{"id":23615,"date":"2025-11-29T13:54:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T05:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/?p=23615"},"modified":"2025-11-29T14:26:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T06:26:31","slug":"how-kilojoules-became-the-new-sexy-in-cycling-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2025\/11\/29\/how-kilojoules-became-the-new-sexy-in-cycling-training\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kilojoules Became the New Sexy in Cycling Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Stay tuned for the next article – a 12-week training program to improve your kJ endurance!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why 3,000 kJ is gaining attention<\/em>…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News is in that 3,000 kilojoules (kJ) \u2014 the total energy expended on the bike during a ride \u2014 may be a useful benchmark for serious or aspiring cyclists – and to anyone who has raced, it’s barely news at all…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to coaches at Red\u2011Bull\u2011Bora\u2011Hansgrohe\u2019s Under-23 development program, riders who can still produce strong power outputs after expending ~3,000 kJ demonstrate a level of durability and endurance that could translate to race-level performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In professional races, total energy expenditure is often much higher \u2014 often a top pro rider\u2019s performance under fatigue comes after 5,000 kJ or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The upshot: if you\u2019re a committed amateur or developing rider, then ‘training for kJ’ \u2014 building your capacity to perform even when tired \u2014 can be a powerful complement to traditional power \/ VO\u2082max \/ FTP metrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To any decent coach or indeed elite amateur upwards, this is not news – because if you re training to win races, you are essentially training specifically to be able to pull your best shot at the end of the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tell my athletes often – When you think you are done, you are not done<\/em> – it’s this area of the session or race that is crucial to improving, near the end, when you are tiring – and in a nutshell, this simple concept needs to be grasped to make serious improvements – and yes, it hurts…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cranking the Punk at the OCBC Crit in 2012<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What tracking kilojoules reveals \u2014 beyond \u201cjust power output\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Power meters and heart-rate monitors remain indispensable, but focusing on total work done (kJ) adds a layer of realism: real rides and races aren\u2019t all about all-out four-minute efforts \u2014 many depend on sustained output over hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By tracking how your power output degrades (or holds up) over a high cumulative workload, you can gauge durability<\/strong> \u2014 that is, how well your engine copes when the tank is near empty. Here’s a simple test:<\/p>\n\n\n\n