This is something that needs to be stated over and over.
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good input @JoeX . I do regret adding powermatch with kicker and 4iii and I figure that is why I had so much trouble with the end of GB LV and saw a step change in FTP. I will add a week off the bike after this SPB MV. Definitely hotter in Arkansas but fortunately my āpain caveā is in the AC.
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@toribath and @bobmcstuff Thanks guys. I have had a couple different breaks off the bike. March 14-23 (10 days) I did one outside ride less than 2 hours. Feb 7-13 (7 days) completely off the bike. December 18-25 (8 days) off the bike other than a ramp test. Those were ski trips. Mostly on piste, riding lifts up and down the mountain with family (legs not thrashed).
5lbs(2.3 kg) w/kg has stayed consistent and I am 5ā9" (1.75m) I am fairly lean. My job is somewhat physical at times and I do not run or do any weight training (yet).
I am fortunate to be at 4 w/kg but had hoped to have watts go up rather than the kg go down. 
If FTP was everything, heck even if it was 90% of everything, I wouldāve won the first two Cat 4 crits I entered. Instead, with my 365w FTP (4.85w/kg), I rolled in around 15th both timesā¦ 
FTP is nice, but again, itās definitely not the be all end all.
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@ChefAcB my A event is at the end of August with a Road Race/Hill Climb TT and Crit the next day. I have been doing quite a bit SS work or sustained efforts for the better part of 8 months with a little VO2 thrown in. (marginal/negligible gains) Just shooting in the dark with SPB MV as it should end about a week from my A and figure it will help with the Crit mostly.
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Just curious because you mentioned ski trips. Have you taken breaks where you actually rest for a week or two? Thereās a big difference between a week of rest and a week of skiing.
Howās your outside results going? My FTP has dropped a bit since I started July last year. I think I am just one of the 7.5% ramp test lower outliers (its good for 85% of people but 7.5% test too low and 7.5% test too high). Performance outside though seems to have went up judging by TT PRs, if you believe them Strava segments and it feels like Iāve improved on my peers in group rides. If youāre doing similar I wouldnāt be too bothered about FTP. Roll on Adaptive Training which I think will make it irrelevant anyway 
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@Pbase just a quick scroll through my calendar it looks like I have not had a full week with zero physical activity in my adult lifeā¦ maybe thatās what I need. Earlier I stated that I really enjoy the āworkā and putting in the effort to get stronger. I donāt dread the prescribed workouts and typically look forward to knocking them out.
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@HLaB most of my outside rides are recovery or where I am just enjoying my time outside and not looking at numbers, but on a few occasions I have done better on some segments. The ever present measuring stick of FTP (ramp test) gain/loss is what I typically use to assess my fitness. It is easier to keep variables to a minimum on an indoor test as opposed to a segment or something outside (no race results).
It is easier indeed to keep things more consistent indoors but bare in mind the ramp test with ERG just doesnāt suit everyone; I think particularly the lighter riders. So you may be getting fitter/ stronger despite that one metric. IIRC my FTP based on a 20mins non ERG test prior to TR was 280w. My first ramp a few weeks later was 252w and every ramp test since has went down. Iāve consistently held 250w+ on hour long TTs so when it dropped below 250w I started ignoring it (IIRC my last ramp pre season was 227w). I then switched back to a 20mins test (non ERG) and it was 280w. Perhaps I never depleted enough anaerobic energy so I have settled on 250w for now as 250-260w always seem to get me through an ERG session unless the IF goes over 0.94 and is repeatable on all 20mins tests even if I get the pacing wrong. I probably need to increase that though, on a super flat and non technical course back in May I managed 292w for 57mins and there was more left in the tank 
Lots of good points were made in this thread.
At some point, we all max out on current training volume and stimulus. At that point, you need a different stimulus. One might be at the point where a true 5 or 10 watt gain over a year would be considered a success.
I can tell you that I will never get to 4watts/kg despite trying. 
Experienced riders can also max out on what TR can provide. TR provides a canned base-build-peak approach but they have no idea if you individually need to extend TTE, improve VO2max, or work on sprint power. TR will just run you through the same paces over and over.
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Hi everyone.
Sorry, feel a bit lost on the site but enjoying your threads. I am a triathlete and would love to join Trainnerroad to work on my bikingā¦ Can someone please send me a "recommendation* or link to try it out please. Thanks Jackie
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I appreciate everyoneās input and have decided to take it easy for 5 or 6 days and stay off the bike. Then roll into SPB MV. Iāll update this thread after that 8 weeks.
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Grant,
It will be interesting to see how the MV plan goes. Looking at your OP, looks like you have a very solid level around 280w Give or take and based on the fluctuations of the day, the test method and the PM. All good.
It may be that 4 w/kg is what you will achieve with that type of training. Itās likely time to change it up and provide a new stimuli - good on ya for thinking and asking rather than just repeating. Going to MV is a good choice.
But donāt expect magic after only 8 weeks (although we hope for it). Reason being, as we become adapted to structured training, and reach higher levels of fitness, the gains come more slowly. It is also the case that training results can take time to appear. You might ramp test after the 8 weeks of SPB MV and not see the effects for a period of time after that.
Brian gave some good advice upthread - one of the most potent training stimuli for already well trained riders is to add zone 2 work. After you cycle the SPB MV, give consideration to going back to the LV Base programs but instead of 3 days, try doing the Tuesday + Thursday workouts and add as much Zone 2 volume as you can on Wed + Sat + Sun.
