Omg I’m so glad you said that about Elite erg mode. It’s rrrrrrubbish! I went from a cheaper Tacx up to a direct drive Elite and have been so disappointed with that aspect of it. Nightmare. Well done on the FTP tests. You rock. 🎉
I valued the best equipment vid as it was. It was an opinion piece from someone at the wt level, what was not too like? Crack on mate, we like your content or we wouldn’t stay subscribed. Im personally fascinated by your sporting transition 👍
You're doing an amazing job Alex, I love and look forward to every video, the ex pro insight is just fascinating, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you :)
Alex, don’t apologise for the plonkers on your kit video, some of the people commenting where, well just… yer… the one actually sending links to me says after was weird. Enjoyed this one and can’t wait to see you kicking our heads in at a CTT event soon!
Alex, your opinion is much more valid than their opinions of your opinion. Hypocritical of them to justify their opinions of your opinion, in my honest opinion… :) Great videos! Rock on, and great run in the London Marathon!
What is your take on FTP as a proxy for 1 hr power? Is that reasonable if people don’t practice long 40min+ threshold efforts? What were some workouts you did to translate good 10-20min power into 1hr-90min power, Alex?
Mostly not reasonable(espacially that step tests results). Thats why Trainingspeaks for example works with Time to Exhaustion (The time how low you can cycle at FTP) Workouts for extent the TTE: OverUnders, Long SST Intervals (20+mins per Interval, or just one big interval),
From relatable chap to beast! 😬 Yeah, the equipment video seemed to gather some bit of ire from people. There is some odd pessimism rooted in cycling community that i've not seen anywhere else. It's good to be critical but lots of cycling channels seem to have taken stance of everything is scam and BS. And it seems to sell. Now you have rowing band of fanatics calling out everyone who doesn't slam dunk the big names.
Alex, the think that altitude does is to shift the metabolism, initially you burn more glycogen at a lower effort level and at a faster rate. This starts to modify after about 10 days and, with control of effort your making metabolic modifications by 3 weeks. Living at altitude means that the modifications then slow down. When you then go to sea level, even for a few days (3-5) the body makes fast modifications as it is effectively in a super compensation situation. When you return to altitude then, you will notice a training gain. Doing a high demand race etc at close to sea level then trying to recover at altitude, will slow the recovery as the metabolism will have shifted again, using more glycogen even at resting, so slowing the ability to regenerate. So to increase recovery rate at altitude would be to do the reverse if what simulated altitude at sea level does (scrub out O2, lower the percentage in the air you breath) so giving the body an oxygen feed for an hour, would allow the recovery rate to increase then settle to a better level when off O2.
I enjoyed that video, as I do this one. I might be jaded alittle bit as a long time follower of the channel but I think you are 1st class keep up the hard work
The maths do add up x = km above sea level Bassett et al Altitude-acclimatised athletes (several weeks at altitude): Proportion of sea level power = -0.0112 x^2 - 0.0190x + 1 Bassett et al Non altitude-acclimatised athletes (1-7 days at altitude): Proportion of sea level power = 0.00178x^3 - 0.0143x^2 - 0.0407x + 1 Power at 2km altitude unacclimatised is 87,6% of sea level Acclimatised 91,7% You did a bit less at altitude than expected with the calculations, however you said you were fresher at sea level so it is pretty close
A lot of people say HR is not a reliable training metric thanks to it's inherent variability. And now you've demonstrated that watts are ALSO variable...and I'm guessing you'll be putting up a third different FTP when you change equipment. So why to we still focus on it so heavily if it is pretty clearly not a constant?
@@AlexDowsettOfficial I should clarify that I think we get a(n even) better picture when we can use multiple metrics together. I think the key is knowing and accepting the limitations of each one, as your FTP test is showing.
Can't get past the Conan The Barbarian armbands what with the base layer. Game-of-Zones-tastic. No disrespect, I can see how they work and wouldn't mind some myself!
All I'm saying is that if you step up to 400w, or if you warm up at 250w for 5 minutes and do a banzai effort at 400w, the FTP will be the same. Or, you could start from 200w and step up from there.
well i watched that video and I knew that was your opinion. and to be honest thats the opinions that matter. real world. if you become to tech i am sure most of us will not fully understand what your saying. mind you i'm thick so possibly not the best person to comment.
