Over the last year, we asked six TrainerRoad athletes — some recovering from injuries, some returning from an extended break from cycling and others brand new to the sport — to share their fitness improvements with us. We wanted to know exactly what training plans they followed to achieve their results.
Here are six of their stories. Each one is unique like the athlete it belongs to, but they all share one piece of common ground: they used structured training to hit the ground running from square one and improved their FTP.
Paul Kim
- Discipline: Road Racing
- FTP before using TrainerRoad: 148
- FTP after using TrainerRoad: 262
Junk miles and severe burnout. That’s how Paul Kim described his cycling training before using TrainerRoad. “At the beginning of 2016, I set my eyes on a timed hill climbing event at the end of August. Long story short, I’ve been on track in making strides for a strong personal effort thanks to structured high volume program and improved diet/nutrition.”
Paul made an impressive spike in FTP, going from just 148 to 262 and a current watt/kg of 4.05. In preparation for the High Pass Challenge in Packwood, WA, he’s following the Traditional Base, Sustained Power Build and Climbing Road Race training plans — all high volume (approx. 28 weeks). “If I get awarded the ‘gold medal’, TrainerRoad will have played a big role in my cycling improvements!”
Malcolm Estment
- Discipline: MTB
- FTP before using TrainerRoad: 90
- FTP after using TrainerRoad: 283
It’s difficult to understand just how much an injury affects your life, but especially your training. Malcolm broke his neck while mountain biking nearly three years ago. “I had to learn to walk again. When I started riding again on a home trainer I could only do five minutes at around 100 watts.”
Malcolm has made an impressive recovery. He’s followed Sweet Spot Base, General Build and MTB Marathon training plans, and now crushes it on MTB Marathon courses with an FTP of 283 (approx. 28 weeks).
A custom training plan, automatically built for your goals.
Emma Iserman
- Discipline: Triathlon
- FTP before using TrainerRoad: 149
- FTP after using TrainerRoad: 235
In 2015, Emma ran her first half distance triathlon. “I used TrainerRoad last summer (low volume plans) in the build up to that race, and I was very pleased with my results there, averaging 30.39 km/hr over the 89k.” Emma followed Half Distance Triathlon Base, Build and Speciality training plans (approx. 24 weeks).
To prepare for her next race, Emma bumped up the volume of her training plan into high gear. “I followed the base, build, and specialty plans, and although I regularly mentally cursed at Coach Chad for some of those workouts (I mean really, that Elwell/Sierra/Sonora combo? Is he trying to kill us?), I could tell I was getting a lot stronger.” She finished a longer, more difficult triathlon in less time than her first. Emma’s FTP is now 235, up 37% from where she first started on TrainerRoad.
Kenneth King
- Discipline: Triathlon and Road Racing
- FTP before using TrainerRoad: 202
- FTP after using TrainerRoad: 282
After undergoing surgery to remove a leg tumor between his hamstring and his quad, Kenneth made an impressive recovery with the help of TrainerRoad. He’s increased his FTP 40% and has lost 33lbs. “Without TrainerRoad and the structured plans (and a lot of encouragement from my buddy) I couldn’t have done it.”
David Gardiner
- Discipline: Triathlon and Road Racing
- FTP before using TrainerRoad: 208
- FTP after using TrainerRoad: 305
As a married father of two, David knows all too well that life simply happens. “With the first kid I didn’t think it would be possible to train enough to be fast so I completely stopped. I started riding again once I discovered TrainerRoad and how effective with little time it can be.” Living in New York City didn’t make training outdoors any easier with an already limited schedule.
David followed the Sweet Spot Base and Sustained Power Build training plans to make the jump and get back in the saddle (approx. 20 weeks). Now, he’s “winning in life, not just in races” with an FTP of 305 at 4.35 watts/kg.
Graham Smedley
- Discipline: Triathlon
- FTP before using TrainerRoad: 175
- FTP after using TrainerRoad: 272
Graham has been riding for two decades. “Using structured programs like TrainerRoad has totally changed how people see me as an ultra athlete.” Graham followed Traditional Base, Sustained Power Build and Full Distance Triathlon training plans (approx. 28 weeks). He recently took 8.5 hours off the Triple at Enduroman in the UK.
If TrainerRoad has helped you improve, join the discussion in the “Your FTP Improvements” thread on the TrainerRoad Forum!
For more cycling training knowledge, listen to the Ask a Cycling Coach — the only podcast dedicated to making you a faster cyclist. New episodes are released weekly.
This post has been updated to better reflect the nature of each athlete’s story.
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Very impressive! But…
I can beat those numbers: 18% improvement in just 5 days. First FTP test using 30/21t gearing (37.5 gear inches) resulted in an FTP of 233W. Second one using 44/14t (82.6 gear inches) resulted in 275W. Both in TrainerRoad (of course), same conditions/exertion and setup (Tacx Genius Smart trainer).
