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Wattkg

@wattkg.bsky.social

Medical Doctor & cycling geek. My thoughts on cycling training at https://science.wattkg.com.

162 Followers  |  26 Following  |  53 Posts  |  Joined: 20.11.2024
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Posts by Wattkg (@wattkg.bsky.social)

Thanks, I appreciate that πŸ™πŸ»

28.09.2025 19:49 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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5 Power Boosting Principles From 18 Years of Cycling Science | Wattkg.com There are no shortcuts in training. But there are certainly many de-tours. This article strips 18 years of cycling science down to 5 core elements that are scientifically proven to improve your thresh...

Look at any successful athlete.

You’ll typically find the same underlying principles in all of their training plans. πŸ‘‡πŸ»

www.wattkg.com/cycling-scie...

26.09.2025 10:40 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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And this.

26.06.2025 06:09 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Stuff you knew about your heart rate but probably forgot during your last ride.

26.06.2025 06:09 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Instead, use external and internal load in combination.

25.06.2025 06:06 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Adhering too strictly to a single intensity parameter can quickly backfire.

Because intensity zones shift with increased duration.

25.06.2025 06:06 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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The remaining decks.

21.06.2025 05:34 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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6x10 min threshold x2 every week.
12x3x30/15 HIIT on Wednesdays
Fast-paced 3h group ride in the weekend.
Lifting heavy weights x2 per week.

You’re in your 50s, busy job and a family. And you wonder why you don’t progress.

You’re doing WAY more intensity than you’re able to adapt to!!!😡

21.06.2025 05:34 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Could well be. Indeed, there is some overlap between z1 and z2 definitions.

20.06.2025 08:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Best-Practice Training Characteristics Within Olympic Endurance Sports as Described by Norwegian World-Class Coaches - PubMed This study offers novel insights into best-practice training characteristics in Olympic endurance, shedding light on both commonalities and sport-specific variations. These insights can be used to gen...

Here’s the link to the original study by Sandbakk et al: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40278987/

20.06.2025 07:52 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Curious to see that elite coaches behind nearly 400 international championship medals prescribe mostly zone 1 training.

Not zone 2.

Is it a sport-specific issue?

Is it an overlap of zones?

The vast energy cost of the W pros produce close to VT1?

20.06.2025 07:51 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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If you have any ambition of reaching the higher levels in your sport…

…or even just breaking through a performance plateau…

you MUST understand this concept πŸ‘‡πŸ»

19.06.2025 08:11 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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How Professional Cyclists Train for the Giro d'Italia & Tour de France - W/KG Learn how professional cyclists train for Grand Tours like Giro d'Italia and Tour de France. And what you can take away from their practices.

It’s not everyday you get a detailed look at how the best professional cyclists train.

www.wattkg.com/how-professi...

14.06.2025 12:52 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Day 2 in Calpe and results from my 7 month de-training study just in.

We observed that fitness is very much a recency thing. This aligns with reports from other parents (1).

Future research should elucidate how the $€%# to keep up training with children.

1. Other parents

20.03.2025 07:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Hello, Calpe πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Έ

19.03.2025 15:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Zone 2 Training For Cyclists: What Coaches & Scientists Do - W/KG Confused about zone 2 training? Here is how 14 coaches & exercise scientists execute zone 2 training in real-life.

A few consensus points on "zone 2 training" from 14 exercise scientists & cycling coaches:

1. Use multiple intensity markers
2. Contrast internal vs. external work
3. Consider adjusting power in late stages of long session
4...
www.wattkg.com/zone-2-train...

16.03.2025 15:29 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This πŸ‘‡πŸ»βœŠπŸ»

04.03.2025 10:18 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

At least the reach improved, despite no effect on citations. As you say, I agree it’s tremendously useful to get quick and useful input from colleagues in and outside of your specialty.

03.03.2025 19:05 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Not talking about past collution. Talking about him openly backing the dictator at live TV this weekend. On mineral rights: way to prove my point. Goodbye.

03.03.2025 14:03 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Fair point in isolation. I’d still argue that could be achieved without submissively siding with a war criminal dictator. But I guess that’s to be expected by a convicted fellon and sexual offender who tics all the diagnostic criteria of narcissistic personality disorder.

03.03.2025 13:18 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

No issue with most americans. But no love for the current heads of state. And please do remember πŸ‘πŸ» You’ll need to add some hundred million Europeans to that list.

03.03.2025 11:23 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

2/ Don’t say you’re embarrassed. ACT on it. It’s the only way to make a positive change.

(In that sense, similar to in training.)

03.03.2025 06:43 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

It feels pointless posting about cycling as if all is normal this week.

Yet, a few things restore my faith in humanity:

- the action of the good people of Vermont
- the rallying of European leaders and πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦
- Haltbakk Bunkers acting on their outrage

Don’t say..

03.03.2025 06:43 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Zone 2 Intensity: A Critical Comparison of Individual Variability in Different Submaximal Exercise Intensity Boundaries Introduction: Endurance athletes often utilize low-intensity training, commonly defined as Zone 2 (Z2) within a five-zone intensity model, for its potential to enhance aerobic adaptations and metabol....

Link to the full paper. Open access and highly recommended reading. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

28.02.2025 12:47 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Experiment and learn your response!

Another paper on zone 2 training that neatly demonstrates the great variety in responses of differen intensity markers.

In my opinion, yet another reminder for why you shouldn’t rely on one intensity marker (or generic %HR or %FTP ranges).

28.02.2025 12:46 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Takk for det, Nils Thomas πŸ™πŸ»

27.02.2025 18:06 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

How do you perform your Β«zone 2Β» training?

This recent work led by @SitkoSebastian attempted to reach a consensus for defining and prescribing Z2 training among 14 cycling coaches & scientists.

Some useful perspective and practical advice here πŸ‘‡πŸ»

journals.humankinetics.com/view/journal...

27.02.2025 09:53 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Training For a UCI Gran Fondo Race Win (Case) This post discusses the training of a masters cyclist in the year leading up to his first ever UCI Gran Fondo win. More specifically, we dive into...

I don’t believe winners succeed because of some secret method or special abilities.

Often, it’s as simple as excelling at the basics.

Here’s how a rider I worked with went about pursuing and achieving a race victory goal by simple means. science.wattkg.com/posts/win-uc...

13.02.2025 07:09 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A 9-Week Polarized Training Plan Framework Try the plan that gave well-trained cyclists 12% increase in VO2 max in 9 weeks. This effective framework is easily amended to suit your level & time.

Here's your regular reminder that efficient cycling training doesn't have to be complicated.

A simple 9-week Polarized Training Plan. Easy to scale for higher or lower volumes:

science.wattkg.com/posts/9-week...

27.01.2025 06:46 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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5 Power Boosting Principles From 18 Years of Cycling Science | Wattkg.com There are no shortcuts in training. But there are certainly many de-tours. This article strips 18 years of cycling science down to 5 core elements that are scientifically proven to improve your thresh...

Strip your training down to core principles that REALLY work.

Here are 5 prioritized steps to get you started. πŸ‘‡

www.wattkg.com/cycling-scie...

13.01.2025 06:53 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0