Thx and agree
Anyone complaining is delusional or deliberately slighting TR. aiFTP and TrainerRoadAI is better than any coach I have used. Anyone complaining is probably a Coach who is afraid of losing business.
My FTP is already up 50w
5 Likes
So far, I like the changes. I’m enjoying the new information that explains the purpose of each workout and how it compares to my power targets for the past 6 weeks. I’ve been forced to miss some key workouts due to some personal issues taking place right now but the AI adjustments to workouts seems to be right on for me. I had a VO2 max workout last Monday that I didn’t think I would be able to do buy was able to get through it as well as a Threshold workout later in the week. Now I’m back on track and I like the workouts being recommended.
I am in the camp of like it. I have had a couple of workouts I thought I would fail but trusted the process and got through them. I don’t look at the FTP… find that part confusing and there was always a difference using different power metres indoors vs outdoors.
I am also very happy with the new AI approach 
! 
I have some thoughts to share from my recent experience with the FTP topic.
Laboratory test
I, female, had a Vo2Max+ lactate test a month and a half ago (first one ever, I was just curious). My FTP was set to 190 Watts (3,3 W/Kg) and the lactate FTP came with 168 Watts.
Up until the lactate test, my workouts were GREAT: accurately appropriate, hard ones hard (VERY challenging but I like that), easy ones easy. Have not failed one in… years?. (progressed from 150W+ something 3 years ago to 190 W).
(After crying a bit internally 
) I manually set my FTP to the lactate test FTP 168 Watts.
WHY? Because I need to do more “zone 2” for a 200km event and I already “knew” and felt like I was doing more than that (time crunched). The lab coach told me I should train by heart rate in the easy zones so I can endure the 200km and not suffer after 2-3 hours (be more of a a diesel engine). Which confirms what I already know: I like short intervals, I hate long rides 
Manually setting FTP after Lab test
TR then went a bit crazy and lost context and was telling me: HEY! No, we have a new FTP for you, take it! 
but I ignored it for 1 month just to train at the wattage and it feel way too easy, I felt too “ready to sprint”, you know that feeling of wanting to do more but having to stick to a certain watt value… but on Saturday (21.02) I accepted the new recommendation = 183 Watts.
I think all of it just gave TR a bit more of a brake, telling to it that I can do the work at 190 Watts for sure but maybe it comes with a higher cost for my body. What I take from it, I will do more longer rides (using dynamic endurance) and maybe choose the easier alternates for now, just to improve a bit this physiological adaptation and my HR stress/training overall.
TLDR
I feel pretty happy with the adaptation it gave me for the workouts now after the “trial lactate FTP month”, it lowered the levels of course and it is giving me more workouts with longer endurance rides at lower levels.
The whole lactate FTP experiment signaled to me that those are two different worlds and in the end, PERSONALLY I just want to do my workouts, keep progressing, regardess on the number it has. If that means training a bit easier and follow my HR instead of power for easy rides, then so be it. For Threshold and Vo2max or sweet spot, I trust TR and it already adapts nicely the plan depending on my performance, if I failed a workout or not and my “RPE” survey.
What I’d like to see in the future
- Half marathon options for events (or marathons) (non AI topic but still …
) - Sleep score consideration? if I am constantly not sleeping well (TSS), AI should not ramp up my workouts
maybe even give me a yellow day. - Nutrition integration (macros)? or logging them for the workouts . That would be aweeeeeesomeee! so I & AI can see: ah wait, I failed this workout because I did not fueled it right, etc. And also TR could tell me: recommended intake of XX carbs, etc. Or “hey, you have a 200 km event, maybe train your gut from this week to this week, try that here or there”, etc. Carb AI would be like: NEXT LEVEL
BTW! the calendar is soooo snappy and faster! thank you to whoever fix it and love the drag and drop 
It makes my UX smoother
Kudos
For those who are not familiar with the issues @tavirapeter has had with their Stages powermeter setup, how it interacted with TR, and the resulting bad data, there are already multiple threads on this and I’d suggest keeping the discussion in one of those rather than starting it again here:
11 Likes
I’m not unhappy but not that happy.
I like the predictor and the speed it changes, but the FTP bumps seem unrealistic.
Mine was bumped up by 21w last month, going from 282 to 303w.
For reference, my FTP last year was only 287w after the entire winter (starting at 272w)
I love that I now potentially have a 300w FTP but I also don’t know if I can believe it.
It sounds like maybe you haven’t had time to watch the rollout videos or read the documents TR published when this all changed. This post is a good short one that explains what the new TR AI FTP is. I would not be trying to compare it to what you traditionally thought of as FTP. Manual FTP throwing off prediction - #13
I’m happy and unhappy. I dislike the ai detection when trying to load a workout. Often doesn’t work
Started a company with my kids. We got our first six figure deal. Been in business 8 months. Almost didn’t get off the bike to take a call to sign the deal because I was worried about the pause in my workout I did pause. I didn’t get much credit for the workout but the kids are pumped. We got the deal. Worth it.
Other than that. It’s good.
Nope
Didn’t even know they existed.
IMO any system that means I have to do homework has failed. It shouldn’t need any explanation.
Still makes no sense. Why call it FTP if it’s not my FTP
I don’t work for TR. I’m just another user who tried to help you learn how to use the new TR.
Yeah that’s cool. Wasn’t directly aimed at you, was more of a discussion point.
IMHO what you are describing is the unwillingness to learn something new, not learning per se. At some point you had to learn what an FTP is and perhaps the basics of structured training.
If you had no preconception of what FTP is, I doubt you’d care — as long as TR AI works in the sense that it selects suitable workouts for you.
I just quit my subscription a month ago. For the money I paid I expected an error free and flexible structured program.
Not at all. I’m happy to learn about it, just didn’t know I would have to.
Again, why call it FTP if it’s not my FTP.
It’s not called FTP, it’s called AI FTP.
Exactly! aiFTP and FTP are obviously different and not comparable. One is a made up number, the other AI version is based on reality.
Going back to the original purpose of this thread, +1 to the opening post: I’m very happy as well. It took at most a few weeks for the system to dial-in my status, but since then the workouts have been very solid. Even down to the prediction percentages – if it predicts 47/51 hard/very hard, that’s really where it lands. It’s kind of spooky, actually.
It feels like it’s pushing me harder than before, which is in turn pushing me to take my overall prep more seriously. I can still get away with endurance rides at the end of long days, for example, but on VO2 Max and Threshold days, I now plan on (i) solid sleep the night before, (ii) legit fuel in advance, and (iii) doing it in the morning (not going to be successful after 12 hours at work). All of which is good and makes complete sense, no question. And when life happens and I struggle because I’m tired (or whatever), it adjusts accordingly.
After a decade plus on TR, it has been a pleasure watching the team evolve the platform. Like many others in this forum, my day job is in software, so I’m not losing sleep over the usual ups-and-downs of a new release. I, for one, am just trusting the system and letting it ride. Or letting it take me on a ride, as it were.
Again, what is your FTP? One valid answer is a training aid to select the correct workouts. And in my experience and that of the vast majority of beta testers, it has worked exceedingly well in that role, even if it surprises athletes at times.
Furthermore, I don’t think this changes much regarding the everlasting “What is FTP really?” debate, it just adds another option to the debate.