Hi Alex, you seems like a decent honest person. Here is a question (maybe a video recommendation )for you: Is it possible to win anything at a pro level as a natural ? I guess most people know what it means to be a natural ?!
20mins is 20mins of all out effort, a ramp isn’t 😅 I’ve done 6 now with 1 more planned for the purposes of science, there’d be 6 less if I had to do the 20min version 😂
The result more or less correlates to other scientific studies on power output on altitude.. However your heartrate was quite a bit lower that day on altitude, which usually is the other way round. Maybe you didnt give it your all ;)
Stress has been very up and down of late which has a ar bigger impact on performance than often reported. Alongide the variation in shoulder and chest hair, I'd say this was a variable and hole in the test
@@Tethysmeer that’s a general feature of aerobic fitness, which they have in spades. More red blood cells and efficient aerobic systems means oxygen for recovery is available to the body much more quickly. It’s the same reason they have low resting heart rates before the work starts too.
I heard that in the pro peloton most riders are.....preeeeeetty much happy with their FTP. I mean, most of them are, you know, happy with it. So there is some real inside information about the pro peloton that you don't get every day.
I'd be interested in the effects of altitude camp on FTP. How many days off altitude were you for the second FTP test? The blood count is increased for about 2-3 weeks, right?
I was 7/8 days down from sea level. Obviously didn’t do any blood count measurements but I know from going back and forth I’m great for a day or 2, mediocre for 3 days and then it comes back again.
i thought the kit video was fine....however, you totally ruined the science in the altitude vs sea level test by removing your chest hair...was it the hair or the oxygen that made the difference? we will never know
Alex, don’t apologise for the plonkers on your kit video, some of the people commenting where, well just… yer… the one actually sending links to me days after was weird. Enjoyed this one and can’t wait to see you kicking our heads in at a CTT event soon!
I like that a video about FTP tests is almost exactly 20 minutes 👌
Awesome effort Alex and a wonderful insight as always 🙌
Great video ftp was cool.
But the family togetherness was heartwarming.
Thanks....
Omg I’m so glad you said that about Elite erg mode. It’s rrrrrrubbish! I went from a cheaper Tacx up to a direct drive Elite and have been so disappointed with that aspect of it. Nightmare.
Well done on the FTP tests. You rock. 🎉
Can we have another FTP dual. 1 with shoulder hair and 1 without?
I valued the best equipment vid as it was. It was an opinion piece from someone at the wt level, what was not too like? Crack on mate, we like your content or we wouldn’t stay subscribed. Im personally fascinated by your sporting transition 👍
Liked this series. Nice insight to the differences.
wow, incredible. Great insight Alex.
You're doing an amazing job Alex, I love and look forward to every video, the ex pro insight is just fascinating, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you :)
Alex, don’t apologise for the plonkers on your kit video, some of the people commenting where, well just… yer… the one actually sending links to me says after was weird. Enjoyed this one and can’t wait to see you kicking our heads in at a CTT event soon!
Alex, your opinion is much more valid than their opinions of your opinion. Hypocritical of them to justify their opinions of your opinion, in my honest opinion… :) Great videos! Rock on, and great run in the London Marathon!
Nice video and thanks for sharing all the data. I was surprised by the relative low max heart rate or the HR @300W for example
That’s years of high volume I think, it stays low for a long time and then shoots up, fatigue then determines the max
What is your take on FTP as a proxy for 1 hr power? Is that reasonable if people don’t practice long 40min+ threshold efforts? What were some workouts you did to translate good 10-20min power into 1hr-90min power, Alex?
Mostly not reasonable(espacially that step tests results). Thats why Trainingspeaks for example works with Time to Exhaustion (The time how low you can cycle at FTP)
Workouts for extent the TTE: OverUnders, Long SST Intervals (20+mins per Interval, or just one big interval),
I saw you in The Snug last week and was surprised to see you on an Aethos rather than an aero bolide. Nice to see you back in Essex though! 👍👍👍
From relatable chap to beast! 😬
Yeah, the equipment video seemed to gather some bit of ire from people. There is some odd pessimism rooted in cycling community that i've not seen anywhere else. It's good to be critical but lots of cycling channels seem to have taken stance of everything is scam and BS. And it seems to sell. Now you have rowing band of fanatics calling out everyone who doesn't slam dunk the big names.
