Discussion
Just starting to try and cycle more again
I was never a serious cyclist did it over 10y ago for a few years when had a dab at triathlons (again more for fun)
Now after lockdown fitness decline trying to get back to cycling to lose weight and get fitter, started in June , doing around 30-50 miles a week
Question is - my vo2 max is 47 which my garmin says is good/excellent border which I’m happy with (it also agrees with vo2 max my recent medical computed)
Question is. , why is my W/kg so low; it’s 3w/kg which is in the middle of fair
Would have thought vo2 max and W/KG would be quite closely related , so what am I missing?
I was never a serious cyclist did it over 10y ago for a few years when had a dab at triathlons (again more for fun)
Now after lockdown fitness decline trying to get back to cycling to lose weight and get fitter, started in June , doing around 30-50 miles a week
Question is - my vo2 max is 47 which my garmin says is good/excellent border which I’m happy with (it also agrees with vo2 max my recent medical computed)
Question is. , why is my W/kg so low; it’s 3w/kg which is in the middle of fair
Would have thought vo2 max and W/KG would be quite closely related , so what am I missing?
Relax
VO2 max needs to be measured with £££ equipment which yours may not have been
And W/kg can mean anything
For the record I had my VO2 max measured years ago as part of a publicity stunt for my mates gym - to my shame Im actually in the Daily Mail
I have a reliable and well calibrated home trainer and my current W/kg vary enormously depending over how long I wish to measure
Over 10s I push out masses, over a more representative 20 min hill climb a lot less
Cheers, and good luck
I’m using the FTP estimate from the power curve for the W/kg so not sure if that is good but the power meter itself is meant to be decently accurate
The vo2 max my garmin estimates is almost same as the one I had measured during medical (was on an exercise bike with an oxygen mask for 40mins so I think it’s an ok one) and even my Apple Watch gets it pretty close somehow
Could be my legs are not acclimatised to cycling ? Since starting 2m ago my FTP has gone from 190 to 245 while vox2 max has hardly changed - confused
The vo2 max my garmin estimates is almost same as the one I had measured during medical (was on an exercise bike with an oxygen mask for 40mins so I think it’s an ok one) and even my Apple Watch gets it pretty close somehow
Could be my legs are not acclimatised to cycling ? Since starting 2m ago my FTP has gone from 190 to 245 while vox2 max has hardly changed - confused
VO2 Max relates more to cardio strength, rather than specific muscle condition.
I had a high VO2 max for running after a year's worth of training and competing at 10K, whilst doing almost no cycling. Then I got back on the bike and was unbelievably slow. A few months later and my cycling legs were back in shape and the speed was there again. Just give it a bit of time, the core "engine" is there.
I had a high VO2 max for running after a year's worth of training and competing at 10K, whilst doing almost no cycling. Then I got back on the bike and was unbelievably slow. A few months later and my cycling legs were back in shape and the speed was there again. Just give it a bit of time, the core "engine" is there.
There's a lot more to it than a high vo2 max score. I'd recommend reading 'faster' by Michael Hutchinson on this.
He had all of the numbers, vo2 max, lung capacity etc to be one of the very best. He was indeed very good, but his body wasn't very efficient ior something similar IIRC vs someone else with the same attributes who was able to produce vastly more power than he was.
ETA, here is a snippet from a review below - Hutch had a vo2 max of 90 FYI. And I've beaten some of his records over the years (though sadly not because I put out more watts
) which goes to show that there's ever MORE to going 'fast' than even 'fitness'
"You may have certain innate physical gifts, but they could be undermined by another physical condition. For instance Hutchinson's VO2 max (the amount of oxygen he can use in a minute) is huge: 50% more than a good club rider. But as his rate of blood lactate build up is also high he could never translate that capacity for fuel use into horse power for long sustained effort at the higher pace needed to bring results amongst the world's very best."
He had all of the numbers, vo2 max, lung capacity etc to be one of the very best. He was indeed very good, but his body wasn't very efficient ior something similar IIRC vs someone else with the same attributes who was able to produce vastly more power than he was.
ETA, here is a snippet from a review below - Hutch had a vo2 max of 90 FYI. And I've beaten some of his records over the years (though sadly not because I put out more watts
) which goes to show that there's ever MORE to going 'fast' than even 'fitness'"You may have certain innate physical gifts, but they could be undermined by another physical condition. For instance Hutchinson's VO2 max (the amount of oxygen he can use in a minute) is huge: 50% more than a good club rider. But as his rate of blood lactate build up is also high he could never translate that capacity for fuel use into horse power for long sustained effort at the higher pace needed to bring results amongst the world's very best."
Edited by okgo on Monday 26th July 11:10
Thanks taking a look see it’s on audible and has great reviews
Figure I can get my vo2 to ~ 60 with some training in only because I can lose 10kg , and hoping some improvements to the engine too
Not going to put me in any comps ofc but would be a nice goal for me to attain personally
I’m more of a sprinter naturally I can reach 1000w fairly easily without training and prob one of the limitation is my muscle type breakdown , as I’m training finding my sprint ability is not changing much , it even feels like it could have gone down despite the 2m riding
Figure I can get my vo2 to ~ 60 with some training in only because I can lose 10kg , and hoping some improvements to the engine too
Not going to put me in any comps ofc but would be a nice goal for me to attain personally
I’m more of a sprinter naturally I can reach 1000w fairly easily without training and prob one of the limitation is my muscle type breakdown , as I’m training finding my sprint ability is not changing much , it even feels like it could have gone down despite the 2m riding
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