If you can’t hold the number for at least 40+ minutes when fresh it’s not your FTP.
TR seems to be moving away from using FTP as the basis for intervals thankfully but if people want to know if their FTP is “correct” or not there is really only one way to know for sure.
If one just wants to track their progress fitness wise the PDC has far more info than a single number like FTP.
Or use race results, group ride, segments etc as a benchmarking for your fitness progression .
If I use the new FTP number, the workout for today wouldn’t be what it’s supposed to be. And I’ll rate it as easy. Which is fine, I’ve done that before and I know it adjusts. But that’s a WILD drop just to make it recalibrate upward close to where I’m at now anyway.
Update: I trusted the system and accepted the FTP decrease. It changed the type of workout I was supposed to do and while it wasn’t quite as easy as I was anticipating, it was still “moderate.” Next week has changed, as well, and it looks quite a bit easier than it had initially created for me.
I guess I didn’t realize this was going to essentially reset my training. Very unexpected.
My TR calendar/FTP has just updated with the new functionality… FTP dropped from 249 to 248w (less then a week after last AI FTP but I don’t mind that… I assume new AI calculation going on?), but the prediction is if I do all 18 workouts in next 28 days…. Drum roll… it’ll go up to… 249!!! That seems like paltry gains considering I’m only 3 months into structured training plan (having only done the odd workout on Zwift previously).
I’ve also put on 2kg (muscle? Creatine triggered water retention?) so my w/kg is dropping.
What phase of training are you in the next 4 weeks? If it’s a specialty phase, I think TR usually/often sees those as intended to “sharpen the blade” not to build FTP.
There may be many amazing things about this new update, however getting away from a best guess FTP (AIFTP) I think is a massive misstep. TR is making the assumption that all users are looking for the best Plan Builder or workout selector while handicapping those that build their own plans (self coached) and/or have a coach.
With TR moving away from FTP based, you’ve completely changed established training/recovery methods the the entire cycling community agrees on. With this “training FTP” that apparently you can just change as it fits your needs to get the “best workout”, you’ve simultaneously removed all the meaning out of TSS, IF, FTP, NP and the like. This will make a mess as TR pushes workouts to TrainingPeaks, Strava, Intervals.ICU, ect.
I agree on the importance of an accurate FTP for TSS, IF, NP, Pacing outside, etc. but I think there’s still a big “If” here. It may not end up being all that different, if at all for some people.
With @Nate_Pearson ‘s latest comments yesterday about making adjustments to the FTP algorithm in TR AI based on beta feedback, I’m hopeful it will be accurate, real, and still useful in this way. Especially if they also move towards including predicted 20 and 60 min powers that you can use to validate (Big, big fan of an actual power curve based on actual efforts, combined with predicted powers)
As much as we’re all antsy about this (To be honest, I’m procrastinating 6-7 hours on the trainer this weekend) we should probably give them the benefit of the doubt until it’s live and we can test it for ourselves.
But they aren’t primarily selling an AI FTP system, they are selling a training system. I think with the recent tweaks though it’s pretty similar to the past. But with any estimate of a biological function there is going to be error.
That makes sense. However, I don’t race and I don’t do competitive group rides. FTP is kind of all I have to go on when it comes to gauging my progress. It feels like the new system is just asking me to evaluate my progress based on how individual workouts feel and that’s . . . highly variable.
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