We could have groups of say 20 riders, with each group doing 4 weeks of a particular plan, and in various volumes.
One week of easy riding before starting then 4 weeks of training. FTP test at start and finish.
Not exactly very scientific and lacks controls, but could be enough to highlight any significant variations between plans or volumes.
Would need someone to handle it and users would need to have profiles public to check compliance etc.
Or you could wait for the results from this:
Oh very cool, hadn’t seen that thanks.
Yes that will be worth waiting for!
I expect that you’ll be waiting a very long time, and/or will be really disappointed in the results.
At the risk of being ostracized by the forum, I just started Dylan Johnson’s training plans on Trainingpeaks and can let you know how much fitness I lose. Currently doing the 6 hour a week, 12 week base plan and then will do his 6 hour a week gravel build for 8 weeks.
I’m trying them out because I can load it on my lezyne head units and ride outside for the summer.
That would be great actually! Maybe do a thread for it, bet it would get a lot of attention 
Assuming the “lose fitness” comment is tongue in cheek?
One thing I’ve been thinking about is if the only metric TR, or anyone else, is using to track their “fitness” improvements is FTP then it is a flawed evaluation of training outcomes.
I had my best racing season ever with my FTP staying the same but my ability to go over FTP at higher powers was better and my ability to recover from them was improved. If my only metric was if my FTP went up or down it would have said I made no improvement whatsoever yet I went from being 15-20th in my CX races to winning my first race out and placing in the top 3 of my first 3 races and getting my upgrade.
Yes, it was a bit of a joke. I have no expectations one way or the other. I’m not competitive so anything I stick to is good for me.
I’m just here to ride my bike and not get last in gravel events 
Especially since performance during the ramp test only indirectly reflects FTP.
I totally agree, but the ramp test can eliminate variables such as pacing etc. Just curious, what metric or test would you want to see to indicate performance?
It would depend on what you expected to improve.
Failing that, a battery of tests, to see what did improve.
4 weeks would be pointless given a big part of the benefits is supposed to be long term aerobic development from LOTS of high volume low intensity over a LONG period of time. Perhaps come back after a year…
I think this misses the point badly.
Many of us are trying POL now because we want to try a long term low intensity volume and see if that takes us into new areas of fitness.
However many TR users will be doing Build POL plans that last 8 weeks (with 2 of those weeks being rest.).
A 4 week POL Build at various volumes tested v other plans would give users an idea if there’s any significant differences between using the new plans or the older ones if they want a quick build phase.
Until we actually try and see that play out, none of us know.
I’ll be testing this myself, already stated, but I’m just one person. Maybe a POL thread for people who are just doing the plans and are prepared to FTP test every 4 weeks to track progress would work, but hard to stop it getting flooded with know-it-alls who’re not even on the plans and derailing it - unless mods would supervise and keep it clean.
Nice idea, but hard to carry out in practice
Aaand there’s the big problem most interventional studies face. It’s logistically next to impossible to get a decent-sized cohort of people to adhere to a protocol to an acceptable degree of compliance over any reasonable period of time, and that only becomes more difficult the more factors you try to control for.
That’s why I find the TR database pretty interesting- while it has it’s own issues and certainly can’t replace a properly formulated study design, it also sidesteps a number of limitations that formal research faces in terms of sheer scope and removing obstacles to more widespread participation. I think it has the potential to be a pretty powerful tool to support and direct future research.
So I would be interested in not just tracking my ftp improvements, but more my power curve improvements. Really, I am looking to improve my climbing or 20/60 minute power.
My question is, does anyone have a good workout or methodology for doing a power curve test? Or is the best thing to do is track it through workouts? Right now riding only endurance or ftp tests doesn’t really give me a representative starting point.