previous seasons. That would be brilliant 👍
I hope Jason's nutrition and supplementation is on point. At such a volume, you need heaps of sugar! I am on a simillarly aggressive plan and I eat like 800 to 1000g of carbs per day, most of which comes from refined sugar supplemented with protein and micronutrients. I ride 550k a week and recover very fast. I could not imagine doing half of that had I not have my nutrition dialed in properly. Listen to your appetite folks. If you are hungry, eat, but eat high-carb, low-fat.
Hey man, Jason here. Yes I did Focus a ton on nutrition during that period. If you look into the comments of this video, I added some more info about my training during that time I you're interested.
Where can I find the w/kg table Bell curve considering age categories? Thx.
Another importance factor of not eating enough over a period of time is reducing testosterone levels. Something I learnt the hard way and now fully appreciate that food is hugely important, more so than any other factor with training. Over the years TR have been instrumental in banging the same drum… ‘EAT’ not just on the bike but before and after. Don’t be scared of eating. Fuel, fuel and more fuel… “The more you eat, the more you can train and get faster"
hell yeah I would like to see how I am progressing compared to myself last year and against all TR athletes. Let's make it fun and competitive. The only reason I go into my trainer is because I wanna win races!
Adding to the weight-loss discussion: losing weight isn’t just about being lighter-it fundamentally changes the challenge. Dropping weight will make maintaining balance and control significantly harder. If training feels tough now, imagine how much harder it becomes with x amount of mass gone. If you're prepared to make balancing on a knife’s edge even more precarious and believe the trade-off is worth it, go for it. But the downside will most likely be far greater than it seems.
Also if you‘re burnt out: food food food. Get on top of those carbs again. Long term glycogen depletion COULD be a huge part in what you are experiencing.
Re:5K. I've done a best of around 23:30 but can reach a 4.0+wkg ftp lol. It's pretty frustrating. 😅
A super interesting and relevant to me podcast - thanks guys!
So I feel like i might be starting to overtrain just a bit - Hannah's reflections on getting sick more often struck a chord. I plan to take some time off over Christmas.
And then your 42 year old triathlete - I'm 40 myself, 31 months and about 1400hrs back into training after a long time off. Raced as a kid. My FTP is up to 4.3w/kg now and rising fairly quickly still. What's unusual is that I'm 102kg and 203cm, so my absolute value is quite high. Given the amount of time that it takes to build the aerobic engine, I'm curious to know how long I can still progress for. I feel I still have a few years of progression ahead of me before age starts to catch up. UCI Gravel Worlds qualification (age group of course) is next year's goal, for which I hope to increase my FTP to over 460w (currently 435w) and maybe drop my weight to about 97-98kg. I then get close to that magic 5w/kg figure.
And thoughts on how long these newbie gains can continue would be greatly appreciated 😁
Advice on weight good but if you are triathlete you have to run off the bike. Less mass less oxygen to move same speed. There is a balance. My bike stays pretty similar 4:35-4:45 for a full but run pace changes dramatically based on body mass. At Kona they weighed me before (rules to compete) and i was so bulked up. Ate whatever I wanted for the 3 months leading up. Recovery was great and had some amazing power but run speed was impacted. Reality of running sadly
We want to see that video of john swimming 😂😂,, send the link 🤣
I am 54 and my current wkg is 3.31. In the last 6 years it has dropped from 4.28 to 3.31. But, since I have added strength training and my high / top end 15s-4M has gone through the roof. I just can't figure out how others my age seem to be getting stronger in all day power as I ride the same volumes up to 20+hrs during peak summer weeks and seem to be going backwards.
Does TR adjust a workout on the fly? Eg. unexpected fatigue or ease (effort)
Those of us with "regular jobs" train on 7-day weeks because we need the extra time on the weekend. Should pros ignore the 7-day cycle?
You... Err..... Have so much room for improvement! 🤣
Maybe that guy who can’t train is depressed
I personally would love to see the comparison to yourself. Against others would be cool too but not as important IMO.
I’m also 4.3 w/kg (at sea level) and got smoked my Jonathan at Downieville but I think the heat (and lack of heat training on my part) played a huge role on the climb at least, if only I could be that fast descending😢😂.
Video analysis for Jonathan for the swim. Helped me a ton. Feels more effortless with the right technique
More like 2.5 burritos
Does TR adjust a workout on the fly? Eg. unexpected fatigue or ease (effort)