Is my FTP set too high?

If you look at your Personal Records page, you’ll see a chart with your power records for hundreds of data points. Your most powerful 1 sec, 2 sec, … 30 sec … 5 min … 1 hour … etc. Your 1 sec power record will for sure be a lot higher than your 1 min power, which in turn will be a lot higher than your 1 hour power. As a result, your power distribution will form a curve. When comparing different riders, their relative strengths and weaknesses will come out in this power curve. For a sprinter, you’d expect to see higher wattage in the 1 sec - 1 min range, whereas a GC rider is likely to have lower sprint numbers by comparison, but likely their curve will remain at a high level for a long time (a flatter curve).

Analysis of this can help you improve in conditions that are important to you. Perhaps you like a weekly group ride, but consistently get dropped half way around because of a small climb that’s 5 mins long. In that scenario, you might look at your curve and see that while you have good sprint abilities, your power dips rapidly after 1-2 mins and your 3-6 min power range is a lot lower. This would be more of a L shaped curve. Over time you could look at a training plan that focuses on increasing this range, so that you can better put out power and stay with the pack. This is of course just an example; maybe you want to compete better in sprints, or be able to sustain your 1 hour power for 2 hours, etc.

@AndyGajda is suggesting that rather than myopically focussing on the 1 hour power number, focus on the performance metrics that are most important to you. I would add that if you’ve been doing structured training for a while, this kind of specialization makes good sense. However, if you’re relatively new to it, then there is likely a lot of room for improvement across the board and a healthy increase in FTP is likely an indicator in an increase in cycling strength in general. FTP is the kind of performance tide that lifts all boats.

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