Cycling · Training

Watts per Kilogram Calculator: W/kg + Coggan Category

Your raw FTP tells you how much power you produce. Your watts per kilogram tells you how fast you climb. Enter FTP and body weight to see your W/kg and where it sits on the Coggan cycling performance chart.

Antoine Boudet

Founder of CoreRise · Software engineer & IRONMAN® 70.3® finisher · Updated April 14, 2026

FTP (watts)Body weight

Unit

Enter FTP and weight to see your W/kg.

How the watts per kilogram calculator works

Watts per kilogram is the single most important metric for climbing and for comparing cyclists of different sizes. A 90 kg rider with 300 W FTP produces more raw power than a 60 kg rider with 240 W FTP, but on a 10 percent climb the lighter rider will pull away, because they push 4.0 W/kg versus 3.33 W/kg.

The math is trivial: W/kg = FTP ÷ body weight in kilograms. If you know your weight in pounds, divide by 2.2046 first. The calculator does this for you and places the result on Andrew Coggan's power profile chart, which maps W/kg ranges to performance levels from Cat 5 up through world-class.

The Coggan chart is based on 20-minute power (which is close to FTP), and was originally published in Training and Racing with a Power Meter. The bands are approximate but they give a useful sense of where you sit relative to the broader cycling population: untrained (below 2.0 W/kg), fair (2.0–2.5), moderate (2.5–3.2), good (3.2–3.8), very good (3.8–4.3), excellent (4.3–4.8), exceptional (4.8–5.6), world-class (above 5.6).

W/kg = FTP (watts) ÷ body weight (kg)

Read the full guide: What is FTP?

Frequently asked questions

Does W/kg matter if I don't climb?

Less than raw watts. On flat time trials, raw power wins: a 300 W rider at any weight beats a 240 W rider. W/kg becomes dominant on sustained climbs (more than about 5 minutes above 4 percent gradient) where gravity is the main force to overcome.

What's a good W/kg for an amateur racer?

For a competitive Cat 4 to Cat 3 cyclist in the US, FTP/kg typically falls between 3.5 and 4.2 W/kg. Cat 2 and Cat 1 riders usually exceed 4.3 W/kg, and elite domestic riders push above 5.0. Pro tour climbers are typically 6.0 to 6.5 W/kg at threshold, with short-duration peaks much higher.

Is the Coggan chart still accurate in 2026?

Yes, as a rough benchmark. The bands have not been meaningfully updated because the physiology has not changed. What has changed is how many amateurs track W/kg seriously, so more riders recognize the numbers, but the performance-level boundaries are still a good guide.

Should I try to lose weight to improve W/kg?

Only if losing weight does not hurt your absolute power. Dropping 3 kg by losing muscle mass typically reduces FTP proportionally, leaving W/kg unchanged. Dropping 3 kg of non-essential body fat with training preserved is the cleanest way to move up the chart, but nutrition needs to support training quality, not starve it.

CoreRise / Endurance training

Cora tracks your W/kg over time

CoreRise logs body weight and FTP automatically from your training files and your Apple Health data, then tracks W/kg as a single timeline. When Cora writes your next interval session, she knows whether you are trending up or down, and she will flag a drop before it becomes a trend you worry about.

Download on the App Store Read the Learn hub

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