New User - FTP Too Low?

[bpsmith]

Hi Guys,

Totally new user here, encouraged to join after listening to the excellent Podcasts!

I did the ramp test after a couple of months of little to no riding and it was a good bit lower than the last test I did on Zwift. Not surprised, after no riding, so ran with the suggested FTP.

I have done 2 weeks of Low Volume, basic training with 3 sessions per week. 2 x 1 hour and 1 x 1.5 hour.

Really enjoying it and am using a cadence of 90 - 100, when I was grinding out around 70 - 80 last year, with great results.

Anyway, I am at a bit of a loss presently, as the on screen text suggests my firm should be dropping during sessions when it actually isn’t and so am therefore wondering whether my FTP is set too low?

Or is this normal when focussing on higher cadence and getting the form right in comparison to my previous approach when doing the initial Ramp Test?

Cheers for any advice…

[bLah]

Ramp test is just a test, not a hard rule, and if you haven’t been driving a lot it might be imprecise. So if your training sessions are too easy, if you’re finishing them and feel like you could keep going easily, then just raise your FTP manually a bit and see how it goes. Your personal feedback will always be more precise than some short test and a formula.

[bpsmith]

Cheers for the suggestion, which I have thought about doing too.

Just thought I would ask here first, in case this is to be expected and it’s by design initially.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the platform and really enjoying it. More than riding aimlessly on Zwift.

Just don’t want to be wasting my time if should be pushing harder.

[jdman]

Depends on the aim of the session - if it is endurance or SS then you should be able to keep going at the end - it is cumulative fatigue over a training block which drives improvement. If it is threshold you should be pretty close to what you can manage and VO2 max work I’m usually on the limit at the end. Rule for intervals I learnt many years ago when running but still applies - you should have another one in you if you were forced to do another but you should be very glad that you don’t have to!

[nckgntl]

Check out this thread. This is a pretty solid protocol to help nail down your FTP.

Kolie Moore's FTP test protocol

I’ve seen some mention of this in some other threads, but I’m wondering who here as done one of Kolie Moore’s FTP test protocols, and how it worked for them. I’m thinking of giving one a try and wanted to gather other’s experiences and how they constructed a workout based on his descriptions. In particular, what would be a ‘gradual’ increase in power for the baseline and progression 1, which is what I would be experimenting with.

You could always sub a workout for Lamarck too. If that is too easy, then your FTP is too low.

[bilwit]

Not too much to go off of from your profile workout history, but you haven’t ran into the pretty demanding over/under type of workouts yet. Personally, I’d be very wary about bumping up FTP so early into a plan. Things can feel a bit different around that 4th week when you’ve accumulated a lot of fatigue. If you do one of those 1.5 hr over/under workouts like Carpathean Peaks or similar and you feel ready for more by the end, certainly give yourself a little bump (~3W). Until then just trust in the plan. It’s supposed to start you out relatively easy and then get more challenging by virtue of TSS creep.

BTW, one trick with the Ramp test that I found works for me is to do it by cadence–if I physically just can’t hold 80 RPM, I know I’m done.

[bpsmith]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Like I said, a total newbie here, so thank you for confirming my suspicions. I will stick with the plan and not adjust anything at this point.

Off to check out the Kolie Moore’s FTP link above now though, as it sounds interesting, ready for when I do the next test at some point.