Is a diet limiting my gains?

Vodkachaser

Hi, bit of background first I bought a road bike last year and an indoor trainer hooked it up to Zwift and then had child number 2. 12 months past and in January I started a bit of light riding, started getting into it and decided to do an FTP test in trainer road which gave me an FTP of 140 (yes I know I’m unfit). So since 1st April I’ve been doing Zwift events and some training sessions, plus I’ve been the gym, I’m Zwifting about 60 miles a week, and real rides about 25. New FTP this time done in Zwift using the 1 hour test with the 20 minute max effort at the end and my new FTP is 155.

During the 2 month time frame I have lost exactly 1 stone. So I’ve gone from 15 stone 7 to 14 stone 7. I’m slightly disappointed with that new FTP figure and have to say in some Zwift sessions I’m increasing the difficulty to 110%.

So I’m thinking my weight loss might mean I’m not fuelling enough for good gains or I’m just not good at that FTP test. I have to say at the end of the FTP test I was totally wasted. I am restricting calorie intake quite a lot.

Thoughts and advice appreciated.

pblakeney

Cut down on the vodka.

mamil314

Your watts per kilo are flying up!

w00dster

As Mamil says, its not just about your FTP, an important factor in riding is your watts per kg.
I'm a really good example of being the opposite. I used to race, since stopping and stopping my serious training, my weight has ballooned (relatively). I'm now about 73kgs from a previous 66kgs. I can do an FTP test (Sufferfest 4DP Test in my case) and still score pretty much the same as when racing. But the biggest difference is I can tell on real climbs that I'm carrying extra weight and that my fitness has dropped for endurance riding.
So while your FTP is going up, even though it may appear that a 10% gain isn't great (which I'd disagree with by the way!), your weight is also coming down. You've dropped 6kgs and your FTP has increased. That's good going. The point to take from this is that your FTP is measurably increasing, your getting fitter, healthier and slimmer.
I used Sufferfest for my indoor training. I new what I was weak at, I know I could do some sessions at 100% and find them easy, whereas others would be incredibly difficult. I focused on the areas I was weak in - so for me that was specific training sessions aimed at high intensity with short recoveries (to mirror crit racing). You may also find some Zwift sessions are easy and others will be more difficult, depending on your individual strengths and weaknesses.
Also, at your level of riding, treat FTP as a guide not a be all and end all. For me, if I have a rubbish night sleep, busy with work, other stresses going on, I may have a rubbish training session and really struggle to hit my training targets (might take me 3 or 4 sessions to get back on track). I'd just keep doing what your doing, make sure you enjoy it, make sure your getting enough rest and I'd also recommend ensuring you are giving yourself the easy rides where you enjoy being on the bike and not thinking about your FTP or Strava. (Every 6 week I would take a weeks break from training, I'd still ride but it would be more about enjoying being on the bike - chilling on each ride, spending the time to enjoy the countryside)

hdow

Firstly a 10% increase in FTP is not to be sniffed at. In future use the same test protocol. Loosing 14lb in 8 weeks is quite steep. Between a half and a pound a week would be a far better target. A big calorie restriction means that the body has to get its energy from wherever it can and will consume not just the body's stored fat (good) but also lean tissue such as muscle (bad). Muscle that you are trying to build. Also try a small increase in the proportion of protein you eat while dieting to help preserve those muscles.

Too much prolonged high intensity work can actually reduce your fitness. You don't give a breakdown of how much time you spend in each zone. The majority of time should be aerobic which is approximately 50 to 85% of your FTP (75 to 132W). There is a growing body of evidence that this should make up 80% of your training minutes. The other 20% can be as hard or as moderate as you like.

joey54321

That large a gain in 2.5 months will likely never happen again, enjoy it, be proud and keep working.

140w/98.5kg = 1.42
155w/92kg = 1.68

=> 18% improvement in 2.5 months.

To put that gain in to perspective, if you carried on improving at your current rate you'd be at World Tour W/kg in 2-3 years (if my maths are correct). This is (very likely) an impossibility but it hopefully shows you how impressive an improvement it is.