Why Power-to-Weight Ratio Affects Your Workout Results

I first encountered the term power-to-weight ratio while chatting during a post-ride cafecito at a local coffee shop, where cyclists, Elite runners, and other athletes frequently reference it as a crucial metric.

 Many assume that a higher FTP means a stronger cyclist, especially when rider reports FTP, 160, 240 type numbers.

 But one important detail is often missing — weight. Without it, you’re only looking at power alone, not truly optimizing your running performance or chasing peak performance.

Through a deep dive into the science, I began to explore how this metric matters, enabling everyday athletes to enhance training, run faster, run longer, and even run smarter.

 Using data and practical tips, I learned that striving without balance won’t improve much.

 This favorite topic among many athletes and cyclists helped me see that power-to-weight ratio is not just theory — it’s a smart way of optimizing running, unlocking real results for any group that takes fitness seriously.

What is power-to-weight ratio?

The power-to-weight ratio is a way to understand how much power your muscles can produce compared to your body weight.

 It shows the rate at which you generate force to propel your body forward against gravity, and it works in running, stride, lifting, or on the bike.

 The Formula is simple: Power Output (watts) ÷ Body Weight (kg). This reflection of an athlete’s ability to generate power is a helpful tool to track performance gains over time. It’s an essential standardized measure that lets you compare abilities between riders of different weight, experience, or gender.

 A higher power output doesn’t mean much unless it is relative to total body mass, because the goal is to move more efficiently rather than just push big numbers.

I learned this while reading Joe Friel, Coach, and co-founder of Training Peaks, who has written extensively on this topic in his book, The Triathlete’s Training Bible, analyzing power for a given duration using kilograms and w/kg.

 Friel explained that commonly used terms like functional threshold power, FTP, became more popular with indoor cycling platforms such as Zwift, Rouvy, and Trainer Road, where cyclists are already familiar with seeing watts/kg listed beside their name in the app.

 When joining these platforms, you might take an FTP test to determine your value, set training thresholds, and design workouts using training zones as a guideline.

 Even when you join group rides, this number helps match you with riders of similar ability, and that experience taught me that numbers mean nothing unless they match real movement on the road.

How to improve your power-to-weight ratio

From my own training journey as an athlete, I learned that there are three main ways to improve power-to-weight ratio: improve fitness, maintain the same weight, or lose weight while maintain fitness.

 These two components in the formula — power and weight — can change either or both, and as Friel explained, Theoretically, progress can be accomplished by Working on power output and overall fitness while controlling body mass.

 Yes, it all comes down to goals that are specific, realistic, and measurable, especially when implementing a well-designed training plan.

 A training regimen based on your personal value allows you to assess fitness with another metric such as heart rate or rate of perceived exertion,

 thus creating accurate training zones and structured workouts over a long period of time—not just a few days, but months, if needed.

Friel suggests that athletes start by building an aerobic base, working on bike skills and muscular strength for several weeks before the training focus must shift toward incorporating efforts with race-like intensity close to the goal event.

 This strategy unlocks potential to improve athlete’s power output, targeting three physiological markers: aerobic capacity, VO2max, lactate threshold, and economy.

 Over time, a consistent, well thought-out training regime can make you a well-rounded triathlete, as I personally felt when my sessions became more structured and my confidence grew. In the cycling world, this method became a standard way to compare cyclists of different sizes and abilities, proving that small changes in effort can lead to big results when the focus stays clear and steady.