Philippe’s Training Vlog
Training. Data. Performance.
A 48-year-old personal trainer documenting his cycling journey. Real training, real data, real results.
What is this channel and why should you watch it?
A quick introduction to Philippe's Training Vlog — who I am, what I'm building, and why a 48-year-old personal trainer is documenting his cycling and fitness journey in real time.
Week of Apr 13–19 — Training Week in Data
Five sessions on the KICKR, 6 hours 10 minutes total, relative effort of 107 — well above my normal weekly range, and the highest single-week output since I started tracking consistently. That's a meaningful step up, and my body knows it.
The structure held across the week: Zone 2 blocks Monday and Tuesday (Monday 1h 22m, Tuesday extended to just over two hours), an active recovery spin Thursday (30 min, deliberate short), a cinematic scenic ride Friday — On Location: Côte Vermeille on the Mediterranean coast, 1h 14m — and a steady aerobic hour Saturday to close the week.
Off the bike: strength and bodywork completed twice (Tuesday + Thursday) as planned — shoulder rehab protocol, ring rows, KOT lunge progression and plenty of quality posterior chain work. Core work both sessions. Nightly Hyperarch and stretch routine was consistent all week. Resisted breathing before sessions, breathwork woven through daily movement on the go.
Body feel: lithe, supple, bouncy. That's the honest read. Some leg fatigue showing up outside of training — which is exactly what you'd expect after a week that pushed well above baseline. Shoulder pain is lingering but managed. The training is happening around it, not despite it.
Visual content this week is thin — all indoor riding, no footage yet. The data tells the story for now.
Can’t wait for the new bike to get here and to get outside!!
Week 1 baseline is in.
This week wasn't about performance — it was about establishing where I actually am.
Two attempts at the Half Monty FTP test. The first one got wrecked by a hardware setup issue with the Zwift Cog and SYSTM Level mode. The second one I ground out in a big gear at low cadence — not ideal — but the numbers came out anyway. FTP 238W. MAP 295W. cTHR 163 bpm. That's my baseline. It's probably a bit conservative given the gearing constraint, but it's real and it's mine.
Five cycling sessions, four strength and core sessions, evening mobility every other night, daily walks, and Saturday I taught five back-to-back classes after squeezing in a quick core session. That's the actual training life — not just the bike numbers.
One thing the data is telling me clearly: my cadence is sitting at 85–87 rpm across every Zone 2 session. My target is 90–95. That's the work in progress right now — training the nervous system, not just the engine.
Body weight is moving gradually toward my performance target. Nutrition is flexible and instinctive — adjusted daily by hunger and output. The macro split is roughly 30% protein, 45% carbs, 25% fat on a typical day.
Ride to Conquer Cancer is 10 weeks out. The R3 Omni arrives this summer. Whistler 2027 is the north star.
The data doesn't lie. Let's build. 🧡
What does a real Zone 2 session look like?
Real footage, real data — power, heart rate, cadence. Here's what a Zone 2 training day actually looks like on the Wahoo KICKR, and why this type of training is the foundation of everything I'm building.
This week in data
March 16-22, 2026
Not every week goes to plan — and that's okay. I started this week feeling low energy with some digestive issues and general seasonal blah, so I made a deliberate call to adapt rather than push through (which is hard for me to do...)
Monday became a “pro rest day” (what I call the PH workout for passive horizontal, AKA napping-fully intentional). The rest of the week I kept every pillar moving: four cycling sessions, strength and core twice each, mobility most evenings, breathwork daily, and walking every other night.
The standout session was Friday's Côte Vermeille — I pushed to about 80% intensity on purpose, a tempo effort to mix things up. Everything else stayed in Zone 2 or recovery territory. Sometimes the most disciplined thing you can do is slow down and let the body reset. This week proved that. Finished the week feeling stronger and positive.
Half Monty FTP test up next on Monday. More data coming.
What does a recovery Zone 2 ride actually look like?
Saturday March 21 — an easy aerobic session on the Wahoo KICKR. Keeping the effort controlled, staying in the base zone, letting the body recover while still putting in the work. Not every session needs to be hard. This one is about consistency, process, and building the aerobic engine that everything else depends on.
Why cycling? Why now? Why document it?
My shoulder forced me to choose. This is the story of how a multimodal athlete narrowed his focus, fell in love with cycling, and decided to share the whole journey — the data, the recovery, the performance, and everything in between.
A 48-year-old trainer takes stock and changes direction.
Martial arts, kettlebells, swimming, boxing — I've always moved. But at 48, a shoulder injury and a deeper look at what actually matters pushed me to refocus. This is that story. The pivot, the process, and where it's all heading.
Whistler Gran Fondo, the Wapta icefield crossing, and what I'm training toward.
Here are the events and goals driving my training in 2026 and beyond — including the Whistler Gran Fondo 2027 and this summer's Wapta icefield crossing with my girlfriend.
The full picture — not just the bike.
Strength, mobility, shoulder rehab, nutrition strategy, and a gradual weight loss goal. This is how I'm building a sustainable performance foundation at 48.