Is there a way to quickly change FTP in the app ? I just got my daughter a bike and she wants to try out TrainerRoad. I really wish that two users in the same household on the same trainer could share a TR sub.
- Open the app, Settings, scroll down to FTP and change there.
For a new user, you likely have a Referral you can share, or people here will share one with you.
OK great, thanks.
Pulling up an older thread because of a new experience. I donated whole blood last night and know I lose around 6-7% FTP as a result. So I adjusted my FTP manually this morning and got this new message:
Interesting to see this note, and I wonder if reductions suggested by AIFTPD will similarly NOT get a PL reduction. That seemed to be the experience of many users in the past and it was counter-intuitive. If the lack of reduction applies to all FTP reductions, that seems to make more sense than when it is really needed (when FTP increases).
Chad! I can confirm:
- FTP decrease
no change in Progression Levels - FTP increase Progression Levels adjust downward
- FTP no change no change in Progression Levels
Your levels will not change after a FTP decrease, regardless of whether that was a manual change, AI FTP Detection result, or an update from an FTP test like the Ramp Test.
While this may seem unintuitive at a first glance, the thinking here is that while your fitness increases gradually (as represented by Progression Levels) your FTP did as well. When you increase your FTP, your fitness didn’t just jump a whole block; it *continued to increase gradually throughout that process, so we adjust levels similarly to represent that gradual increase in fitness.
In the opposite case though, if you’re losing fitness, it’s likely because of some large step-wise cause; a lot of time off, coming back from an injury or illness.
That said, we don’t need to ‘preserve’ this gradual fitness slider, we just want to maintain any inter-zone relationships we’ve inferred about your fitness.
In your case Chad, when thinking of the decay rate of how long it really takes you to lose that fitness, I don’t think the tax giving blood will take on your body will elicit an actual ‘fitness decrease’ that merits an FTP change. I may be wrong, but an event like this should make you feel just a little more flat than usual for a couple days, versus something big like an injury or illness that would result in those big ‘steps’ in fitness changes.
Instead, I think that its a good opportunity over the next few days to either do a shorter Alternate, pick something entirely different in the same prescribed workout category but at a lower Workout Level, or just do a chill endurance TrainNow. That way, you’re not making comprehensive FTP changes that you’ll need to switch back super quickly, when in reality, your fitness wont change significantly over that short period of time. 
It would be cool as a feature in the future to be able to input ‘events’ like this that don’t elicit an FTP change, but do merit a couple adjustments prior to your workouts; the way that Time Off does, but without having to miss a day. ie preemptively identifying that you’ll be ‘off’ for a couple days, and letting TrainerRoad do the leg work for you and just make a couple immediate adaptations to let you chill and level out for the next few workouts without totally resting. I’m gonna take that to the team for consideration!
Let me know if you have more specific questions about that PL+FTP scenario for the team, though. Cheers!
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- I am guessing this is a typo/wrong word and should be “FTP”?
Thanks for the confirmation. Overall, my point (not directly stated) was that us long time AT users had seen PL DROPS along with FTP DROPS in the past as a result of using AT. That has clearly changed over time and works as you clarify above.
But I was unware that change had taken place, not to mention when it actually happened since we had all seen it go the “wrong way” more than once in the early days of AT. I am glad to see the change and thing it is far more logical now than it was in the initial release days/months.
As a frequent donator, your supposition doesn’t match my reality or the parallel info that Chad and has covered in podcasts (not to mention other sources) WRT to blood donations and fitness.
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FOR ME at least, there is a very tangible drop in my performance and abilities following my whole blood donations. I’ve documented it in the related thread here long ago, and still feel that evaluation holds true with each week of training that follows all my donations since then.
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Each time I donate, I apply a 6-7% FTP reduction and proceed to train with that. Watching my RPE, HR and overall experience has shown that the reduction is quite close for me at least. If I left my FTP alone and trained with that after a donation, I can pretty much guarantee it would feel like too much.
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Based on the prevailing studies and my own experience, I am 3 weeks out at minimum to get back to normal and might be closer to 6 weeks. Plenty of that depends on all the same factors as regular training, but added in with the fact that my body is rebuilding from the WB donation.
I may try your suggestion next time (leave FTP alone and shorter workouts), but I am honestly a bit skeptical based upon more than a few years handling this situation. Might be worth getting Chad to hit on another shallow dive WRT blood donations to dust off the discussion?
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From NASM:
and quoting 4 paragraphs:
After donation, your body goes to work regenerating the lost blood. Your plasma recovers the quickest, in about 24 hours (9). The Red Cross recommends no strenuous exercise during this period until your “fluid” or plasma normalizes (9). Platelets restore next, within a 72-hour period (13). The oxygen carriers or RBCs – unfortunately for athletes - are the slowest to regenerate, taking four to six weeks to fully rebound (9).
The lag in RBC recovery is an obvious indicator that an athlete’s endurance performance will suffer until pre-donation levels are restored. Several studies have reported significant drops in performance measures from 24 hours to two days post-donation in active young adults, including VO2 max, work rate (4,5,6,7), and time to exhaustion (5). Dellweg et al. reported a 9% decrease in VO2 max, and a 13% drop in maximal work rate following a 500-ml whole blood donation (6).
Unsurprisingly, researchers found significant decreases in subjects’ hemoglobin (Hb), too (4,5,6). If you recall from our piece on iron and athletic performance we discussed that Hb is the critical protein found in red blood cells (RBCs), whose function is to transfer oxygen from the lungs to the body’s tissues.
A drop in Hb compromises both the amount of oxygen that can be delivered to working cells, as well as oxygen’s ability to dissociate once it arrives, called diffusing capacity (DO2). Both factors contribute to an overall decrease in VO2 max. Interestingly, one study noted a direct correlation between Hb and VO2 max such that if one is reduced by 5%, a roughly 5% decrease in the other can be expected, and vice versa (5).
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Yes, typo! Fixed. 
While this change took place long ago, the notification was updated more recently. The text wasn’t changed to reflect a different functionality, so much as to fix something that had the potential to confuse athletes, where it previously showed that ‘Manually Changing FTP Will Reset Progression Levels’ which was misleading for increases and decreases. Decreases didn’t affect PLs at all, and increases didn’t ‘reset’ them so much as adjust them.
Nah stick with what works if that’s what you need historically! I definitely don’t want to invalidate your experience, if you feel like a comprehensive decrease in FTP is more obtainable for you long-term after those blood donations, keep it going! It’s okay to do so because you can do so knowing your PLs are staying put in relation to a decreased FTP in a meaningful way. Your work in those zones prior is still accounted for, just at more achievable targets across the board.
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