# Sweet Spot Progression **URL:** \ **Category:** Training\ **Created:** [January 3, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979 "2020-01-03T00:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 167
**Author:** ![AgingCannon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/agingcannon/32/48092_2.png) [@AgingCannon](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/AgingCannon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 2:59am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3492 "2025-05-10T02:59:57Z")
Yeah… I live in a pretty safe area, with _relatively_ well-mannered and considerate drivers. And I’d still rather do most of my riding indoors because I want to live. ---
**Author:** ![Dexvd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/dexvd/32/85098_2.png) [@Dexvd](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Dexvd)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3493 "2025-05-24T16:33:34Z")
Just wanted to check in with this thread, in the past I got the impression that in some cases you should delay FTP increases in favour of progressing your SS90 durations. I’m coming back from a period of burn out and have had that in mind, TR has suggested increasing my FTP twice now (most recent was a 10 watt bump). I’ve declined this as I feel like in the past I was in a spot where SS90 workouts actually had me training in threshold heart rate and then when I went to do Lola as a test of my FTP what I could average for the 30 mins was 24 watts below my AI FTP (with All-Time x151 power PRs). I had also struggled in the past with low avg cadence in the SS90 workouts (in that Lola threshold effort, avg cadence was 74). So far since I’ve been keeping this ‘maybe’ falsely low FTP based on AI FTP, I have been better at keeping my avg cadence in the 80s, Z2 effort HR in the 120s, with Sweet Spot interval heart rates in the 148-150 avg range (~90% FTP power). From my perspective it seems like my FTP is bang on but some of the recent TR podcasts have mentioned that you shouldn’t focus on operating in the ‘high range’ and instead look to raise your FTP as quickly as possible. My thought was that I wanted to be able to accomplish workouts like Lola, Hart and SS90/50 1x50 before considering increasing my FTP and then when I do, working back up to those before raising it again. Am I misconstruing things? For further context before burning out my peak FTP was 237 (April 2024, I think this was likely falsely high but did accomplish SS90/48 3x16 (avg cadence of 78-70-70 for the intervals) and Schwaub at this FTP) and am currently training at 174 (detected March 2025). I expect that if I just followed an adaptive plan and the AI FTP detections I would likely quickly get back to a \>200w FTP but I also expect that once I did, if I went to do Lola or SS90/50 1x50, I wouldn’t be able to. ---
**Author:** ![AgingCannon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/agingcannon/32/48092_2.png) [@AgingCannon](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/AgingCannon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3494 "2025-05-25T00:18:51Z")
Your FTP number is not a cause of anything, it’s an _indicator_. Your FTP number should simply be set at a number that indicates your current capability. And from what you’re saying, it sounds like your current FTP is about right. Don’t raise it until/unless you are sure that the workouts will feel right at that new power level. An FTP that’s incorrectly set too high will lead to burnout FOR SURE. Apparently you’ve already been there, as I have. ---
**Author:** ![Dexvd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/dexvd/32/85098_2.png) [@Dexvd](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Dexvd)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2025, 1:32am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3495 "2025-05-25T01:32:29Z")
> [@AgingCannon](#): > > Don’t raise it until/unless you are sure that the workouts will feel right at that new power level. An FTP that’s incorrectly set too high will lead to burnout FOR SURE. Another factor that I didn’t mention that I’m also still getting reds and yellows after almost every ride or workout (I’m not sure if this is partially influenced by my FTP being lower than TR would like it set at) but also because my fitness is still quite low (29 after today’s long Z2) although its a peak since November 2024 (but still a fair bit below my peak of 59 in summer of 2024). However, I would think if I let TR bump my FTP by 10 wouldn’t that make these Reds and yellows even worse? ![Screen Shot 2025-05-24 at 10.25.38 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/f/3/f3bb5fe7510d3621899b90b707a98d5acdb627bd.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![JoPage](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/jopage/32/139215_2.png) [@JoPage](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/JoPage)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2025, 7:08am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3496 "2025-05-25T07:08:55Z")
That is a crazy amount of red days 😲 ---
