This is so true.
When I was lifting weights my progress from a 250lb deadlift to a 400lb deadlift came reasonably fast but 400lb to 500lb took relatively speaking an awful lot longer. It then took quite a few years to nudge incrementally to 600lb by which point I was into my 40s, had ruined my body and had to quit lifting due to snapping my pec major tendon 
Then I discovered cycling (allegedly a cheaper and easier sport to take up in middle age) …
Yeh really 
I need more practice using the socratic method. 
To be more blunt, it was not clear to me from several posts that a process (testing, workout feedback assessment, etc.) was being used to determine when incremental FTP increases are appropriate / realistic and when they are more aspirational.
Yeah, constant and continuous many adjustments seem flawed to me, at least to the fact that it will fail at some point. The overly simple “when you start failing workouts” is a signal of overreaching with those adjustments.
It’s a similar evaluation that should be done after any FTP test or manual adjustment, to see if the workouts
“feel like they should”. That is far from a simple thing that can be plugged into an equation. It requires review of the given workout to understand the planned difficulty, then evaluation against the workout data and personal experience, to make a call on how “right” it was.
If only this was all easier 
I dont think this can possibly be an issue at all.
As others have said, adding 1 watt per week will barely amount to anything as it pertains to workout difficulty and I will be taking the plan’s scheduled ramp test as normal.
I guess if I were to take the ramp test and came back with a result that was actually below my previously incrementally adjusted ftp then yeah, I would have to say what I did probably ain’t the way to go.
On the other hand if my ramp test shows a further 4 watts on top of the 3 or 4 I already added manually then I will have proven (for me) that this method works and is worth applying.
I have actually been doing this for some time now, adding 1w each week. Been working well thus far 
As I am rinse and repeating SSBMV1 & 2 blocks then I am able to fairly consistently and frequently compare the same workouts to see how my heart rate stacks up against power numbers for each workout and its respected intervals.
For the time being my heart rate levels are either exactly the same or even lower during the same workouts weeks apart but with higher power numbers. So effectively I am getting more efficient at producing power at a given HR level, or being able to produce the same power but at a lower HR intensity. Whichever way you look at it I am doing some sort of progress. I think… 
I am way more conservative than you guys. 1 watt per week seems a lot to me! That will amount to about 50 watt increase per year. That would be one hell of a year!
Perhaps it works with noob gains. Started 1 year ago structured was 140W now at 219. Recently started microdosing FTP… 1-2W every week on the easy ride (mid volume)
Edit: but after sustained power build and century, I will stop and consolidate gains and focus on losing weight more in sweet spot base
Whilst most of you are saying that you don’t physically struggle with the ‘micro gains’, I do wonder if you’re missing out on the mental aspect of a ‘bump’ after a test.
I do appreciate that not everyone likes to test (any test/format) but how good does it feel to see that increase after a solid block of training. It’s such a great feeling. I’m almost certain that brain must trigger a chemical release into the body because I know that I get off the trainer feeling like I’m the best cyclist in the world. That’s priceless.
Couple that with a increase of 5-6 watts and you know that you’re going to have to toughen up mentally as well. Yeah, long Threshold was tough but you’ve now made it even tougher! That’s invaluable when deep into your event or whatever it is you’re facing.
I’m still doing the ramp test and accepting the value if lower. Also, in recovery weeks, weeks that I feel not so good or that the workouts felt hard enough I won’t be incrementing.
I think at the end of the year I’ll have the same total increment as you.
This is exactly what I’m trying to avoid. I’m still new to TR. Doing it for 2 years but with knee surgery in the middle. So I always get bumps between 5 and 10 Watts.
I really struggle with the workouts after the ftp bump.
I understand that for more seasoned cyclists that have smaller gains this might not be the best approach, but again, for newbies like me IMO it makes sense to mitigate the bumps
I guess I’m still in the ‘noob gains’ phase as I have only just started real structured training with the start of this season. For the time being the 1w/week does the job. As soon as I will see a change / drop in efficiency I will then either drop the increments to say 1w/2weeks or simply do something like a sustained power build phase at the last set power level to consolidate my gains at that particular level.