Too bad you don’t list the “months passed” between “before” and “after”. It also doesn’t say how many FTP tests a person did before the “before” measurements, in my experience there is a substantial gain (perhaps 10%) by just having more experience with the test.
Just adding some perspective 🙂
Hey Peter! I updated this post to place more emphasis on the new or returning and injured aspect of many of these stories. Not to say that their improvements in each scenario aren’t impressive 🙂
TrainerRoad is an effective training system for many different types of cyclists, and I understand that I misrepresented the nature of these improvement stories in the initial post. Thanks for the feedback!
Sorry but I gotta say it. An 18% improvement in 5 days shows one thing and one thing only. You were lazy in your first test. It is what it is.
Sorry but I gotta say it. An 18% improvement in 5 days shows one thing and one thing only. You were lazy in your first test. It is what it is.
You obviously missed the point I was trying to make.
Let me try again: for the same exertion a Tacx trainer will report a higher wattage (and therefore a higher FTP in TR) when you use gearing that results in a higher wheel speed.
I’ve done over a dozen FTP tests including these two and can assure you I know when I really pushed things. Besides feel I also got the heart rate numbers showing that both tests were equal in exertion; definitely not being lazy in the first test!
Interesting point. I’ve noticed the same thing on my Lemond trainer. The best result I ever got was when I dropped it into the 53×11 for the full 20 mins. Although the slow cadence isn’t ideal, it does seem to maximize the power measurement on the Lemond. I now test at a more typical cadence (85-90) but am concerned that gearing selection can have an impact on the result. NET: seems like gearing is another variable in the test and that I should always test in the same gear if I want to compare my performance/fitness over time.
Could you list dates/months/weeks?
For example: starting FTP in December of 2014 / ending FTP in January of 2016
Good point, Sammy! We’ve reached out to the athletes featured in this story to get that info and will update the post once we’ve received it.
The last person “… recently took 8.5 hours off his most recent race”. is that right? how did he do that? That requires a lot of speed with FTP of 272.
Hey Dennis! Graham’s time was taken off a triple Ironman event. That’s an ultra-triathlon consisting of a 7.1-mile swim, 340-mile bike and 78.7-mile run.
Wow! now I understand. Those distances are very difficult for us mere mortals to fathom. Amazing what 97 more watts of ftp can do for someone over those many miles. Thanks for the clarification.
High Pass Challenge is in WASHINGTON, not Virginia. Packwood, WA.
Hey there – this is not so useful for folk like myself. I’d love to hear how people have made say 10-20% improvements. I’m currently running at c. 290W and would love to make a say 20-40W improvement
I have not had so much structured training but am pretty sure an 80% improvement per these examples is out of my reach.
What do you think?
Hey Matt!
You’re right on point. While it’s not impossible to see such large improvements as a seasoned cyclist, it’s not exactly common.
Adding structured, power-based training to your regimen can definitely have a big impact on your performance — especially if you’re current regimen consists of logging long, low-tempo miles outside or on a trainer. Hope this helps!
HI Matt,
I was similar numbers to you. I started at 260 and with my event 9 months later was working towards 310. Since then i went back to base and build and am now at 350. I had 1 month off structured training prior to this years build. I didn’t think i’d improve from my 310 power.
All i work at is 2 structured sessions during the week and then a race / try and emulate the big weekend ride outdoors. Recover during the week is either outdoors or skipped. On the podcast they say not many people really benefit from more than 2 interval sessions a week.
Although my FTP doesn’t seem to jump as much now, what i’ve noticed is i can go for a hard ride for 2,3, 4,5 hours and hit it, while guys i ride with (and who early in the ride can drop me / stay with me up the climbs) blow up well before me. That’s exactly how i won my last 75k race. The climber that was dropping me on the early lap climbs said after the race ‘you don’t go away’ It reminded me of some of the sessions where they tell us we will become tough riders who can gut it out.
Nick, Nice blog post. We need more of these inspiring, real world stories. You guys have so much data on athletes, it would seem to be pretty easy to anonymously do a study on TrainerRoad users who consistently follow a plan and repeat the same FTP test regularly, and see what improvements over a certain time people are seeing.
Peter’s point is a valid one, but for most readers, he misses the spirit of the blog post.
Clearly, structured, consistent, power-based training will make you a better cyclist, whether it’s physical, mental, or both.
I can offer my own experience with TrainerRoad:
I am a full time surgeon with two young kids. I never followed any structured training, outside of my high school/college days, when I was a swimmer. I do the occasional triathlon to support friends, but the bike leg was always my weakest, relative to other people. During my medical training, my fitness really took a bit hit.
