Nate was this year only a couple days of the bike:
https://www.strava.com/athletes/14896/training/log?v2=true
Pretty sure it was only a week or so, I remember asking Jonathan where he’d gone as his Strava was non existent and he said “he was on vacation”
That was on 13 August.
What a fun thread. 
Based on that study that Podlogar posted, pretty elite athletes lost 7% VO2 max in 12 days.
Going into my break I was probably below 370 due to taper, race, recovery and generally lower volume.
Then I was sick (food poisoning?) two days before the test. Full on fever, diarrhea, couldn’t get out of bed (no covid, I got a PCR test).
I also think I was on a true peak where I had shed a lot of fatigue and felt really good before my other test.
So is an extra 4% points that strange? I dropped 11% too, not 12% 
For more details, listen to today’s podcast. We covered it.
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Hey, I’m a marketing / product development / sales guy. Don’t come to me for math… 
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Brittle fitness sounds like an excuse you tell yourself when you realize 90% of your miles are junk miles
I can attest to the drop in fitness / FTP after time off the bike.
Around 300/310 FTP in April this year and felt great - was on an upward ‘tick’ of gains
Knocked off my bike by a car on 23 April (KOd for a while plus 3 broken ribs and a battered hip)
Retested in early July (around 9 weeks of complete inactivity)
FTP 244
Retested again around 10 days ago - edged up to 263
Wouldn’t be surprised if it takes me another 6 months get back to where I was in April 
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That’s another big point. I was doing a lot of outside MTB rides to work on skills. I find it I don’t do intervals my fitness drops even at the same TSS.
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11% at elevation, so 15% at sea level?
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+2 points for this fine reversal 
Surely you meant, “at elevation” however… 
Not so sure, I think its rooted in the origin of Ramp Testing (at elevation 
) A lot of work was done by Ric Stern in the 1990s, and he had some field data that suggested you could estimate 40K TT power as 72-77% of MAP. Keep in mind that was a rough range from looking at both MAP results and actual 40K TT results.
Fast forward from the 1990s to 2020 - and we know that FTP is not a good predictor of 5-min power (there is a lot of individual variation). So I really believe if you do ramp testing, you should also do a 20-min or longer test to calibrate your individual % for training at FTP and below. Some info on that in Ric’s How to FTP Test blog post from January 2020 (below).
Again the use of MAP to predict 40K TT power at 72-77% was based field data, a useful rule of thumb. The Sufferfest rather bluntly states the Ramp Test “ASSUMES WITHOUT EVIDENCE everyone’s FTP is directly correlated to power at vo2max.” While that may be true if we carefully parse the statement like lawyers (
really Sufferfest, DID YOU NEED ALL CAPS?!! ), I’ve had some pretty good correlation between Ramp Test FTP and what I can actually do for 30-50 minutes. And on the flip side I’ve had Ramp Tests that completely underestimated by 30-40W what I can do for 30-50 minutes.
Here is a 2001 Ric Stern article about ramp testing and MAP training zones. Recently Ric wrote about Ramp Testing, TrainerRoad, Zwift, and why you shouldn’t assume 75% is good for scaling workouts (skip to Does a Few Percent Matter?). Also thought his January 2020 article on How to FTP Test was good and worth sharing.
Just sharing as I searched and didn’t find this info elsewhere. Not intending to sidetrack the discussion. I can absolutely believe the ramp test will reliably estimate FTP for some people, under the right conditions…
which leads me to return full circle to Nate and anyone else in a similar situation. Ric Stern has repeatedly written the test does require you to push yourself to exhaustion and therefore you should be certain that you a) haven’t been ill within last four weeks, and b) you haven’t been recently injuried.
Not sure about the rest of you, but I can’t load up another workout after doing the ramp test. To be honest ramp tests make me feel worse than any 20-min or longer test I’ve done.
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This is the ramp test effect. I can’t understand why everyone is switching. a 20min test is so much more reliable, and doesn’t have these big swings (because FTP doesn’t suddenly change by 10%+)
Ramp test is easier mentally, so thats why more people are doing it i reckon
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Great info in here. Thanks!
A. Sick? - Check
B. Injured? - Check
C. At elevation? - Check!
All kidding aside Nate was on a massive upswing to his ramp test results. Pretty awesome to witness and with his focus on the upcoming Cape Epic race it likely won’t be his all-time best ramp test forever.
Hang in there Nate! Threads like this make me glad I don’t have to submit my workouts for public scrutiny
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I’ve watched Nate race some crits and the dude is FAST 
Really appreciate all he does (where can I buy the shirt!) and offering up all the lessons learned! Keeping it real, thanks Nate!
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Glad you returned full circle to the fact that a Ramp Test can be used to scale workouts based on more than pure physiology 
FTP =/= hour power.
I’m not a fan of the ramp test (overestimates because I’m really good at 3 minutes of maximum motivation) but it’s best if you start to divorce the thought that FTP is your hour power. Some people have TTE’s over just over half an hour.
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Coggan, who developed the term FTP, defines it as the amount of power one can sustain in a quasi sustained state for about an hour - hence hour power. I understand everyone is different and TTE varies but the most accurate estimate of FTP and training levels comes from an hour power test. But who’s got the time to suffer for that long!?
People have a terrible habit of taking Coggan out of context. What exactly is “about an hour”? Is it 15 mins either side? 5? 3?
As such, making everyone do an hour long protocol is just as problematic as the ramp test. I personally subscribe to these (The Physiology of FTP and New FTP Test Protocols) and there’s a whole thread on them. I highly recommend.
Sounds like a temporary setback due to a loss of blood plasma, too me.
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Yes agree, a ramp test is a more convenient and easy option, which is why its gained popularity IMO. I’d rather do a 20min test once every 2 months, than a weekly ramp test. YMMV, but my FTP doesn’t change much week to week, then again i’ve been training for a long time and can basically tell where its at. Maybe ramp test makes sense for those who are lucky enough to be getting those newbie gains, where FTP can change quite quickly.
A 20min test also teaches good pacing, which is a skill worth having in races.
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