Forgive my newness, but as your FTP climbs and your zones increase, does the feeling of effort ever get easier at higher powers, or does it become an adjustment in mindset and body to be OK with that higher power?
Higher power is for sure part of a mental game, but how much of that is 180 watts feels like what 150 watts was when FTP was lower.
Curious to hear what the consensus is on this!
“It never gets easier, you just go faster” - Greg Lemond
I guess in the way you describe it, yes. 150w today won’t feel the same a year from now if you train consistently. But as far as thing feeling easier in general, no. I feel like I’m going to die whenever I’ve done 4min-5min Vo2 max intervals whether it was when my FTP was 224 or now when its 340.
What he said. Plus, any weaknesses in your fitness will feel worse as power goes up. You have to be able to feed more oxygen, you’ll need to be more on top of your fueling (if you didn’t eat and drink enough before…), and feet, knee, hip, back issues can get worse pushing more power. That burning in your legs when you stay over ftp too long, feels just as bad.
I don’t race, so one of my goals for training was to increase my fitness and power, so that I can go on rides with my buddies and keep up with the faster guys and not bury myself every time. Mission accomplished as I slingshotted past them, so now I’m cruising along in the front and look fresh when we stop (i.e. it’s a lot easier to ride at 200 watts than it was when my ftp was 220)
The quick answer is yes.
Just like with weight training that a 10kg dumbbell that initially felt really heavy will , with consistent training, get to feel much easier as you get accustomed to even heavier weights. And your muscles adapt etc.
But lifting your maximum effort on a bench press with 10kg will then be a maximum effort with 50kg. It will still feel like a maximum effort!
Maybe the better title would have been do you get use to the suffering!
Kinda. Depends. Like to an extent 75% of ur ftp will hurt the same if your ftp is 200 or 400. But that also isnt true. So kinda sorta but not really. If you train threshold, then it will feel less hard to hold 75% ftp then if you didnt. Same for sprinting and whatnot. However, at the same time 75% will still kinda hurt like 75%
Power above FTP did not feel any easier for me when I got fitter,. My FTP increased by 16% but my 5 minute power only increased by 10%, my 1 minute power by only 2%. 5 second sprint stayed about the same. I could definitely ride further and faster for a lower perceived effort.
Only came here to post the exact same quote - nothing more to add surely 
Yes and no. Riding VO2max will still feel awful, but with time you’ll learn to manage pain and suffering better. Your mental game plays a huge part in endurance sports such as cycling.
However, in the real world, it makes a difference. If you are outdoors riding in a group, then a higher FTP means you can ride at a lower percentage of your FTP to keep up.
I always say when I start VO2 and anaerobic blocks that it’s really just time to “get comfortable being uncomfortable”. For me the higher powers levels are now easier (ie 165 used to be my FTP and now it’s just above Z2/an almost all day pace) but like 20 minutes at threshold still hurts like 20 minutes at threshold, the numbers are just higher. You do get used to the sensations and how your legs may or may not feel and if it matters or not. Biggest thing I feel is the cardio conditioning and how before I would be at like 190bpm feeling pinned for a two-minute max effort and now I can be at 160-170bpm for a max two-minute effort and then repeat it without ever feeling as pinned as in the past.
Your mindset will adjust to the effort, and you learn more about where your true limits are. It’s a great feeling to finish an interval that I wasn’t quite sure I could. Racing is another way to explore limits. I can always find more motivation in a race.
There’s a good Ask a Cycling Coach on VO2 Max: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9yIdXfZg34
My take is X% of FTP feels the same as FTP changes, if FTP always accurate. Agree with others comments that you will probably mentally handle it better as you mature as an athlete.
But rides and races that are against other riders feel easier. Hard efforts don’t hurt as much when fitness is higher.
As my FTP has gone up I can definitely feel I’m pushing the pedals harder, but at the same time I can keep pushing them hard for a long time when riding at ftp. Not a bad feeling.
as your FTP climbs it gets more addictive and you’ll wanna push even more. so it’ll prob hurt more when you go hard.
but by the time you get there, you’ll have “practiced” hurting and you’ll see it doesn’t kill you. so you’ll be glad to do it. and you’ll be mentally sick like the rest of us
another way to think about it. is have you ever seen elite power lifters?
if a normal person goes and does a deadlift, maybe they need a day or two off or are a little sore or tired.
an elite powerlifter can force him/her self to activate so many muscles that a seriously hard session can put them out of commission for a week. it’s actually harder for them. but they built up to that.
“It never gets easier, you just get slower” J.Doe