I have a friend who I would do the occasional weekend ride with. He starting using TrainerRoad on a Kickr. Over about a six month period, it was noticeably more difficult to keep up with him, to the point where we really couldn’t ride together anymore because I was holding him back so much.
He strongly espoused structured training, and using monitors. In general, swimmers hate technology – no watches, monitors, straps, hamster wheels. But, after months of deliberation, I bought a Tickr HR strap and a Tacx Neo (because the Neo is quieter than the Kickr, and I didn’t want to wake up my wife or the kids at 5AM).
My first FTP test was in the 180 range. After six weeks of unstructured training (i.e. only doing the Sufferfest workouts on Trainer Road), I got a bump up to 233. Obviously, I was better at pacing the test and riding the trainer. Gearing probably helped as well. On my last test after the Low Volume Sweet Spot Base plan, I’m up to the 265.
Seeing the number go up is nice and all, but to me, what was more important was my performance outside. Doing the same 3 mile, 8% grade climb up Old La Honda (which is one of the most popular Strava segments in the world), I’ve gone from a mediocre 25 minutes (at full gas) to 19:33 (a 297W effort). That’s a Strava rankings jump from 50th to top 10th percentile. Even my friends, who were formerly on the Stanford bike team in college, have been astonished at the improvement.
Again, clearly, structured, consistent, power-based training works, though not everyone will see the same magnitude of improvement.
The pros can spend 30+ hours a week training. For the rest of us, that’s not possible. I don’t have the time, desire, or potential to become a pro cyclist, but I am pleased to have improved so much in only 3-4 hours a week. It’s really thanks to TrainerRoad this has happened.
Hi,
Male 44 y/o.
FTP:242, W/kg–>3,6
I havent decided 100% what plans to pick yet, and would like your opinion.
I think my FTP is a bit low and i like to raise it. I usually get dropped on the flats where my low FTP is showing. My W/kg is ok, because i see i do good in the uphills comparing to my opponents.
My plan is for 2 main races, one in June-30Km-time around 1h25min, two in August-86km-time around 3h
I was thinking about this for the first one,
Base–> sweet spot medium
Build–> Sustained high
Speciality–>Cross country Olympic
and then for the second one i start over again in last part of build-sustained high, for then and go into the speciality face with Cross Country Marathon
Please let me know what you think as i havent decided 100% what would be the best for my 2 races.
Dieter,
I’m cycling for about 4 years in a club (2 rides per week during march-october)
FTP before trainerroad: 186W
After only 6 weeks sweet spot base low volume bumped my FTP to 228W. In the mean time bumped also my cadence from 80’ish to 95+.
My goal is to reach an FTP of 270W or more by march 2017, which is not “overreaching” I guess.
Very inspiring. Some of those gains are quite impressive.
This is information that is lacking crucial data needed to make this write up seem like more than a sales pitch for trainer road. Please provide more detail on how much time each athlete needed to accomplish their gains along with what training plans each individual used. Trainer Road is a great tool but this write up makes them seem rushed and sloppy.
Sorry if it came off that way Matt. :/ We didn’t aim to make this sales-y, rather show some testimonials from amateur cyclists making large strides in their abilities. Do keep in mind that not all of these athletes came from the same reference point either. 🙂
As far as the time needed to achieve these goals goes, our training plans last roughly 28 weeks. 8-12 weeks for a Base phase of training, 8 weeks for a “Build” phase of training, followed with 8 weeks for a “Specialty” phase where your skills are sharpened to the goals of your event. Within the details provided for each athlete, we noted which TrainerRoad training plan was used, and hoped readers would fill in the gaps with how long each of those phases are. We’ll add some detail for readers to know how long those phases are.
Thank you for your feedback Matt!
how were they measuring power though ? was it using the virtual power algorithm or a power meter ? My experience shows there are massive discrepancies between those 2 methods of measurement. The first FTP test I did (8min) I used virtual power and it came back with an FTP of 161. A week later I got a stages power meter fitted (crank based) using the exact same trainer and the same settings (super magento pro) with the same bike in the same conditions (was indoors, so constant temp) I did the test again and got 126W FTP effectively 25% lower. I wasn’t scrimping either as the HRs over the workouts were almost identical. Unless power is being measured directly through a meter I wouldn’t trust the results because there are so many variables that could swing a virtual calculation I am not convinced it would ever be accurate
Javier,
These athletes were using power-measuring devices, whether that be from a dedicated power meter or the power-measuring devices built into electronic trainers. Though, you do have a point about potential discrepancies between VirtualPower and power from a dedicated device. There are some VirtualPower curves that are more accurate than others, and there are also a few things to do to make sure your results stay consistent. If you maintain things like consistent tire pressure and trainer roller tension, your results will be comparable and you’ll know when you’re getting stronger. So while they may not be accurate, you’ll get precise data holding your controllable variables fixed. But again, these athletes weren’t using VirtualPower. 🙂
Thanks Javier! Let us know at support@trainerroad.com if you run into any other questions or concerns.
