Ftp test outdoors

No.

I don’t have a trainer. I’m only doing workouts outside and I need to do an ftp test.

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Yep even on a dedicated bike path I wouldn’t feel safe trying a ramp I don’t think

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Lots of people report higher FTP outdoors. Something to consider if you test inside, do workouts primarily indoors then move outdoors for workouts. If the outdoor workouts feel easier the thought is that you can probably express a higher FTP outside, therefore testing outdoor FTP could be useful. Not everyone experiences this though. Cooling is the big indoor factor with potentially lower FTP.

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I recently did a 2x 8 min outdoor test with good results. I agree though, my indoor FTP is likely a little lower, i bumped my last workout down 2% and that seemed to work well indoors. If you have a wahoo head unit you can choose two of your fields to be lap time and avg power for the lap. Helps you stay motivated when you have that power number staring right at you :sunglasses:

I did my first outside FTP test and used the 20 minute protocol and wanted to authenticate the process for my own comfort so a week later i went for a 60 minute full out pace and i had a 2 watt discrepancy between the two processes.

The hardest part was finding a 20 minute stretch of road which was quiet and had no junctions which if you want to avoid main roads here in the UK is something of a challenge.

Average power for the lap is not much good I find, for example if you power is a bit low to start with then out have to go harder to bring the average back up. All you’ve achieved is getting the correct average but have not been in the correct zone.

That’s true. I usually use it more as a pacing tool and base my second 8 min effort off of the first. I’ve been training awhile so I usually have a good idea of where to start and what I can hold for the 8 min.

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20-40km time trial is the best choice for me.

Do it with friends/team/club what ever so it’s kinda “race”. Have done it every summer. Sometimes with powermeter and sometimes just smashing it without looking at my garmin.

Not trying to be difficult, but how is that different from doing over/unders, 30/15s. or short VO2Max efforts? Given the graphic display on good head units and audible alerts when you’re over or under, its not that hard to keep power in a given range for 60 secs and still watch the road.

I see doing a repeated effort of a prescribed workout as something of a “learned” exercise. For outside workouts, I only briefly look at the first set of intervals and determine the RPE for each. After that, I largely ignore the data and roll by feel. That is different in my eyes, from the need to build a bit every minute and hit a new target wattage. It’s literally a moving target and one that is not repeated, like a normal outside workout.

I have not chosen to do the short/short workout of your example, outside because I don’t like the general concept of hitting those targets. If I did, it would be very “loose” and not driven by attention to power past the initial effort.

Additionally, an outside workout must be recognized for the limitations that it presents. We will struggle to hit the “precision and repeatability” that we get inside. So taking any workout outside (other than simple steady state work) must be seen to be less than perfect. As such, I just see a Ramp and the small steps along the way as impractical at best. It will be something less than what I would like to see from a test, which includes the goal of repeatability in order to compare to prior tests.

Importantly, TR has stated they don’t think the Ramp Test is good for outside use, and it’s the reason they don’t offer an “Outside” option of it. I tend to agree with them. People are free to do what they want, feel comfortable with, and their roads allow.

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Agree with you about doing the ramp test outside.

Disagree about doing short intervals outside. This idea that precision and perfect power is somehow better has not been proven. You are not a robot. People are capable of hitting targets outside.

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So what’s the calculation for ftp when doing 8min ftp test outdoors?

Average of power from both 8-min segments, multiplied by 0.9 is the FTP.

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Xert.

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id just try to smash a full hour

I’ve always used the protocol from Allen and Coggan’s “Racing and Training with a Power Meter”:
warm up
5 min all out
recovery
20 min all out
cool down

Multiply 20 min average power by .95 for FTP.

If you have alpe d’huez as your local climb, why not? :wink:
It is very dependant what roads you have to do long test - 40-60 min uninterrupted riding, preferably on a slight uphill is quite tough to find for many.

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Quite possibly the best place to do it if you have the loop / climb long enough. Or just enter a 25 mile / 40km TT.

Warning: this hugely overestimated my FTP, your mileage/wattage may vary.

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this has worked very well for me in the past, but for most the outdoor FTP is higher than the indoor. I do 90% of my training outdoors so its all good, and i can adjust indoor workouts down if necessary. The strict tss tracking doesn’t really matter to me.