Hey gang,
I’m wondering how to evaluate my FTP gains in the past 6 months.
I am 33 and have been in decent fitness for the past few years.
I started Sweet Spot Base - Med in November 2018 with an FTP 282 (3.92 wkg). I progressed through that plan an onto General build which I just finished. Now my FTP is ~302 (4.19 wkg). Training has been consistently 5-6 hours per week. The only interruptions in the training plans have been for some B races that I would taper over 4-5 days prior to the race.
So, in 5+ months, FTP has increased 282 → 302. Is this a good increase? Less than optimal? Great? How much should FTP increase? Would love some insight here. Thanks in advance!
Dustin
How much your FTP increases is super individual and is based not only on training but also all sorts of other life factors.
4.19w/kg is very fast though, so kudos to you!
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It’s harder to make gains the more fit you are so maybe +7% with ~100hrs training is good for where you are at. If you increased your volume you’d probably see an even larger increase in FTP. I experienced a ~21% increase in 6 months by progressing from Low Vol → High Vol plans (but I was also coming off the couch). As stated above, gains are very individual.
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Right, that makes sense. Wondering if I’m just approaching my ceiling given my age, hours training per week, genetics, etc.
I’ll vote a definitive ‘No’.
I’ll also gamble that almost every TR does not do enough training to come close to their genetic ceiling of fitness/strength. You’re only 33, age should be a positive factor for many years. The limiting factor will be hours spent training. That said, you can still squeeze a lot out of what you have. Get to it!! 
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I disagree, you don’t get more watts while being on the bike. You gain these during sleep and rest.
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In response to @Captain_Doughnutman @adiesner stated
Partial credit for both. These two are key parts of the Stress-Recovery-Adaptation cycle. The SRA cycle is what differentiates training from exercise. That is we purposefully subject ourselves to physical stress that disrupts our homeostasis and our bodies adapt to assuming we do the recovery part correctly.