That is exactly why I decided to microdose. I had a ridiculous bump after SSBMV2 going into General Power Build MV. It destroyed me mentally, I actually believe I was close to being burned out, normal sweet spot work suddenly changed to vo2 overnight. Had to take an extra week off after barely completing General Build to get my mojo back. After that I decided to change my approach and for the time being it is working, it’s slower but more stable and consistent, plus mentally I’m way more confident about approaching even the hardest workouts.
It’s like with poison. Single big dose will kill you… But a steady long low-intensity drip will actually make you immune to it
Interesting to me that you guys think this approach is better when you’re in the new player gains section of your training. I actually would’ve thought it more useful when you’re close to your ceiling or have hit a plateau.
I am very familiar with my body and its response to training, as well as relatively aware of what my highest sustainable FTP is (based on my current rest and training constraints) and have used this approach to eek out some increases in difficulty.
Essentially, when I am coming towards a peak I test within +/- 2 watts of the same number (365). What I’ve been experimenting with it just small 1-2 watt increases after each recovery week and tracking how my endurance, threshold, and VO2 work feels afterwards. I often adjust back down, but sometimes I can sustain the new number.
Obviously well outside the normal prescribed procedure, but I get frustrated with tests that always reveal what I already know, and this lets me push myself in other ways. However, as I mentioned above - I think this makes more sense when you have years of training and are intimately familiar with your body’s response to training than when you are in the new to structured training portion
How so?
If that is the case there is something seriously wrong with your testing.
Personally I don’t miss the ramp test.
You mentioned one scenario where you get a nice ftp bump (10-20W), and I’ve been there. What do you do when in the next 2-3 weeks you can’t complete your half your workouts? Or you push hard and find yourself burned out and need a few weeks to recover and end up lowering that ftp?
What happens when you do all your workouts and then do a ramp test only to test lower?
The issue is using the ramp test as a validation of improvement. But if you’re experienced, there are other ways and they feel just as good. Workouts like Lamarck, Leconte, Picket Guard, Mary A are really good barometers and can be just as validating when you know how you’re supposed to feel by the end.
I actually said in my original post or somewhere above that it is for the seasoned athlete who has plateaued their ftp gains. I don’t recommend this for a new guys but I’m sure it would work as well but slower.
You’ve never seen anyone go from let’s say 200 ftp to 230? It happens.
The other solution to aovid shock from FTP bump is doing the threshold and SS workout in resistance not in erg mode. I know that erg is pretty convinient but doing the sustianed workouts by feel gives you more “fluid” transitons. Of course you have to gain some experience how they should feel and tune the power.
Just splitting hairs but, I don’t think I referenced 10-20watts as a nice FTP bump. In my mind, that would be a huge increase and the closer you got to that 20watt number, I would agree with your comments and expect to see problems on the horizon.
Of course people do achieve such gains. Just look at Amber. It’s also true towards the newer TR user end of the scale. Those of us who have been cycling, training and racing for years are less inclined to see such increases. I mentioned a 5-6watt increase because for me, that has proven to be both physically and mentally manageable and it gives me a real boost.
Again, on a personal note, if I test lower, I accept that number and push on. This did happen to me in February this year. It would seem that my TACX had been reading high (very high) for months. When it broke and I replaced the unit, I retested and my FTP dropped by over 60 watts. I sucked it up, set that number and cracked on. My FTP doesn’t define me or my abilities. To this day, I’m still nowhere near that ‘old’ FTP. It is, what it is.
I just had a friend who is in his 2nd year of TR go from 260 to 285 to 310 to 330 on MVSSB1 and 2 and MVSusB. I thought he overtested each time and he never missed a workout and nailed them all. It was the most impressive 3 months of training I’ve seen by anyone I know. He is doing HV traditional now and his last test was stuck at 330. But it is doable to see massive gains when you’re new.
This baby step thing would be a way too slow for him.
Testing lower on ramp test is an odd situation when you just did a 6-8 wk block where you did every workout. Sometimes you just are not recovered or motivated on test day.