power to weight ratio
okay, I am a bit lazy. I am sure that a full discussion about power to weight ratio exists on the wiki, but folks, I am single parenting it this week and don't have time on my side. Here's what I want to bottom out - I have an FTP of 180-185. I want to get into the 200W club this year in the OS. But I also want to go faster and it makes sense that losing weight will make that happen too. I currently weigh 143 lbs. I think I can get down to 135 without making my entire family miserable, but like many women, I lose the same 5 lbs over and over again. I am v interested in the nutrition plan that Coach Patrick talked about in his IM texas (I think!) podcast, so need to get those resources, but would also like to have some help with the math re for each pound lost = time gained or speed gained. thanks everyone!
Comments
(notice those figures are completely made up)
There's no easy answer to how much speed you might gain on the bike from improving your W/kg, other than that it'll generally improve. W/kg becomes more important as terrain gets steeper. When you're riding on flats, the effects of aerodynamics tend to dominate.
It can be insightful to determine how much time you actually gain from improving your power to weight ratio on specific climbs though. For example, you can weigh yourself before a ride, go out and TT up a climb, and note your power and weight in a spreadsheet. After you get enough data points, you can plot your speed vs. W/kg and see that there should be a pretty good correlation between the two.
Yes, that is what I am looking for. When I was training for martins alone, I had a coach who said that for me each extra pound was worth x,per mile. Was highly motivating. Of cours wit might have been BS!
Anson, here's the thing. I flew up richter pass. I mean I was nt even trying hard and I passed at least 100 ppl who were dying. So I feel pretty strong on hills, but I seem to be plateaued at 26kph. Of course, two years go I was plateaued at 19 kph...
Also see benefit on the bike, but not as easily quantified.
Bottom line, more watts and less weight are always a good thing
As far as speed, I'm running 20 seconds per mile faster than this time last year. I am faster on the bike than last year as well, but as Mike said that's harder to quantify. My power-weight ratio is definitely better on paper, and I've PR'd my local routes at all distances this year.
Pick a time of year when you can set your mind to it, and have a high likihood of success. I took my time with this, only aimed for half a pound per week. I would say it's definitely worth the effort.
I am not sure how much value there is in tracking your own W/kg. I would just focus on the output power side of the equation. If you are training well, make taking strides towards your 200W target not only should the weight look after itself but so will your ratio.
On the bike, W/Kg is very important on a hilly course. On a flat course, absolute Watts seem to be more important. So on a flat course, the big Dude with a high FTP will generally be faster, but on a hilly course, the little Chica with a high W/Kg will have the advantage.
Either way, if you want to go faster work on raising your FTP, AND work on losing the extra pounds. It's very hard to do both at the same time. You must fuel your workouts properly, but the extra little things like alcohol and sweets were the obvious things I needed to address. If you get into the 200W club AND you make it down to 135lbs (like you say should be doable) your W/Kg would be up to around 3.26 vs the 2.85 it currently is. That would be pretty darn fast on a flat or a hilly course.
Even if you don't move your FTP at all but get down to 135lbs, then you'd be at 3.0W/Kg which could be a nice benchmark, or first target to go after...