I’ve been hammering away on the trainer lately. Last week I biked more miles than ever (80 on the trainer so probably equal to 100 on the road) and swam more yards than ever (11,000++). I know the swimming is hurting my bike recovery, but for now it is what it is.
Until this last summer I’d never really biked. I hear all this talk of FTP’s in the high 200’s, 300+, pros at 400+. I’m competitive on the bike in the races I’ve done, but it’s likely due to the level of competition and target audience of those races. I’m guessing my sprint type races are done right around 200 watts.
I don’t have power so all summer I spent my time trying to train my rides around 22mph. I was able to do that much of the time on up to 50 miles per week. Now I have the trainer and the Kinetic power curve so can be a bit more scientific. For me one hour on the trainer at 18.5 mph is a pretty good effort and should be in the 210 watt range. Most all of my trainer rides thus far have been more of a sustained steady effort. I feel 230 watts on the trainer or 19mph (for an hour) would be pushing the limit pretty good and may be real near my FTP. I’ve done some one minute work at 21mph or in the 280 range and that is VERY difficult for me (5 x 1:00, 5 minutes spin rest). An FTP of 300 just seems like a complete pipe dream for me.
So my question is at 150# is 300 FTP realistic for me…ever? 300 watts seems to require an incredible amount of muscle to maintain. I’m 34, don’t have unlimited time to train, am a born runner…etc. I also have pretty sever back issues that luckily don’t bother me even in an agressive position. I will likely never bike a 200 mile week.
As a runner I feel biking and running are a bit different in that biking seems to require more pure muscle to make power. Maybe pure bikers are intimidated by the run like I am of the bike I don’t know. I know I’m pushing pretty good in my races because my run is not near my open run times!
not everyone is going to be able to attain 300 watt ftp at 150lbs
that would be really really studly.
and its got nothing to do with muscle power/size. it is still aerobic. frank schleck makes more power than most anyone on earth with little chicken legs. so does my wife =)
do you have a power meter now? or are you just guessing at your wattage?
300 might be a pipe dream, only way to find out is bike 200-300 miles a week regularly, some focus weeks at around 500 a couple times a year, and see what happens!
Throw speed out the window to start - it’s meaningless both inside and out. Power is where it’s at but HR is still way better than speed.
You say you don’t have a power meter so everything at this point is complete guessing. Is 300W FTP for you realistic? No idea since we don’t know where you are right now but I’d say you either need to have a lot of time to dedicate to training or be fairly genetically gifted. I’m no beast on the bike but tend to be respectable. I get down to about 154ish and typically end up in the 270-280 range for FTP when training for IM. I could probably get to 300 if I wanted to focus more on the bike and less on other things or if I had more time to devote to recovery like pros. Same likely goes for you but you don’t have a known baseline yet so this is really just an exercise in guessing.
Careful using that conversion of speed to watts. My powertap would register higher for 18.5 mph than 210watts on my kurt k.
Also, I find that as it heats up, speed for a given power gets slightly better.
I think there is a thread from a previous year about this topic that it might be worth checking out.
I don’t have power. I’m only going by the Kinetic power curve. I keep a consistent 5 full turns on the trainer at 105 PSI which from reading here I’m told is very accurate per their curve.
Since this past season was my first year in TRI I am already so heavily invested in other things (2 bikes, 2 wetsuits / etc…etc as my wife is also doing this) I think power is way way down the road if ever for me. For one I’m not real sure how much longer my back will hold up to the SBR.
For me 300 watts hurts…I just don’t know how that could ever become aerobic for me. I suppose it’s no different than being a 5 minute miler and trying to run 4:00 pace. That would hurt real bad as well!
I’m curious as to what type of running talent it may take to get a FTP in the 300 range at 150#. Are there 18 minute 5Kers (runners not bikers) out there with a 300 FTP? I’d bet not and that it may take quite a bit more “talent” than that.
Throw speed out the window to start - it’s meaningless both inside and out. Power is where it’s at but HR is still way better than speed.