I am almost a year late with regard to commenting on this blog post but after my most recent FTP test I did some searches. I wanted to see if I had done something wrong because I wasn’t sure I believed the results.
After 12 weeks on the Full distance triathlon plan at mid volume I increased my FTP by 20%.
Now let me caveat all of this by saying that the first FTP test I did 12 weeks ago was my first FTP test ever so their is a learning curve. It was hard but I was pretty consistent. This time around I felt more prepared partly because I was used to long intervals from the training plan.
I also use a very basic old school trainer with no power meter so I follow virtual power. That is great for me because regardless of the number it gives me a target to aim for but I am not sure how accurate it is. That being said, regardless of accuracy having that target is really what you need.
So my FTP increased from 231 to 276 and the WattKG change was 4.2 (whatever that means) I was left wondering is this accurate? The training plan was hard sometimes doing rides at 130% of my old FTP or at 90% of my old FTP for longer durations.
I decided to try the next ride scheduled in the mid volume full distance triathlon plan using the new FTP score. It was a 1h45m ride at 80 – 85% FTP. Not going to lie it was hard and at times I wanted to lower the % but I didn’t. I came away pleased but also very tired when compared to previous workouts.
Now I am left wondering should each ride be this hard? Does it just take me some time to adjust to my new FTP? Or maybe my first FTP should have been a bit higher and the increase not as great as it seems? Perhaps a bit of all 3. Anyway, this blog post was encouraging to see and if anything I am thankful for the structure of the plan and I know it has made me better. The truth or accuracy of how much better I think will take some time to figure out.
Great stories about amateurs from all walks of life. It helps in imagining yourself making similar gains when reading about these athletes.
As such, I’d love to see more women highlighted next time. It’d sure be inspiring to see other stories about women who were total cycling newbies like me who made impressive gains.
Are there that few women who use TrainerRoad? Or did you only reach out to one female athlete? Or did only one female athlete respond to a request for inclusion for this piece?
jeez. second biggest shock of my like only hitting 1w/kg on indoor trainer over extended ftp.
admitedly, im 50, had heart attack and not ben v active for years, also recently broke foot and in plaster fpr few months. 1w! 1! im underweight around 65kg and 6 foot tall, i need food not just exercise 🙂 will be checking out Malcolm Estments section as thats about closest ive seen to my paltry effort
Having taken numerous FTP test over the past 3 years I can tell you gearing plays a huge factor in wattage. IMO, I bigger gear – if you can push it, will always give a higher wattage to a workout. Thus if you took a FTP test with a smaller front ring configuration and then tested again with larger you will have a noticeable bump in FTP. Does training help Via trainerroad – its better then not riding.
What the heck does FTP stand for could not find a definition in article.
Hey Hugh!
Functional Threshold Power, or FTP, is the best single marker for fitness in cycling. The higher your FTP is, the stronger you are.
In TrainerRoad, we use your FTP to scale workouts. Our workouts are recorded as a percent of FTP. This means that when your FTP increases, the workouts get harder to maintain the same difficulty.
Hi Jonathan. I’m an older athlete – turning 60 this year. I’m training for Climb to Kaiser to celebrate my 60th in June using TrainerRoad starting with an FTP of 205. I’m only 3 weeks in (I know it’s still early) but so far am not seeing appreciable FTP gains. I’m at 175 lbs, 5’-10” with a goal of 160 lbs so W/kg will go up on that basis alone. I know this is a monotonous question, but what is a realistic FTP gain for me between now an June? I’ve cycled for many years – mostly decent hill climbing group rides on Saturdays only. I’m now on a Grand Fondo / climbing road race plan (mid-volume) using an indoor trainer and erg mode.
I’m a TrainerRoad podcast junkie and really enjoy the team’s dialog. Great job to you in particular. You have a very balanced and articulate demeanor. Quite impressive!
Thanks so much ?
I have a 160 mile grand fondo with 9000 feet of climbing in 13 weeks. My current FTP is only 220 and I weigh 82K. I did this particular fondo 3 years ago but haven’t been doing real structured training or riding with much volume at all in the last year. I also have a cycling camp booked in Portugal (Algarve) April 16th for a week. What plan would you recommend?
With our new Plan Builder feature, all you need to do is enter some preliminary information and the dates of your event, and we will build your whole training plan automatically 🙂
You can build your custom training plan for free here:
https://www.trainerroad.com/plan-builder