Ah - i just realised I responded to the wrong person. Sorry!
Now replying to the right person - could you post your calendar?
If you’re doing light recovery spins only it shouldn’t downgrade you (not in the long run anyway)
To explain this calendar and my concern, on the 16 TR AI was predicting my FTP to be increasing to 189 on the 18th. (I think) After I did the two “easy spinning” sessions on the 17th, AI changed my predicted FTP to 184. Before AI my FTP was 202, and I wasn’t too concerned when AI dropped my ftp initially, because I felt it would come right back up.
Only thing I can see is that your long rides are at a relatively high intensity. For a two hour ride at the upper end of Z2 I see TSS around 100. 140 in the same time frame implies you’re spending a lot of time in Z3.
This may well make the system think you’re at risk of overtraining.
I’m not sure it’s the recovery days themselves that are the issue here! I also note that your total TSS that week was 477 vs a planned 306.
If you don’t feel tired - you could make your plan more aggressive. This will tell the system that you can cope with fatigue. (I have it maxed out!)
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Your two easy spins took the place of a Threshold workout. So you missed a planned threshold workout. No wonder you didn’t get the results you and the AI were expecting.
That Monday ride looks like self-sabotage.
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After my outdoor ride on the 16th, TR changed the 17th to a Red “Rest Day”….
Yes, I know. What did your plan have in for Monday?
Nothing was on the calendar for Monday from TR. As I “think” I mentioned yesterday, after the AI conversion, ALL my workouts were reported as “Easy” by me after completion….
OK.
So TR was assuming you were going to do nothing on Monday and a productive Threshold workout on Tuesday and that would get you an FTP of 189w on Wednesday.
What you actually did was a totally unplanned high-TSS (likely unstructured and unproductive) outdoor ride on Monday (that you didn’t provide an RPE survey for) and some recovery spins on Tuesday and that got you to an FTP of 184w on Wednesday.
Why would you expect what you actually did to get you to the same place as the plan? It’s a completely different stimulus.
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The reason is because I am in my 10th week of Specialty training and now the assigned workouts feel like recovery workouts. As I said, AI decided to drop my FTP (which is fine), but I want to feel like I am being pushed or doing something that is at least a little hard and not easy every time.
Can you post more of your calendar? I’m not sure if this one is representative of your usual training or not. It looks like for this week, TR scheduled you for 2:30 of riding, and you rode ~8hrs. You rated every ride easy or didn’t rate them at all.
I’ve seen in the past where people just rate everything easy, and the model doesn’t know what to do with that since you’re saying there’s essentially no difference between a 30min 6TSS ride and 90min 80TSS ride (garbage in garbage out).
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The thing is, if you don’t follow the plan as much as I think you’re not following the plan, your AIFTP will drop continually, because what you’re doing bears so little relation to it, and so the workouts will likely continue to be too easy … ad infinitum
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Yes, the prediction is only a prediction. It is based on you doing what the plan lays out and responding in the surveys. They can’t possibly accurately predict what your ftp may end up being if you do random things. There’s nothing wrong with riding however you’d like to ride, but don’t be surprised if different inputs garner different outputs.
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Hi there. after struggling through this on a few accounts, here is my approach.
For myself, I have turned off the machine “detected” fatigue component, so it does not auto adjust my workouts based upon fatigue. This has allowed me to keep my workouts as planned and complete them as the schedule allows. It will still adjust workouts based upon how close they are to one another and what I have been doing, relatively speaking. Its working for me much better now.
As for single workouts adjusting FTP. I wouldn’t focus as much on that number. I know its tough, but we are all going to have to let go of what that number says because its not actual FTP. As nate mentioned, he would like to go away from it if he could, but everyone would revolt. Its purely a target power for the workout progressions to be organized around.
My AI FTP Hallucinates day to day. It will adjust after a fully completed workout and then change itself again the next morning. I’ve learned to laugh it off instead of allowing it to be a stressing point which affected my first month of training with it. what matters is, am I getting stronger, are the workouts good and are they progressing.
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If you have a power meter on your outside bike then why not move the workouts to your longer day and do them outside?
Threshold and sweet spot efforts work well outside.
And if you think the workouts are too easy then ask for harder ones!
But you do need to complete the proscribed type of workout and complete the surveys. Otherwise the system doesn’t have anything with which to gauge efforts and help you improve.
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Are your sweetspot and over-unders really easy? They shouldn’t be. I would use the harder workout alternative option if that is honestly the case.
Do you always rate your workouts easy? I think the AI starts to learn from your behaviour as well.
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If your theory is correct why is the fact that I have been using “Training Peak’s” prescribed program for the past 5 weeks and NOT TR, and TR has increased my FTP? Compare last weeks TSS (actual vs prescribed), What you said makes no sense in what is happening, but I still appreciate you trying to help.
I am simply trying to grasp this new training format. I received many comments that were very informative and helpful that will hopefully give me a better understanding when/if I use TR again.
I’m a little confused by this last screenshot. Are the incomplete workouts the ones your coach prescribed? If so, the work you’re completing looks nothing like the work the coach prescribed. Maybe I misunderstand?
There’s only one not completed, which I discussed with my coach. (I had a contractor showing ip to install fiber optics, and had to stop). This was the only workout not completed since using T.P’s.