**Author:** ![Dexvd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/dexvd/32/85098_2.png) [@Dexvd](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Dexvd)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2025, 1:30pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3497 "2025-05-25T13:30:19Z")
I’m hoping that will fade, Intervals.icu has said my form has been in the green or grey for the past couple weeks. But everytime I ride outside I’m getting over 100 TSS because so many Z7 efforts being detected (riding with power) My actual suggested plan is ~220 TSS per week, with individual workouts ranging from 69-76. This week I did 3 workouts ranging from 56-95 TSS for 237 in total. ![Screen Shot 2025-05-25 at 9.40.27 AM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/0/0/0034484c4d420fe46e83f5258daee2deb21d3850.png) So its probably going to continue to dislike my 2 hard rides per week for a while yet (2h30m Z2 Miguel this week and will probably hold there for a few weeks) and modified forms of Table Rock (this week will be 2x22-minute intervals at 88% FTP with 6-minute recoveries between intervals), if I am successful with that though I am hoping I can bridge over to SS90/40 2x20 which is a 0.04 bump in IF and cutting the recovery in half but a drop in TSS by 15. The SS90 workouts due to their shorter recoveries are lower in TSS than the modified Table Rocks I’m using so can do SS90 2x20, 2x22, 1x40, 2x25, 1x45, 1x50 all without exceeding 81 TSS, which I’m hoping the TR adaptive system will assess to be reasonable for me. I would prefer to allow FTP bumps once I’ve confirmed I can do SS90 1x50 (SS 6.8), Lola (threshold 5.8) and some VO2 work (at \>3 PL like Monte Ragnone as an example). In the past what I felt was a mistake that pushed my FTP too high too fast is I would accomplish a workout like Half Dome (SS 3.0) and the system would detect a FTP bump but then I have always struggled with Kennedy and Wheel type threshold work, the lead out tempo always seemed to drain me before the efforts even started and then if I could do the efforts, I struggled to maintain the tempo after (to me if I can’t do a 3.0 threshold, my FTP is too high). I want to progress through in a realistic way this time and not with messes like this (look at the cadence and inconsistency in power) at this time I was so pumped with the power PRs I was setting and my 4w/kg FTP, I didn’t have the awareness to notice that I wasn’t anywheres close to doing these workouts as intended until I did a consult with a coach. ![Screen Shot 2025-05-25 at 10.26.57 AM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/b/f/bfa542ef175b502319a7470d98ca68a86729c73d.jpeg) ![Screen Shot 2025-05-25 at 10.26.00 AM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/5/1/5106a15f23db2b099f141f4ec62bbe1437b96061.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![kurt.braeckel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/kurt.braeckel/32/116719_2.png) [@kurt.braeckel](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/kurt.braeckel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3498 "2025-05-25T22:47:15Z")
You’re overthinking this way too much. If you’ve been a ~240ish FTP in the past, and are now 175W, your FTP is going to go up pretty quickly when you resume training, especially with some intensity. You should adapt your FTP when YOU feel like FTP has gone up, whether that’s by RPE, consistent HR indications, or breakthrough workouts, and last testing… preferably some combination of those. The strongest indicators I get for most of my athletes are the combination of RPE, consistently lower HRs at threshold levels and breakthrough workouts. For other athletes, you pull it out of them by asking them do things you think they can do but that they haven’t done yet (testing). You should not base raising your FTP on completion of any arbitrary (or not arbitrary) single workout. If you think your FTP has gone up, then test it and find out. If your FTP has gone up, you should adjust it up, take a step or two back in your SST progression and start again. If you have strong indications that FTP has increased (and I don’t mean by like 5W here, I mean meaningfully increased), then you should confirm that, and then adjust it and train to that new number. Bottom Line: your FTP setting should be a realistic reflection of your current capabilities, nothing more or less than that, regardless of what adaptive training or your calendar says. I typically tested a lot more frequently early in the season than in race/peak phases. I would do a full boat of testing at the start of training, and then I’d do confirmation testing at different intervals at least monthly, often more than that, and if I tested well and felt like FTP was up, I adjusted my progressions. Then I’d do some testing pre-VO2, some more post-VO2, and then I usually only tested if I felt something had changed beyond that or for a specific power that I was training for key events. Point is, early season you might “hunt” FTP gains in testing as you’re coming back onto fitness after your offseason. Later in the season, you only test for FTP gains if you feel them in your training rather than doing so based on the calendar. That’s my opinion only. ---
