What is FTP and why do cyclists train around it?
Functional Threshold Power is the highest average power you can hold for about an hour, measured in watts. British Cycling coaches and most turbo trainer apps use it as the anchor for every training zone, from recovery spins to the hard efforts you do on a chaingang. Once you know your FTP, everything else, endurance rides, sweet spot intervals, threshold work, is set as a percentage of that single number.
The standard field test is 20 minutes flat out after a proper warm-up, with FTP calculated as 95% of your average power for that effort. Some coaches prefer a 60-minute test instead, since it removes the need for the 5% correction and mirrors what FTP actually measures. Either way, the number only means something once it is converted into Coggan zones and a watts-per-kilogram figure, since a rider at 250W and 70kg is working far harder relative to bodyweight than one at 250W and 90kg.
Sportive season in the UK runs from spring through autumn, and pacing an event like the Fred Whitton off your FTP zones beats guessing by feel every time.
How do I find my one-rep max without maxing out every week?
Your one-rep max is the heaviest weight you can lift for a single clean rep on a given exercise, and it is the number most strength programmes in a UK gym are built around. Testing it directly every week is unnecessary and risks injury. Instead, lift a manageable weight for 3 to 8 reps and estimate 1RM using the Epley or Brzycki formula, both of which are accurate within a few percent for most lifters.
Once you have an estimated 1RM, training blocks are usually written as a percentage of it: 65 to 75% for hypertrophy work, 80 to 90% for strength phases, and 90%+ reserved for peaking weeks before a powerlifting meet or a one-off PB attempt on deadlift day. Re-testing every 6 to 8 weeks, not every session, keeps the number honest as you progress.
How many calories does a workout actually burn?
Fitness watches are notorious for wildly overestimating calorie burn, sometimes by 30% or more, because they rely on heart rate alone without accounting for activity type. The more reliable method uses MET values (Metabolic Equivalent of Task): calories burned equals MET multiplied by your bodyweight in kilograms multiplied by duration in hours. A steady 5km parkrun sits around 9.8 METs, while an easy club bike ride sits closer to 6 to 8 METs depending on pace and terrain.
This matters for anyone tracking energy balance alongside a lifting or cycling programme, since a genuinely accurate figure prevents both overeating "because I earned it" and under-fuelling before a hard session.
How far is 10,000 steps, and does the target even make sense?
The 10,000 step target did not come from exercise science, it came from a 1960s Japanese pedometer marketing campaign, yet it has stuck as the default goal on nearly every phone and watch. What it means in real distance depends entirely on your stride length: a typical adult stride runs 0.70 to 0.80 metres, so 10,000 steps works out to roughly 7 to 8 kilometres, close to a parkrun and a half.
Converting steps to distance and calories using your actual height rather than a generic average gives a far more honest picture of a walking commute, a dog walk, or a rest-day step count between harder sessions.