Need advice - No Improvement after first ever structured training block HOW?

One piece advice (not sure if I missed it above) is to go back and if you record HR with your power, take a look at the trend of your HR over SSB1. If your HR is generally a bit lower for equivalent power late in SSB1 versus the early workouts of SSB1, then it’s safe to say you’ve improved. FTP tests can help to estimate but sometimes they’re just not on the mark for a variety of reasons. I found that adjusting my FTP during SSB based on changes in my HR across sweet spot intervals to be a decent strategy.

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Nothing major to add to what’s already been covered.

I’m on my 3rd year of following TR plans now and I can confidently state that regardless of your FTP -assuming it’s ballpark accurate from the ramp or traditional test- you will definitely see big improvements on the road.

My FTP had a big bump in the 1st year but for the subsequent 2 years it has been a very slow rate of increase (we’re talking 3-5w increases here and there if I’m lucky, coupled with some decreases too) but I am hugely quicker on the road and have been able to hold high power for much longer with each passing year. It’s a long game, quick gains are rarely sustained.

TL;DR trust the plan, if you don’t see FTP improvements you will definitely see real world one’s.

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@ejthoms I don’t know anything about power match so I can’t help here. For the cadence on your ramp test. 110 RPM puts the stress on your cardio-vascular system a lot. It is said that physiologicallly the optimal cadence is around 90 ±5 but there are outliers, think Froome with his devastating seated attacks at 110 RPM. It is also useful to develop a large range of cadence for different purpose very low cadence (60 rpm) to grind 24% pitch, very high cadence for responding to an attack (over 120 PRM).

Anyway as per what you say just retest after a rest day and continue from there. If you had problem finishing the 5,6,7 minute s intervals of Carson and nailed Eclipse and Tallac your fitness has improved no matter what your FTP test says. And that per se should be a sign that the work you put out is paying off.

Sure life gets in the way… But there’s also a progression in both volume and intensity in these plans. Playing catch up for missed workouts looks like a fast way to bust for me. You’re in your first year of cycling if you think long term (multiple years) one, two workout missed won’t make a much of a difference. While playing catch up might bust you for several months and that will matter. The key is consistency.

Don’t sweat your not so optimal ramp test you’re on the right track anyway.

Thanks all for input. Sorry for silence, but decided to try the advice and see what happens. Went to SSBMV1 as opposed to SSBLV where I was before. Appreciate the comments about the training plan relative to outside rides, I was doing the outside rides for fun, so they tended to be, well, different. Followed MV1 other than brief hiatus around the holidays, but thought I had done a reasonable attempt there.
As for the comments on the power being erratic, well, it’s what the Direto is reporting, so I’m not sure what to do about that.
have worked on the cadence & trying to be more stable, not sure I"m achieving that, but it’s giving me something to work on anyway.
Anyway, upped the volume, no real outside rides (weather) and re-tested tonight per the plan. Again no change. Stuck at the same numbers, intensely frustrating given the hours on the trainer.
Anyone else have this problem? I’m really not sure where to go next other than to stop altogether. Current plan is from planbuilder so hoped that would help, but have no faith at this point at all.
Feels as if I must be either plain limited physically, or am just missing something obvious as I’d think there should be some evidence of improvement.

How does the rest of your life look? Sleep, diet, stress?

There are a lot of other dimensions to fitness on a bike than FTP. Be it endurance - the ability to hold longer at or near threshold, your VO2Max capabilities, etc; are you seeing no progress there either?

I’m new to TR, but a little over two years into structured training. It’s kind of a source of self-humor for me that my FTP runs from 210-225W no matter what I seem to be doing. Now, I’m 57, so that’s one thing, and the jury is still out on TR… so more to be seen.

But I can say this… I’ve moved my 1-min power up by over 100W, and my 5-min power will climb by 50-60W by mid-summer. Go figure… but all of that translates to being much faster on the road, and at least a factor in strong groups. Here in my first few months with TR, I put down a group ride a couple weeks ago that withered several people I could barely stay with last year… so there’s that.

So, don’t get super-hung up on that number! More is going on.

And I’ll just parrot what many successful TR users tell me (and which I’m applying now to myself): Executing the workouts fully is a top priority if you want this to succeed. Group rides and all kinds of other things need to take a back seat if they’re stopping you from doing that. Get your TR program 100% grounded, then add things back in from there.

