Welcome to the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast presented by Trainor Road. I'm Coach Jonathan

Lee and today we are going to talk about how to lose weight while not dropping your FTP and go through a ton of other questions. We're going to talk about Zone 2 training aerobic efficiency, crazy things with VO2 max, all the way down to tire pressures and shock pressures and how they change over a race. It's going to be crazy. We have 15 questions that we're going to cover today. You've submitted hundreds of questions this week. We're going to come right through

a minute. It's going to be crazy. We have 15 questions that we're going to cover today. You've submitted hundreds of questions this week. We're going to come right through them and it's a solo podcast today. So come with me. Let's start it off. And we're going to kick it off with Drew's question. He says, hey, train a road. I've been asking or taking riding and training seriously now for about two years. A ride almost solely on the road. Last winter, I used a different training platform and noticed a decent improvement in regards to FTP, but wasn't happy with a variety of workouts or the metrics provided. After listening to the podcast for the last few months, I've decided to go with Train a Road moving forward. I did a ramp test recently, and I'm happy with the results at 392 watts as it tracked with the data I had been monitoring.

My goal last winter and throughout the summer was to get to and maintain 4 watts per kilogram,

which I did. I'm 6 foot 2 inches and around 203 pounds, putting my current FTP around 4.2 watts

per kilogram. My goal over this coming winter is at least a 4.5 watt per kilogram FTP. And to help reach this, I'm going to try to get my weight down to the 195 to 198 pound range. Being totally new to the train and road platform, I'm looking for some help in terms of choosing a plan direction. What's the best route plan-wise to at least maintain or improve my power while I work on losing a few pounds. I generally ride six days. That's 10 to 12 hours a week over the summer. During winter, I'll probably train on the bike four to five times a week, and that includes one longer outdoor ride or a Zwift race on the weekend and a strength gym workout once or twice a week. Thanks for any input, and I look forward to tuning in the podcast from a pain cave,

best from Drew. All right, Drew, this is the most common thing we all want. The Holy Grail is to

increase our FTP, but then also to lose weight at the same time. It's hard because if we have more

muscle mass, then that also usually makes it so that we can have a higher FTP.

So we think that in our minds, like, it's kind of like a bulking, cutting scenario that you have to do like,

or that's very popular with bodybuilding.

However, cycling is a bit different.

And I think that a lot of us cyclists get this backwards.

And I want to introduce and suggest a paradigm shift for all of us. Really, the constant thought is that I need to pick a time and I need to introduce and suggest a paradigm shift for all of us.

Really, the constant thought is that I need to pick a time and I need to really consume a lot of calories,

I need to ramp my training up, and then at that point I can increase my FTP.

Then I'll cut, I'll run a calorie deficit, and then if I do that, I'll just try to ride the wave for as long as I can

at that high FTP and still this, until the calorie deficit starts to drop my threshold back

down. And I think that's the wrong way to go about it. I think we've had it backwards for years.

And I think that that has proven true with a lot of cyclists and the amateur and pro side of

things. Yonis Abbottohompson is probably one of the best examples of this that we can see in the

pro peloton as of late.

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