Relatively new to training, and completely new to TR. I signed up the other day and overwrote AI FTP detection with the results from a Zwift ramp test I did on Thursday, and am now wondering if I’ve overcooked my settings a bit after doing Auburn the next day and feeling that there is absolutely no way I could sustain “FTP” power for anywhere near an hour.
That said, HR at that power does seem roughly correct as it’s the same as my my LT2 from earlier in the year. Is it more likely that my FTP is set a bit high, that I’m just not used to doing threshold efforts, or a bit of both?
After years of fighting it, I think I am starting to move into the “If you’re going to use TR, just use the number TR uses” camp. The point of FTP in your training app is to set the training zones for your workouts. The TR workout system will make the workouts easier or harder around that “FTP’ number, and that’s all that matters in the end. Arguing about the definition of FTP is meaningless in this context.
Having said that, I do agree with Kevistraining and would start with something in the middle and see where TR puts you in 30 days after it learns more. If you feel like the workouts are too easy, you can always accelerate the AI learning curve by picking harder Alternates until things settle in.
Your FTP would never be above your 20m PR, you might be the type of rider where a ramp test overestimates their FTP but this should be the most obvious example of an overestimate.
Consistency at the lower number is way more beneficial than struggling at a bigger one.
I’m with @Pbase here. Go with the TR FTP. That is pretty close to your 20 minute FTP of 226, and is what we recommend to our athletes. I think that those Zwift ramp test results are a bit inflated which is why we don’t love recommending ramp tests anymore.
If your LT2 HR and power are matching up, that’s a good sign that things are set pretty well. Be sure to keep up with your HR zones, though, if you’re going to go that route in the future as they change based on fitness, age, and other factors. It’s a good idea to watch trends there as they won’t always align as you’d expect.
Thanks for all your feedback! I thought it would be interesting to share an update as AI FTP detection has now bumped me up a bit.
AI FTP: 242w
20 minute PR power: still 238w from 25 October
Recent race effort: 222w average (230w NP) for 1h18m
Recent training offerings have been getting more to what I expect compared to when I dropped my FTP manually to a middle ground of 230w on your advice. I’m wondering now if maybe my perception of workouts being overcooked was coming more from mostly doing Z2 riding for the few months prior and simply not having worked on anything around LT2 seriously.
Will be interesting to see how things go from here. Thanks again for the input!
I really dislike Zwifts ramp test for this exact reason that it can so easily overestimate an FTP figure if you are the kind of rider the excels in ramp test conditions.
That said, I still dont like that your AI FTP is higher than your 20min PR. But given you can do 222W for 78min then I highly doubt your current 20min PR would be 238W, more likely something significantly higher.
Personally I cant stand doing 20min FTP tests and dont have the mental fortitude for it. However, find me a 10 ish mile TT (Zwift or outdoors) and were good to go. An FTP test with a carrot to chase.