Stick with it!

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Forgive me but i’m not sure you’ve fully digested what everyone has said about what gains you should expect. You’re doing base building so working below threshold. As such, you shouldn’t expect to see a rise in your FTP at this stage (or if you do, it will be small). The rise in FTP will come with perseverance with the different build phases (during which your FTP should build).

At this stage, you should be finding that compared with when you started the build phase, the prolonged sweet sport efforts should be easier to maintain. This means your base fitness is growing ready for what comes next.

If you’re looking for short term gains in FTP then you’re on the wrong programme.

Despite what some might tell you, FTP isn’t the be all and end all. Look at the bigger picture and your overall goal.

Just some perspective, I raced a load of hill climbs last year and had an FTP over 300. It’s currently some way below this and i’ve just moved into SSBMV2. I’ve had no gains in FTP but know that my based endurance has improved and I feel fitter and stronger than I did before Christmas. The FTP bump will come as I build and become more specialized but my aim isn’t to see a big bump now, it’s to put the foundations in place to be able to get that bump further down the line when I need it.

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Thanks all. Good input & appreciate the explanations; diet is better these days, more good carbs & whole foods & so I’m headed in a better direction there. Working through endurance diet book & enjoying being able to implement the suggestions. Sleep & work - ugh. Current job is not great & that’s reflected in sleeping patterns & I’ve listened to enough to know that’s a detriment. Just have to work my way through that one.
Hard to say on whether SS is ‘easier’ or not; if it is, its not truly obvious - I could go harder for sure, but not sure if that’s defeating the object of the exercise.
Interesting comments about not improving during base phase - I had to laugh when I thought I heard Chad state “base and build are where the ftp gains are made” in a recent podcast which I think is not that consistent with other statements. I may have heard that incorrectly so will go back and listen again. Yeap, I’m understanding that base is not necessarily going to provide the bump, but being stuck at the lower end of the bell curve is somewhat demoralising.
Time to be patient and suck it up then, will be interesting to see what MVBB2 does - looks as if there are some more greater than threshold intervals in there and I"m wondering whether that;s a useful stimulus. Time will tell I guess. Again, thanks for the constructive input.

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Can you see any change in heart rate for a given power? I personally feel like if you having been sticking to the plan, you should know that you are fitter because the plan definitely adds intensity / duration throughout. I look back on sessions I found hard and where my hear was going crazy a month ago and wonder what the issue was.

For example, I just finished SSBMVI and even if my ftp doesn’t go up from the ramp test, I know for sure I’m much fitter. I tested at 261W and I did Ericsson early in the plan. My heart rate hit 175bpm in the last 1 min of the session where the target was 230W. Today, I did my last hard workout before the ramp and it was Galena with a manually adjusted Ftp of 272. Today I held the middle block at 256W for 20 mins with my heart rate peaking at 177bpm and the final block at 250W peaking at 174bpm. These blocks are both below my original ftp test but there’s no way I would’ve done them at those heart rates a month ago so my muscular endurance has clearly improved in the last month. However, I have done so little work about 280W that I can’t see how I will do much better in the ramp test. That doesn’t mean I’m not fitter though - I have clearly improved my “diesel” engine. Hopefully if you think about your heart rate you should be able to see gains too even if the ramp test doesn’t reflect them. If you really don’t see any gains then nutrition, recovery are the obvious things to improve

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For me personally, sleep is by far the biggest factor in how well I train and how well my body adapts to all the work I’m doing.

If you’re having consistently poor sleep, then this is very likely what’s causing your issues. Or at the very least it’s a huge part of it.

Here is my $.02 worth. I have had the same FTP since fall. Besides being horrible at the ramp test (dumb trainer, power always falls between gears, and I just plain suck at it) - I have not worried about my FTP not changing. Why? Up until the CV-19 hit, I was increasing my runs and swim ability, while keeping my bike in check.

After CV-19 hit and swimming stopped, I went to what I would do if I stopped Triathlons – MV. Plus I increased my runs. What I have seen in the past 6 weeks of SSBMV is more endurance in both the bike and run. My run times have dropped for the same RPE.

I call this a win. Lots of stress in my life – actually LESS sleep than normal. And I am still seeing improvements. … now, if I can only figure out how to make myself do the swim workouts. Or how to enjoy swims. … sigh. First world problems.