Was looking at an 304 > 319 AI FTP increase. Tonight I did a 33 min Zwift race with Avg Power 290. NP 371 for IF 1.21 With an IF of 1.21, it better be noted as Max Effort!!! - so why the constant FTP decreases? FWIW I have great short power, so I see high IF’s frequently, but it doesn’t make sense that I get FTP penalized? Love for someone to help me learn! Cheers

You are going to need to make your calendar public for help. Was this Zwift race built into your calendar, or did you skip a workout, or add this on top of your planned workload?

[image] SurplusArmy: With an IF of 1.21, it better be noted as Max Effort!!! - so why the constant FTP decreases? Fitness improves best with small, steady progressive overload - consistently applied over time.

Here is my guess. It does happen to me. I’m trying to train it by over doing what it wants me to do. Reason is, it wants me to do less than 300 TSS. Before I broke my foot., 6 months ago, I was doing over 500. If you go over your TSS, Time, etc for the week TR AI expects it will burn you out. This might be the conclusion AI makes from the millions of workout data points it was fed.

Probably because after such an intense effort it had to make a few of your upcoming workouts easier to make sure you are able to recover

Just to clarify, the AI predicted FTP drops suddenly after a high intensity effort where I select “Maximum effort”. If i had selected “Moderate” or “Hard”, it would not have dropped by so much. A 33 min ride rated at “Max Effort” should not drop FTP by 6 watts 6 days out! I think the issue is that I rated something “Maximum Effort” so therefore ‘I am struggling with my current FTP’, however, because of my short power, I can put out a NP far above my FTP - and the TR algo is not factoring this?

Just did ZRL race 48 mins @ 1.14 IF Zwift says “304>320 new FTP!” Trainer Road, Rated" “Very Hard” drops it again!

TrainerRoad

AI FTP drops with Max Effort

TrainerRoad Software

Caro.Gomez-Villafane April 13, 2026, 12:52pm 5

Hey @SurplusArmy

Can I have permission to look at your account and post about relevant info to answer your question?

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