**Author:** ![Dexvd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/dexvd/32/85098_2.png) [@Dexvd](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Dexvd)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3499 "2025-05-26T01:41:59Z")
> [@kurt.braeckel](#): > > You’re overthinking this way too much An unfortunate habit that leads to focusing on the minutiae rather than nailing the fundamentals on a consistent basis unfortunately. > [@kurt.braeckel](#): > > The strongest indicators I get for most of my athletes are the combination of RPE, consistently lower HRs at threshold levels and breakthrough workouts. Yeah right now I’m still at a point where I’m rating a 4.3 level SS workout as Very Hard (and getting a red day in response) although I am able to do it with high 80s cadence, no getting out of the saddle and SS appropriate HR. Which is my basis for not wanting to let AI FTP start bumping my FTP again already. So is it generally just HR with threshold levels you use as an indicator? I haven’t started doing threshold work yet, was planning to continue with SS until July (want to progress through the SS90 stuff for a few weeks first) and then start with Threshold. Also wasn’t really planning to do ‘testing’ efforts until September. > [@kurt.braeckel](#): > > If your FTP has gone up, you should adjust it up, take a step or two back in your SST progression and start again. If you have strong indications that FTP has increased (and I don’t mean by like 5W here, I mean meaningfully increased), then you should confirm that, and then adjust it and train to that new number. In the past the AI FTP seemed to bump me everytime so I was constantly doing workouts with PLs in the 3-4 range. I would rather get \>5 in at least 3 zones and then bump it and then progress back into the high 6 range for PLs with reasonable cadence, HR, RPE and then bump again. > [@kurt.braeckel](#): > > Point is, early season you might “hunt” FTP gains in testing as you’re coming back onto fitness after your offseason. Later in the season, you only test for FTP gains if you feel them in your training rather than doing so based on the calendar. As far as season, at this point I don’t even have a race license for the year, I don’t have a clear idea of where I want to be before I try racing again but feel that I need to be able to do 100+ TSS rides without triggering a red day (this month everything \>56 TSS triggered a red day as my fitness is so low). Might be up for CX come October or for the last gravel race of the season in September, if I can steadily rebuild. ---
**Author:** ![huges84](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/huges84/32/132176_2.png) [@huges84](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/huges84)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 11:50am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3500 "2025-05-26T11:50:04Z")
Here’s a rule of thumb for sweet spot: you should be able to ride at sweet spot for roughly two to four times as long as you can ride threshold (SST TTE = 2~4x FTP TTE). People that do a lot of long rides will be up near that 4xTTE, if you’re training mostly on shorter rides it will be close to 2x. And at the same time, your FTP TTE needs to be a minimum of 35 minutes (which you can hold as one 35 minute interval). If you can’t do at least 2x your FTP TTE when riding at 90% FTP, then your FTP is set too high. Given that FTP TTE should be 35 minutes at a minimum, the fact that after weeks of training SST you only got to 50 minutes of SST is all the proof that I need to confidently say your FTP was set too high at that time. I highly suggest that you only use [Kolie Moore's FTP test protocol](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/kolie-moores-ftp-test-protocol/24686) for setting your FTP, at least until you are very confident in feeling where your threshold is. And don’t bother with raising FTP by less than 10W. Finally, FTP does go down temporarily with fatigue, poor sleep, poor fueling, and high life stress. Make sure you are taking all the necessary steps to reduce those factors. ---
**Author:** ![kurt.braeckel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/kurt.braeckel/32/116719_2.png) [@kurt.braeckel](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/kurt.braeckel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3501 "2025-05-26T13:36:03Z")
> [@huges84](#): > > If you can’t do at least 2x your FTP TTE when riding at 90% FTP, then your FTP is set too high. Given that FTP TTE should be 35 minutes at a minimum, This is a bit too dogmatic for me, and I’m not sure he _couldn’t_ do more than 50 min, just that he hadn’t to that point. > [@Dexvd](#): > > So is it generally just HR with threshold levels you use as an indicator? No, definitely not. RPE, what you can actually do in a field test. HR acts as kind of a “checksum” for me most of the time. > [@Dexvd](#): > > Also wasn’t really planning to do ‘testing’ efforts until September. This is a mistake, IMO. You should start every comeback from an offseason or time off with testing, otherwise you’re just guessing as to where you are. > [@Dexvd](#): > > In the past the AI FTP seemed to bump me everytime so I was constantly doing workouts with PLs in the 3-4 range. I would rather get \>5 in at least 3 zones and then bump it and then progress back into the high 6 range for PLs with reasonable cadence, HR, RPE and then bump again. Can’t speak to TR as it currently is with PLs and AIFTPD. I dabbled with it when it came out, but it’s not a system I am personally fond of. I would recommend being more simple with your progressions and progress total time and interval time at 90% of a solidly tested FTP as your starting point. That’s what this thread is all about! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dexvd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/dexvd/32/85098_2.png) [@Dexvd](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Dexvd)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3502 "2025-05-27T00:34:48Z")