Alex, the think that altitude does is to shift the metabolism, initially you burn more glycogen at a lower effort level and at a faster rate. This starts to modify after about 10 days and, with control of effort your making metabolic modifications by 3 weeks. Living at altitude means that the modifications then slow down. When you then go to sea level, even for a few days (3-5) the body makes fast modifications as it is effectively in a super compensation situation. When you return to altitude then, you will notice a training gain. Doing a high demand race etc at close to sea level then trying to recover at altitude, will slow the recovery as the metabolism will have shifted again, using more glycogen even at resting, so slowing the ability to regenerate. So to increase recovery rate at altitude would be to do the reverse if what simulated altitude at sea level does (scrub out O2, lower the percentage in the air you breath) so giving the body an oxygen feed for an hour, would allow the recovery rate to increase then settle to a better level when off O2.
First time learning you were at altitude. Why haven’t you ever told us before? 😂
Where have you been the last 4 years?? ;)
@@AlexDowsettOfficial that explains my FTP at altitude where I live (2300 inches).
I enjoyed that video, as I do this one. I might be jaded alittle bit as a long time follower of the channel but I think you are 1st class keep up the hard work
Thank you for making the effort for all these. Those agree or not with the data… still enjoy watching till the end.
Love the equipment vid!!! Don't get what the issue was for Nero.
Needed to see this today 😊, after being crushed on zwift at 2600m elevation 😅
at that height your zwift weight should be in the negative figures to compensate!!
@@AlexDowsettOfficial working on that :v
@@AlexDowsettOfficial FYI I´ve measured a difference of 9% (20min) going from 900m to 2600m (330w vs 300w)
Great video Alex!
Have been sponsored by ManScaped Alex? You started at the shoulders, where did you stop😂 Looking forward to the Marathon video!
great vid, dowsett. ignore all the shite spouted about. just keep doing what yer doing.👍👍
The maths do add up
x = km above sea level
Bassett et al Altitude-acclimatised athletes (several weeks at altitude):
Proportion of sea level power = -0.0112 x^2 - 0.0190x + 1
Bassett et al Non altitude-acclimatised athletes (1-7 days at altitude):
Proportion of sea level power = 0.00178x^3 - 0.0143x^2 - 0.0407x + 1
Power at 2km altitude unacclimatised is 87,6% of sea level
Acclimatised 91,7%
You did a bit less at altitude than expected with the calculations, however you said you were fresher at sea level so it is pretty close
Great statement at the end❤
Being that a ramp test is inherently testing VO2 max, I would think it would be even more sensitive to altitude than more direct estimates of FTP
Great video Alex ❤
Thank you Alex..
Chanel with the Ganna trolling 🤣
What was the drop in FTP from retiring from being a pro to 6months into retirement?
About 40w give or take ☺️
What is your max HR? How long is it possible to keep pedaling when legs still feel ok but HR is max?
Nice result!
Love the red and white shoes. Look like little ballerina slippers
I’ve trained at altitude and I believe that your lungs are such a limiting factor. Lungs can’t get the oxygen in for your heart or legs want.
I love the new theme music but what does it say? "We can touch the sky. Fo fo fo"???????
Chanel makes this video the best by trying to crush Alex's head at the 6:54 mark....
welcome to 'Notshavedlegs clubs' Alex 😉
A lot of people say HR is not a reliable training metric thanks to it's inherent variability. And now you've demonstrated that watts are ALSO variable...and I'm guessing you'll be putting up a third different FTP when you change equipment. So why to we still focus on it so heavily if it is pretty clearly not a constant?
Great points, I think it’s great that there’s so many metrics, and over time you get to grips with what affects what.
@@AlexDowsettOfficial I should clarify that I think we get a(n even) better picture when we can use multiple metrics together. I think the key is knowing and accepting the limitations of each one, as your FTP test is showing.
Your bike here is Specialized, isn't that the new sponsor?
Can't get past the Conan The Barbarian armbands what with the base layer. Game-of-Zones-tastic.