From my experience, there are two things that pop a rider above a solid plateau:
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Significant change in stress and intensity. The issue with this is you get a short term gain which is hard to hold onto. Some call this fragile fitness.
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Robust fitness and a sustainable increase in well trained athletes Iāve only seen come from a commitment to the aerobic engine. The best way to do that is to add zone 2 to a good LV program. No shortcuts but doing that for 6-9-12 months almost always results in an FTP increase along with TTE increases. Its a major investment but itās worth it for the long haul.
You post is actually fantastic because it speaks to a very common problem which is how to continue to improve once an athlete is well trained. After the structured training NOOB gains are gone and one is at an increasingly high percentage of their potential is where the real work begins.
For me, my FTP hasnāt moved meaningfully in years. I max out around 4.25 w/kg and to get there I have to stay very very focused. Butā¦ w/kg FTP is only one part of riding a bike well. Even if stuck you can work on TTE and other parts of the power curve. Plus the mental game.
Good news for you though, at 35 and not having decades of training and already at 4 w /kg, if you stick to it and take a long view, I bet you have a lot more in the tank. Be patient, smart and consistent in training and should be rewarded.
Good luck and look forward to seeing your update.
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I want to print this and hang it in my paincave.
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@Grant_Harkreader, there is lots of great advice in this post. But there is now an additional resource that you can draw on to understand how you might be progressing outside of gains in tested FTP.
That resource is progression levels. The change in these is a great indication of progress at all sorts of points along the power duration curve. You donāt have to be on adaptive training to use these to good effect.
Or you can use the power duration curve directly. Look at your personal record charts after a ride or on your career page, or use a resource like intervals.icu. These all indicate progress or the lack of it at different intensities.
If you use these kinds of resources to understand whatās going on at a more detailed level than just tested FTP, then you will get a lot from the advice thatās been offered up here.
Good luck!
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I think you might not be adapting well to the training (it is too much for you, or perhaps you arent really recovering on recovery / easy rides - all probably bc your zones are set too high). You mention you failed (to improve on) a ramp test but did not correct your FTP to the number that was set in that test (you are not alone in doing this or feeling compelled to do this). Then you had two lower numbers in the following two ramps. I think you might have gone wrong there, when the test suggested you should have lower FTP level.
I will just point out here that the whole point of the FTP testing is to benchmark your fitness. The estimated FTP number is just to set your training zones. Also, fitness gains have tradeoffs (ie you dont just simultaneously increase all power durations). There are not many classic riders (very powerful short term athletes: GVA, MVDP, Wout van Aert) that are also grand tour GC competitors (very low body weight relative to height athletes - specialize in high w/KG long duration efforts). On this note, similar to what others pointed out, maybe you should check out testing other power durations so you can see this (potential) trade off that I am talking about. For example, I focused on improving my power levels below 5 min this first half of the year (<1min sprints, 1min, 3min, 5min). I had big improvements in those categories. However, I think I might not get a PR if I do a 20min test to estimate my FTP next week. I like intervals.icu as @michaelfrommelbourne suggested above.
If you lost 5 lbs and only weighted 150 or so to begin with, that is a pretty large % decrease in body weight (at least for normal people - perhaps not in the cyclistās mind!). If your initial (absolute rather than w/kg) FTP was set at a more muscular level, you may just be seeing some absolute loss from decrease in body weight if it isnt from lack of recovery. I would expect my <5min power to drop somewhat if I decided to push my weight from 165 to 155-160 seeking a higher w/kg FTP. Also, since the ramp tests are really just vo2max testing, I would expect that number to fall as well since strength training (lifting) and muscle mass are correlated with power at vo2max (but not necessarily vo2max [measured in oxygen per ml per min relative to body weight]).
IDK about the training plan design, but I would also not test mid training block and expect to PR (bc of cumulative fatigue) - not sure if you did it bc the plan called for it or you were just curious. I would finish a whole block, take a proper recovery week (or however long necessary) then retest to assess new fitness levels (again bc the point of the test is only to set the zones).
In summary, you might be a bit overtrained, or you might just be seeing improvements at different areas of the power curve while facing a trade off at your power at vo2max (which is what the ramp test is testing). I wouldnt freak out, train harder / start new plan, or not touch the bike for a while. Id suggest you take a few weeks to go have fun on your bike and ditch the structure intervals. Then get back to it once your feeling a bit mentally/physically refreshed.
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OP, have you considered putting those 5 pounds back on? Maybe it would be better done in the off season with lifting to ensure it is mostly muscle.
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Totally anecdotal and an n=1 for just me, but I had a similar stagnation around the 145 lb mark (Iām 5ā11"). Iāve since focused less on the weight and entirely on the training process. This increased my weight from 145 to ~152-153, and I am considerably faster with a higher w/kg than I could muster at 145. I think I was able to pack on some muscle with that weight and it allowed me to reach an FTP thatās 30 watts higher (3.6 w/kg) than my previous peak FTP (3.2 w/kg). Not to mention the stuff @Sarah noted like repeatability and recovery are WAY better now for me than theyāve ever been.
So I guess what Iām saying is consider the possibility you could be faster and healthier at 150 rather than 145? It is entirely possible that by focusing on the power and training process that you exceed the 4 w/kg number while feeling better and more refreshed.
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