You say you don’t have a power meter so everything at this point is complete guessing.Power estimated from speed on the KK trainer is easily within 10% of actual power so it’s considerably better than guessing.
Do yourself a big favor and buy the book Training and Racing with a Powermeter. There are two editions get the newer version and all your questions will be answered.
You can be 150 pounds and can get up to 300 watts FTP or more but that requires a lot of time and effort. Usually things like work, school, kids etc. prevent you from spending the hours and hours that the pros put in to get some of those crazy high FTP’s. For us common folks you have to balance everything else with the amount of time you have free to pursue pushing your FTP higher.
One key is to train smarter and use your time wisely so that is where the book comes in to help sort out the best protocol for training and raising ones FTP.
Personally I would just use the power curve on the KK to figure out what you are capable of now and then train to raise your threshold power all winter.
Go for as much as you can but I really think 300 watts is an unrealistic high goal for a 150 pounder.
I don’t have power. I’m only going by the Kinetic power curve. I keep a consistent 5 full turns on the trainer at 105 PSI which from reading here I’m told is very accurate per their curve.
don’t count on it! =) seriously.
I think power is way way down the road if ever for me. For one I’m not real sure how much longer my back will hold up to the SBR.
you can just borrow one and do an ftp test
For me 300 watts hurts…I just don’t know how that could ever become aerobic for me. I suppose it’s no different than being a 5 minute miler and trying to run 4:00 pace. That would hurt real bad as well!
yup!
I’m curious as to what type of running talent it may take to get a FTP in the 300 range at 150#. Are there 18 minute 5Kers (runners not bikers) out there with a 300 FTP? I’d bet not and that it may take quite a bit more “talent” than that.
probably, if you have a huge aerobic engine but horrible running efficiency, which is not uncommon. My wife is 135lbs, ~240 watt ftp, but has never broken 20minutes for a 5k, despite being a runner for 6 years and a cyclist for 3.
the real thing is you have no idea what your power is right now. the method you are using is like +/- 25 watts =)
HR is about 140 on my hour long 18.0-18.3 efforts on the trainer. Probably gets up in the 145 or a hair higher at 18.5 type efforts.
But…I don’t know my HR max at the moment.
I generally do my easy runs at about 150 HR…just because I have 7 minute miles engraved in my legs from years of practice 150hr on the run feels WAY better than 140HR on the bike!
Running talent (fitness) doesn’t = FTP but if you are asking if people can be fast runners AND have a high FTP the answer is yes.
I’m curious as to what type of running talent it may take to get a FTP in the 300 range at 150#. Are there 18 minute 5Kers (runners not bikers) out there with a 300 FTP? I’d bet not and that it may take quite a bit more “talent” than that.
My race weight is about 150# and my FTP is in the 250w range. Coming form a cycling background, I am usually a FOP competitor on the bike leg…swim and run is a whole different story.
I have always wondered about that FTP watts/kg-> running speed formula. I know efficiency plays a huge role but there must be a range of w/kg for certain min/mile paces. I always thought of the 4 minute mile as being something like 7.0-7.5 w/kg (hence no one can do them for an hour) and a 5 minute mile being somewhere around 5.5-6 (lots of people can do them for an hour or two). What’s the ST take?
Personally I would just use the power curve on the KK to figure out what you are capable of now and then train to raise your threshold power all winter.
Go for as much as you can but I really think 300 watts is an unrealistic high goal for a 150 pounder.
jaretj
150# triathlete or 150# cyclist? 4.40w/kg is very respectable, but not out of the realms of ordinary.
I have always wondered about that FTP watts/kg-> running speed formula. I know efficiency plays a huge role but there must be a range of w/kg for certain min/mile paces. I always thought of the 4 minute mile as being something like 7.0-7.5 w/kg (hence no one can do them for an hour) and a 5 minute mile being somewhere around 5.5-6 (lots of people can do them for an hour or two). What’s the ST take?
m/s ~ w/kg. Take that with a huge grain of salt though as i feel that weight penalizes you in running even with kg already in the denominator… Maybe it’s like 1m/s ~1.05 w/kg
