Is it worth estimating and manually adjusting your FTP pre ramp test?
Long story long:
I took most of August and September off of the bike but continued to do some significant run training (my background is middle distance Track & Field) but was definitely WAY less active! In July (before my hiatus) my FTP was 295… when I got back on the bike and did my ramp test 6 weeks ago, in mid Oct, I was 248. I expect a pretty decent drop, so wasn’t super “down” about it! The last six weeks, as I found my cycling legs again, the gains have been epically fast! I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if I’m close to 300 again as I’ve been bumping up my workouts to ~110% intensity with relatively little discomfort. I’m not really all that interested in doing a ramp test that will be mind numbingly boring for the first 20 minutes and last close to a half an hour assuming I’m correct about my progress. I was thinking I might manually adjust my FTP to 290 immediately prior to the ramp test so as to be closer to my current estimated FTP and have a more typical 20 minute ramp.
I had the same exact thought the other day. After a period of inconsistency, stress and a subsequent drop in power I’m back on track and feel a big bump coming up.
I’ve found that I can estimate my results reasonably well based on how my training has been going, I might just bump it to where I think I’m headed and see how it pans out.
You already know you’re able to nail the workouts at 110% of 248.
Bump it up at least 110% (273+) and do the ramp test. See what happens and take it from there.
Let’s say you set it to 275, and you’re FTP is closer to 300. You’ll need to hit 400 for a minute to make that official through the ramp test.
It’ll take an extra couple of minutes at best.
So, today was THE day… estimated 282 and ended up testing at 285! Fairly happy with the results and adjustment prior to test! Here’s to hoping this new FTP doesn’t kill me in the subsequent workouts… hahaha
Congrats on your result!