> [@huges84](#): > > I highly suggest that you only use [Kolie Moore’s FTP test protocol](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/kolie-moores-ftp-test-protocol/24686) for setting your FTP, at least until you are very confident in feeling where your threshold is. And don’t bother with raising FTP by less than 10W. Will give that a try. Don’t want to get into a position where I can’t hold my FTP again. > [@kurt.braeckel](#): > > I would recommend being more simple with your progressions and progress total time and interval time at 90% of a solidly tested FTP as your starting point. Thats the plan, I guess it wouldn’t make sense to even try the Kollie Moore test though if I can’t do SS90/60 1x60 first though. ---
**Author:** ![kurt.braeckel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/kurt.braeckel/32/116719_2.png) [@kurt.braeckel](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/kurt.braeckel)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 1:42am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3503 "2025-05-27T01:42:51Z")
Point of the sustained power “Kolie Moore” type test is to “feel threshold”, there’s not a minimum time requirement for it. Most people I have do it for 30-35 min, call it, and tell me what they’re feeling in terms of TTE, or we can base TTE off of other workouts. If they’re tapped out at that point, then we know their FTP and they have a short TTE, but it gives the starting point. I have guys who can feel it early on, settle in and do it shorter, then we just start at a lower TTE if they have lots of time and are more aggressive with their progression, especially if it’s “known territory”. There’s really never a good reason/excuse not to test if you don’t know what your FTP really is; it’s not something to be avoided. Just think of it as a good, hard workout, not some measure of your man- or womanhood. If your number is lower than you want, at least you know the starting point and you’re not guessing anymore. Ideal test week gets your whole power profile, so I do: Monday: 1 min; Tuesday: 5 min; Weds recover; Thursday: 20 min or KM TTE/FTP test; Friday: 2x10-15s max effort sprints. Then you REALLY know what you’re working with. I have basically everyone do that after about a week of riding coming off their offseason. No guessing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Conductor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/the_conductor/32/86049_2.png) [@The\_Conductor](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/The_Conductor)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 2:15am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3504 "2025-05-28T02:15:39Z")
> [@Dexvd](#): > > But everytime I ride outside I’m getting over 100 TSS because so many Z7 efforts being detected (riding with power) Are you using the same power meter for the outdoor workouts and the TR workouts? If not, what is the outdoor power meter? Could you post a photo of the power readings? ---
**Author:** ![Dexvd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/dexvd/32/85098_2.png) [@Dexvd](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Dexvd)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 10:11am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3505 "2025-05-28T10:11:34Z")
> [@The\_Conductor](#): > > Could you post a photo of the power readings? I think they are accurate, just me riding dumb, hitting little climbs and bits of singletrack hard on an otherwise ‘social beginner group ride’. ![Screen Shot 2025-05-28 at 7.06.00 AM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/f/a/fa90107d65e0034849902bccd8e6f5b6f966f44a.jpeg) More on topic to the thread though did 2x20 last night, felt way better in the second interval after shifting down a gear and moving my cadence into the mid to high 80s. Made me feel a little more confident about giving the Kollie Moore FTP test protocol a try in the next week or 2. ![Screen Shot 2025-05-28 at 7.06.47 AM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/8/7/87bf5311733f921cad2a582f080cc5fbf1b2cfd1.png) ---
**Author:** ![Rad-ler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ea924/32.png) [@Rad-ler](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Rad-ler)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 10:55am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3506 "2025-05-28T10:55:49Z")
> [@kurt.braeckel](#): > > Monday: 1 min; Tuesday: 5 min; Weds recover; Thursday: 20 min or KM TTE/FTP test; Friday: 2x10-15s max effort sprints. Do you repeat such a test week during the season? If so, how often and would you do it as a first week of a new block? ---
**Author:** ![kurt.braeckel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/kurt.braeckel/32/116719_2.png) [@kurt.braeckel](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/kurt.braeckel)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3507 "2025-05-28T13:33:15Z")
Usually not that full week. We’ll do some testing throughout based on relevant numbers needed, but more often it’s a 5 min test before and after VO2, an FTP or 20 min test a few weeks after VO2/threshold, and then others sprinkled in throughout. Once they’re racing or doing max efforts, you can garner a lot of info based on training/race efforts too. Usually only do it when the whole PDC needs updating - long layoff, post-injury, coming out of the offseason, etc. ---
