You offered some great advice on reasonable CTL targets for masters of different ages.
Can you offer a corollary of watts/kg targets or ranges that would be reasonable for cyclists in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s after following your structured training programs? I know CTL and FTP aren’t directly related but I’m curious what w/kg I should expect for my age.
As background, I did the 10-wk resistance training and ended with a CTL of 52. My FTP test after that put me at 3.25 w/kg. I’m now doing the 18 weeks of intermediate sweet spot, about 10 hrs/week and the PMC projects I finish at about 80 CTL at the end and before starting my specialized training. That CTL seems appropriate for my age. My weight is holding pretty consistent.
I have no idea what I should expect for my w/kg but am curious, to say the least about what would be a reasonable target given my age.
Being able to put out 5.04 watts/kg for 100 minutes will get you the ‘w’ at 35-39 US Masters Road Nationals:
One of Coach @Jake 's athlete won in 2016. But JJ is a beast and what I call a ‘baby master’.
I had an athlete win the 60-64 US National TT championship this past summer doing 4.1 watts/kg (at altitude) for 40 minutes
Think in terms of 3-3.5 watts / kg is good, 3.6-3.9 is really and 4.0 - 4.5 really REALLY good. All for 20-30 minutes sustained outputs.
The original power profile table that Dr. Andy Coggan published in 2004 only had Cat4/5 > World Tour data, and it’d be great to compile masters data one day.
Can we extrapolate from the ages and w/kg of the athletes you mentioned that you and Jake have worked with?
Reading into those as examples, would it be fair to say that 4.0-4.5 would be good for 30 yr olds, really good for 40 yr olds, really really good for 50 yr olds, and “championship good” for 60 year olds.
If that’s reasonable, what would we be the good/really good/really really good/championship good ages for 3.0-3.5 and 3.5 -4.0?
Or is this unreasonable to try project it out this way?
It’s so hard to say. I’ve been beating numerous times by riders with a much lower FTP. I’ve also beat others with a higher FTP. Cycling is also tactical and endurance based. Seems like Zwift is the only place watts/kg are really noticeable.
Some riders can produce numbers within 95% of their FTP after 2 hours of racing some could struggle to do 80%. Some riders are really good at positioning and reading a race so they are able to conserve energy do they have more at critical points in a race.
You also have to look at what are the demands of the race. A flat course could come down to position and a 15 second max seeing effort. Very little to do with FTP as long as you can hold wheels. Or if the course has a 5 minute climb that is critical. It could come down to your 5 minute power.
For gravel races the power you are doing, especially 4 or 5 hours into a race is no where near your FTP. It’s survival and fitness. Have you been doing long simulation rides which will really help. Is your race day nutrition on point fueling you do you can ride at a higher level.
Then non of this accounts for positioning and aerodynamics. Important to do your yoga and foundation work so you can stay in a more aero position longer. Obviously there is equipment as well.
So the most important thing is to work on making yourself better and not comparing to others. Use your strengths to win a race. Make improvements in your training, diet and tactics.
Thanks Jake. I get that FTP and w/kg is only part of what enables you to compete successfully. Separate out all of the tactics, endurance, terrain, fueling and other considerations on the day and forget about racing for a moment. I don’t race but I do all of your plans from resistance to sweet spot to specialized climbing and gravel to put me in a better position to enjoy my riding.
Even if I did race, I’m just looking for a baseline to build from, a w/kg set of expectations for different age groups in the same way Frank provided CTL for different age groups.
For example, say I’m 53 and am building to a 85 CTL, appropriate for my age per Frank’s chart, at the end of the resistance and 18 weeks of sweet spot and before I start any specialized training. At that age and CTL and with your structured training what would be a good, really good, and really really good w/kg?
