Cannot keep up with training

without confusing you to much. i looked at your calender and your ftp is wrong. take 1-2 rest or easy sessions and do a proper test. 2x 8min or a proper 20minute all out test on a climb (no erg mode).
after that start out with low volume (3h structured a week) and work up from there.

100TSS structured intervalls are not the same as 100TSS of strolling around with your mates with loads of free wheeling.

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There is definitely a big difference between indoor training where you are pedalling non stop for 60 minutes, and riding outside where you are certainly pedalling but also coasting (slowing down for lights/junctions etc) and going downhill.

It takes time to get used to that if you aren’t used to it.

I like the suggestion of Baxter as a ride to get used to constantly pedalling.

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I’ll bite. Why is it wrong? Please show your working :smiley:

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you can barely complete lvl 2 workouts in sweetspot and treshhold and your HR in those workouts is all over the place.

you have a decent z1/z2 base from your outside rides but you simply lack the top end because you never did any real intensity.

just look 7th december workout with 217ftp and compare it to your latest sweetspot workout where it seemed you have lowered your ftp by more that 40 watts. just compare the HR lines.

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Hi there and thanks, it always stresses me out when new athletes get wildly varying advice on these forums so I would suggest that you email TR support for official advice.

For what it’s worth, your training looks good and well executed as does yout ramp test :white_check_mark:. I believe you’re just experiencing the difference in high quality indoor training and as some above have said, carry on and you will see gains.

Equipment wise your heart rate monitor seems slow to react and erratic at time, you may want to ensure you watch is tightened for workout, move to a chest strap or replace if you already have one. Also, is the TSS from your summer riding generated from the same power meter you’re using indoors now?

I see your FTP changed a few times yesterday, I’m assuming from manual, I’d have this at the level TR set. Serious problems with the work out intensity would show up in struggles in your past workouts, which you arent having.

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Athletes heavily skewed in that direction whould tend to underperform in a ramp test though - not overperform as suggested :thinking:

The heartrate monitor does seem suspect - I’d even go as far as recommending the OP stops wearing it if they cant fix it because bad data is worse than no data.

I think the OPs FTP seems about right - my advice to them would be to listen to their body and take some rest days, regroup, and try again.

Dont worry about missing a workout - the beauty of adaptive training is that the plan will adapt so the next workout will be correct when you do jump back in.

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Something else to consider that may help, based off of my own experiences…

If the build up of fatigue is the issue, then maybe (on top of the other advice on this thread) consider spacing out your ‘hard’ days a bit more.

I’ve found that even on a polarised or masters plan, the cumulative fatigue can build up too quickly if I’m not getting great sleep / nutrition and maybe work is adding an extra layer of non-exercise stress to my system.

In these instances, resisting the urge to ride, and taking an extra day off the bike (or just doing a super easy 30 minute leg loosener like ‘Dans’) can work wonders.

I’m 51 and have found recovery is the limiter for me on most occasions when I start to struggle. The calendar allows you to manually move all workout days to the ‘right’ by a day; this could be enough extra rest and recovery to get you back on track (assuming sleep and nutrition are good).

Final thought - the advice about manually reducing your FTP (or retesting etc) is great - I had to do this when I first started using TR and it hurt my ego so I initially resisted until common sense prevailed. There is no downside to this, as the algorithm will eventually compensate and catch back up your PLs and virtual FTP after you’ve done a bunch of sessions and self reported the difficulty level. :smiley::+1:t2:

Good luck - would be beneficial to hear back from you after a month or so, to find out what you did, what worked and how your progress has been.

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I thought ramp test underestimated FTP for the anaerobically gifted.

Are you sure that you’ve been adequately fuelling your rides and aren’t in a calorie deficit?

Ramp tests can overestimate FTP a bit for athletes with higher anaerobic capacity - not usually the otherway around :+1:

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It’s the other way round.

Let’s say I do a ramp test and it says my FTP is 250 watts. If I then do four weeks of anaerobic capacity workouts, rest up for a couple of days and do a second ramp test, I’ll probably be able to do at least an extra minute or two on the ramp test because i’ll be a more capable athlete above FTP, and so my “FTP” will be higher by 75% of however many extra steps I complete.

In reality of course, my actual FTP will very probably have stayed exactly where it was.

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@kevistraining yes I am sure,. I eat 100g of carbs per hour.

Thanks @JoeX I was experimenting a decrease in FTP-AI and some fatigue after training. My Garmin watch status was Overreaching or Unproductive for some time. That is what triggered the second guessing of my plan.
My Garmin strap is acting up at the beginning (before I sweat) and the end (when I sweat too much) and I reached out to Garmin to see how to fix this (wash, new one etc…).
I changed my mind yesterday a few times about changing my FTP manually after I did my workout. I deleted those changes to avoid confusion.

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That’s all well and good whilst on the bike but that might not be enough to replenish what you have burnt - you may need to have something either pre or post too.

100g of carbs is about 400 calories but for your FTP you could be burning up 700 calories an hour.

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@kevistraining good to know, I will try to increase my intake and see how my body reacts.

Thanks @dsirrom.

I will do the following:

  1. Stay on the plan and will be diligent with surveys post workouts. I won’t hesitate to switch workouts if I will I feel tired.
  2. increase my calorie intake during. and post workouts
  3. Fix my Garmin HRM
  4. keep doing short pilates workouts on off days.
  5. if this does not work, I will decrease my ftp manually.
  6. I will get back to the group in a few months to see where this leads me.

Thank you all for the quick answers and feedback, this is really appreciated.

Chat soon.

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Does TR provide a more comprehensive test than the ramp test, and AI ftp adjustment?

While I’m being controversial:
I guess there’s also the SYSTM ftp test, which is available with the free subscription. It uses an initial ramp test, followed by a long flat stint where you maintain a fixed HR.

Of course TR’s AI model is trained against TR’s FTP metric, so even if you doubt it’s accuracy, you should probably still use it as your TR FTP test, to benefit most from the statistical (AI) model.

Don’t. If you FTP is wrong right now, no “AI” will suddenly somehow make it correct.
Do a proper 40Km time trial and enter you measured average power.
After(!) that, you maybe could rely on future AI FTP updates.

Ouch. 40k might be a bit much depending on how much extensive threshold work someone’s done (or not done).

Anything over 40 minutes should be fine. Get a number and round down to the nearest 5 watts.

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