Can a Beginner Cyclist Keep Up? - POWER REVEAL 

As a guy who went from 220/230 ftp at 75 kg into 310 at 71 in 2.5 years - such crazy rapid gains are totally Impossible to achieve without previously established endurance base. I was boxing for 6 years prior to staring cycling and during my first year of riding, hell! - during my first 7 months of training I experienced a FTP gain of 60 watts. But I was running twice per week for many years prior. Without this my gains wouldn't be even close to such numbers. And this guy out of blue tests 300+ watts... This is sadly totally unrealistic for average joe.

@@michadebicki6534 You've got that backwards. With previously established endurance base, you have nothing (or much less at least) to improve upon. EJ gained precisely so much because he didn't do anything before he started this. He is gifted to have such a high FTP after less than a year of training, but doubling his base, that's only possible because he was a slob at the first measurement.

@@andrasszabo1570 you are only efficient to what are you most used to. Rapid gains at the beginning of switching the discipline are the result of already trained body adapting to the new activity.

For real, time to get on my sim rig and get some laps in.

@@cracked229 It's not likely that he's genetically gifted - it's a certainty. I have no doubt that he put in work, but there's only so much work that you can put in in a year. An average person could put in that kind of work for a decade and never break 4w/kg.

Already wom today

@@duartemateus4145 today ?

Yep. He beat me, that’s for sure lol

He nearly won a second race today.

Starting in Cat 5, he could probably just attack from the gun and lap the field.

This guy must have done some endurance sports previously, it is absolutely not possible to have such crazy gains without previously built endurance base.

@@michadebicki6534 Could have just been a bad day or bad equipment during the first FTP test.

@@michadebicki6534 Yup. Only way you get those gains in THAT short of time is prior history. If no prior history then Legion needs to sign him pronto b/c he'd be a freak of nature.

see it as motivation

Me either

If he has prior aerobic experience (rowing, cross country skiing, long distance running) than those gains can come back quickly.

@@jkelleypga no he haden't, he was fat, they said from the couch to cycling races

@@redben9046 they lied, dudes been riding mtb since 2015.

@@ojngasdovnwdsifnweij aw 😮 that wasn't legit at all, so by the end it's muscle memory

I know what you are saying, but at the same time, the numbers sort of speak for themselves. In one year EJ went from 256 pounds to what? Something like 190. AND his FTP went from 179 to 334. The weight loss is one thing, but to increase your FTP at that level seems staggering to me. And to do it in one year? Kudos to Jeff for calling it out, these results are atypical. Still, an incredible endorsement for Jeff's Master Class and to EJ for putting in the work to get there.

they said he came from 192 ftp 7 months ago. For a man his age, that is maybe a bike commuter, but without any real training. I don’t see how that’s misleading.

​@@Rocketrecliner no, the numbers alone without the context don't tell an accurate story. Had he not the background of previous conditioning it would have been a completely different journey. A body is not just a fat/muscle ratio, conditioning is gained and lost at many different areas in many different rates.

@@automotive474 With respect, I don't understand your point. Sure, back story can mean something, but even as I think about what has happened here, it still plays in EJ's favor, again, unlike what the original poster was sort of alluding to. Think of it like this, which is more impressive, the couch potato or the strong athlete who both lose 60 pounds and almost double their FTP. A couch potato will see gains pretty quickly whereas the strong athlete will probably have to work much harder to yield similar gains since they have already made significant progress to be a strong athlete. So, if we are saying that EJ's back story of being an already accomplished athlete diminishes his accomplishments at all, I would disagree. He may have had to work harder for those gains since he had already made some progress. Ultimately, it is all probably a pretty silly conversation anyway. I think we can all agree that anyone who accomplishes what EJ has is impressive, regardless of back story. I'm certainly impressed.

@@Rocketrecliner I think the problem with our understanding is that I didn't say it all plays in EJ's favor, I didn't deny any of his accomplishments, and didn't say it was not impressive. Perhaps because of my criticism one could believe I was trying to take it all away from them, but that's not the case. I have a problem when they portray a comeback to action in a sensationalist manner, leading people to believe it is possible or normal incredible feats like "couch to ultramarathon in 12weeks", "lost 30lbs fat in 6 weeks and deadlifted 300 kg", "became a pro in 6 months", there's plenty of examples out there, and it's very different when you have the lungs, the blood vessels, the mitochondria, the muscle mass, the muscle density of a former athlete.

Yeah, I started last year too…. Super salty lol

@Michael Liu curious how many hours of riding he's been doing. I've been at 9-11 hours per week for months now and progress has slowed down

@@OCo16 Maybe focus more on diet/sleep

@@MarkBurghouwt you can focus all you want but that ain't changing rice and chicken

Thats still really good

👀

Not even 1 year of riding and 330 ftp, he is going to hit pro numbers. Crazy . There are people who born for riding

Insane

+130w FTP in a fairly short time period is utterly bonkers, even taking into account that untrained --> training with structure always results in big initial gains. That last +60w to actually get to double will undoubtedly be a lot harder to get, but I'll definitely be cheering (and jealous) if he makes it.

He was active for years. So he did have what they call in strength training muscle memory. It's easy to return to former form than to achieve fitness that you never had before

its 4.3wkg 1:53

@@moin6747 What's his body weight? I couldn't find it anywhere other than the 255Lbs. in 2022... he's probably still over 200 (90+kgs.) So not 4.3 watts/kg...?

@@joshonwheels2 81kg

He had a steady mix of standing and seated time doing his latest ftp test. Lot easier to raise the average power when you’re standing low cadence grinding with bodyweight assistance

Outdoor is def easier mentally.