No disrespect, I can see how they work and wouldn't mind some myself!
brotherrrrr you had that 500w minute in you
FYI you're only rated on the best minute. You can take 20w steps to 240 and then jump to 300w with no penalty.
I’ve done 6 of these now, making sure it’s an even effort throughout rather than trying to manipulate the test
All I'm saying is that if you step up to 400w, or if you warm up at 250w for 5 minutes and do a banzai effort at 400w, the FTP will be the same.
Or, you could start from 200w and step up from there.
Understand, just saying I made sure these were evenly paced to be fair tests ☺️
Anyone else distracted by the body hair disribution 😂😂 crazy numbers though fair play!
Always educational 👌
She is her mother's daughter.
Specialized sponsorship confirmed
well i watched that video and I knew that was your opinion. and to be honest thats the opinions that matter. real world. if you become to tech i am sure most of us will not fully understand what your saying. mind you i'm thick so possibly not the best person to comment.
I am very interested in your and other WT riders opinion. So don’t listen to the unhappy people that don’t want to hear some real opinions.
What is the difference between British and European brakes?
British brakes have the front brake at the right hand and European brakes have them at the left hand.
What side does front/rear braking
Where do you find that ftp test on zwift?
And this wasn't the short or light one ;)
What was ave elevation of the London marathon?
42metres above sea level. I checked
I've been saying for years that Zwift should give me credit for doing every race/event/ride at 6000 feet (Colorado)
Agreed, and thats not to mention the recovery from anything anerobic I think is even more of a disadvantage up there than the FTP difference
Hi Alex, you seems like a decent honest person. Here is a question (maybe a video recommendation )for you: Is it possible to win anything at a pro level as a natural ? I guess most people know what it means to be a natural ?!
Why not performing a 20min test, it always seems like ramp overestimate a bit ?
20mins is 20mins of all out effort, a ramp isn’t 😅 I’ve done 6 now with 1 more planned for the purposes of science, there’d be 6 less if I had to do the 20min version 😂
I get about 20 watts lower from a ramp compared to 20 minute test
good to know, I'll add 20 so I don't have to do the test :p
I love an opinion 😊
not a scientist but from watching listening to cyclists science. would the best training be to live at altitude but come down to train at sea level.
Thats the golden scenario, in andorra I'd do alot of the TT and high intensity stuff at 800-1000m, lived at 2000m
Sleep high, train low 🤙🏻
The result more or less correlates to other scientific studies on power output on altitude.. However your heartrate was quite a bit lower that day on altitude, which usually is the other way round. Maybe you didnt give it your all ;)
Stress has been very up and down of late which has a ar bigger impact on performance than often reported. Alongide the variation in shoulder and chest hair, I'd say this was a variable and hole in the test
i think not wearing that sweater helped as well 😂
You need to try harder. If you’re not crying on the floor at the end, you weren’t finished 🤣
On a serious note, I often wonder that a lot of pros totally empty their tanks and smile after 20secs again. They regain their breath so fast.
@@Tethysmeer that’s a general feature of aerobic fitness, which they have in spades. More red blood cells and efficient aerobic systems means oxygen for recovery is available to the body much more quickly. It’s the same reason they have low resting heart rates before the work starts too.
I heard that in the pro peloton most riders are.....preeeeeetty much happy with their FTP. I mean, most of them are, you know, happy with it. So there is some real inside information about the pro peloton that you don't get every day.
Austin Powers eat your heart out haha.
your the best
Mental elephant 🤣🤣🤣
Your daughter is so 🥰 cute
I'd be interested in the effects of altitude camp on FTP. How many days off altitude were you for the second FTP test? The blood count is increased for about 2-3 weeks, right?
@Tobias Bouma
8 days @12:08
@@aidanrichards7559 Thanks! Missed it
I was 7/8 days down from sea level. Obviously didn’t do any blood count measurements but I know from going back and forth I’m great for a day or 2, mediocre for 3 days and then it comes back again.
i thought the kit video was fine....however, you totally ruined the science in the altitude vs sea level test by removing your chest hair...was it the hair or the oxygen that made the difference? we will never know
Alex, don’t apologise for the plonkers on your kit video, some of the people commenting where, well just… yer… the one actually sending links to me days after was weird. Enjoyed this one and can’t wait to see you kicking our heads in at a CTT event soon!