Super New to this old guy. Advice about ERG mode

Hi There Folks I am 51 years old, 6 foot tall and at 95kg at least 10 kg overweight. Anyway, so for a week I’ve been doing Sweet Spot Base - High Volume 1 6 days a week.

Now what I don’t understand is on the workout (my ftp is 128) I have stages where I have intervals where need 120 power and rest periods wherei need just 60 power. However, even when I slow down the power stays at around 100 and so there is little difference between rest and full exertion. That is even when I chnge the gears to be easier. Now is that because of the ERG? Should I turn it off and go to resistance mode soI can follow workouts correctly.

What do you recommend?

Thanks Danny

What trainer do you have?

I noticed in my Kickr Snap, there is a minimum resistance that it will apply and that is about 70watts (this should be gearing dependent).

The higher your FTP gets the less impact this residual resistance is. Of course it doesnt help that your FTP is so close the resistance you are seeing. That is hard to recover there.

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Thanks for helping out Alvaroe. I have a Gravat 2 by Magene. It is from China a I live in Thailand but It is supposed to be pretty good.
I guess then I should keep going in Erg mode and it will get better as my FTP improves to see al real difference in effort and recovery phases. Is that the best thing to do?

Danny

sounds like it has a wattage floor of 100 watts.

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Aha so as soon as I get better the problem will go away, right? Do you think I should push on in Erg mode or switch to resistance mode till I get better?

I’d try resistance mode on the next workout or two, and see how that compares to erg.

Try changing gears if you haven’t already. Small gear in the front big in the back. Had to do this for a Saris M2 to hit anything below 100W.

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Thanks guys. I will try resistance mode for a few days as you say and see how it goes. Hopefully, the gear changes will then be more comparable to normal cycling.

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