Failed assessment

Training
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Hello. I am not a avid cyclist , not what so ever. Purchased smart bike to get in shape. Am 56, and 30 pounds over the top. Tried the ftp accessment and did not make it more than 7 mins. Am wayyy out of shape apparently.
I put therefore manually an ftp of 50? Any reccomendations on what training program to start at? And what ftp it should be? Am not looking to do triathlons in the future, just to get and keep in shape.
Thankyou

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I would do 1-2 weeks of the “Endurance” rides and then re-test. If you’re been sedentary for a long time you likely just need to wake your system up and you’ll do much better.

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First of all, welcome to the forums.

Secondly. you didn’t fail the assessment. You took it and you now have a baseline to improve from.

Build a plan in plan builder, follow it as best you can, eat good food, and you’ll get better over time.

My biggest piece of advice is to only compare your results to yourself. There are some very strong riders on this forum and it can be a bit discouraging to read about their FTP’s and power numbers. I know this disappointment myself as I have a relatively low FTP.

But comparison is the thief of joy. Being consistent in my training and diet and comparing my journey to my own goals makes it all OK. When I start looking at my FTP versus other people’s FTP makes me cranky and riding bikes is supposed to be fun.

So keep it all in perspective and have fun - you’ll get there!

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Agreed with earlier comment.

Just get on the bike and maybe start off with shorter session workouts such as ‘Dans’ just to get used to pedalling constantly for 30 minutes.

Then build up time to 1 hour with something equally steady like ‘Lazy Mountain’. Then you can graduate to ‘Pettit’ which is also 1-hour but at a slightly higher level.

After a couple of weeks you should have a good feel for it and then can explore some of the other workouts and at that point see if you feel ok to try the ramp test again. If not then leave it a little longer, there is no pressure to rush the process.

Don’t be in any rush to accelerate your intensity or duration, particularly if you are starting from a completely exercise free (recent years) background.

Your fitness will come over time :+1:t2:

Best of luck and make sure you focus on enjoying the process rather than just setting goals at this stage :grin:

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Was not expecting such quick responses😁 Thankyou, I will give reccomendations a go.

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