Harsh Reality - You OVER test on FTPs (support group)d

@chad @Bryce Just being reading this thread. Especially like the @trpnhntr comment. I think there are two separate issues here;

  1. Is my FTP right (or right enough) that I can do the individual workouts. I suspect this effect is different given different workout types (sweet spot/FTP/VO2 max) (also contains immediate motivation effects)

  2. What is the overall effect of the FTP being a bit off (either way) on the training effect (Longer term real improvement)

(There is possible a third (3) perceived or actual difference between TT and road and inside and out. I will ignore this as we are focusing on the - see below)

I can imagine that if my FTP was too low, I would (1) (relatively) breeze through workouts. and (2) not get the training effect.

I imagine if my FTP was even 10-15W too high (Mine is around 238W Rg bike) I would (1) struggle with some workouts like long sets at FTP but it would not make a great deal of difference to VO2 max ones.

Given my week (Sustained build mid-volume) consists of different types of workout, too high an ftp would have different effects…
a) Aerobic endurance (probably not too sensitive to FTP)
b) VO2max/Anaerobic (Would push system harder and make last few intervals more difficult)
c) Tempo 85% ftp. (Would make these a bit nearer sweet spot)
d) Threshold & over/unders (Would make these quite hard - possibly demotivating)
e) Threshold over FTP (Would make these really hard - or a powerful training effect.
f) Group ride - where I am working hard to stay on the wheel of much faster, ligher and fitter riders. (who cares - just survive :slight_smile: )

So I suspect there is a matrix that is something like type of workout down the side… and How far out your FTP is along the top… with the areas that become red flags (for session and overall training effect) differing with type of workout. And peoples’ comments reflect these differences in different boxes.

It might even vary with the Training plan, and time of season, but that is a level beyond my thinking.

I was wondering this recently because I have chosen to ignore the move from road to TT bike in my FTP setting and just to the sessions with my overall FTP on my TT bike. (I moved from Rd to TT bike in the new year). This is because I want to push a decent FTP on my TT bike and be efficient.

I did Avalanche Spire last night with some apprehension beforehand. Your ‘in-workout’ comments on this chimed with my thinking, chad, (But to be frank I was too focused on holding my cadence and completing the session intervals, to read all your comments and take it all in).

Does this make sense

We don’t really need two separate threads on this topic.

You can edit your original post in that thread, to include the tagging you used in this post.

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