**Author:** ![mwglow15](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/mwglow15/32/28576_2.png) [@mwglow15](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/mwglow15)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3508 "2025-05-29T19:09:58Z")
> [@Dexvd](#): > > before considering increasing my FTP and then when I do, working back up to those before raising it again. So this isn’t really how FTP works. You should have your FTP set in your training app to correspond with whatever it is physiologically. Artificially inflating it and then hoping your perform to that level is just asking for overtraining. However, if you want to raise your FTP and your current training isn’t pushing it up then you should reconsider your training program. Idk what ‘Lola’ is or exactly what SS90/50 is but you should certainly be able to do 1x50 SS at your current FTP before you consider bumping it up by any significant amount. > [@Dexvd](#): > > also because my fitness is still quite low Yeah it’s likely this. When you do a workout that’s 3x your current 6 week average then the system will request a day off. > [@Dexvd](#): > > But everytime I ride outside I’m getting over 100 TSS because so many Z7 efforts being detected (riding with power) Yeah those outdoor workouts in that screen shot are pretty dang hard from the looks of it. But I agree with @kurt.braeckel. You’re way overthinking this. Forget TR AI, Red/green, etc for a moment. How do these workouts FEEL, what does it FEEL like your FTP is, how does your fatigue FEEL? Ultimately the TR AI model doesn’t know you, doesn’t know your physiology, and can only make some educated guesses about different things. > [@Dexvd](#): > > was planning to continue with SS until July (want to progress through the SS90 stuff for a few weeks first) and then start with Threshold. Also wasn’t really planning to do ‘testing’ efforts until September. I understand the want to ramp into things slowly but this is a glacial pace. When I come back from the off season I’ll do SS for like 3 weeks and then start a threshold progression. IMO, one of the best things about doing threshold over SS is that each workout is like a little mini FTP test. I KNOW when my FTP has gone up because the same power now feels easy. And I also know when I’m carrying fatigue because the same power either feels harder or I only was able to do 3x15 when last week I could do 4x15. ---
**Author:** ![Dexvd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/dexvd/32/85098_2.png) [@Dexvd](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Dexvd)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3509 "2025-05-29T21:03:30Z")
> [@mwglow15](#): > > Idk what ‘Lola’ is or exactly what SS90/50 is but you should certainly be able to do 1x50 SS at your current FTP before you consider bumping it up by any significant amount. This is Lola It was what I had used to assess my FTP last summer, at that point AI FTP was saying my FTP was 235 but I found I was failing threshold workouts and progressing very slowly with the SS90 workouts. ![Screen Shot 2025-05-29 at 5.46.28 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/5/1/5192cc7dd7bc48945e3843bef7bb9f8635d5a0b3.jpeg) Me failing it terribly ![Screen Shot 2025-05-29 at 5.48.29 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/2/e/2e037fd74b4ab2488d6c067608c25fa377fb3986.jpeg) After that test I set my FTP at 215 but over the summer I seemed to get progressively burnt out despite the lower FTP, too much volume and intensity I guess. By late August I stopped racing and structured training and only did commuting, between November and January I was was off the bike completely, then started doing 1 or 2 short Z2 rides but mostly 100 TSS a week or less until mid April. AI FTP kept detecting lower and lower FTPs until it went down to the 170s, then I just set it based off Intervals.icu (also in the 170s). > [@mwglow15](#): > > I understand the want to ramp into things slowly but this is a glacial pace. I guess but find it pretty hard to go from single digit fitness numbers into hard threshold and sweet spot work. I did make the Kollie Moore FTP test as a custom workout but I think it would be pretty hard on me, given I’m getting red days from far lighter rides. ![Screen Shot 2025-05-29 at 6.01.28 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/d/e/de72f161c4cb3a410553b98778a79014599efa88.png) ---
**Author:** ![ChefAcB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/chefacb/32/144835_2.png) [@ChefAcB](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/ChefAcB)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 2:17am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3510 "2025-05-30T02:17:13Z")
I would go into the “test” well rested and ignore the noise of red light yellow light. You’re trying to see what your fitness is, if it’s lower than what you expect. At least you have a solid number to train with. Train with that number for a month and try the “test” again and again. If you’re using TR and doing this long form test, I wouldn’t start with anything less than a 4.5 threshold, or 5.5 sweet spot workout. I personally enjoy the long form test, it’s basically a workout to me and I get a real objective assessment on what my fitness is. Don’t overthink it, you’ll have a way better time training than relying on algorithms. ---
**Author:** ![mwglow15](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/mwglow15/32/28576_2.png) [@mwglow15](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/mwglow15)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979/3511 "2025-05-30T13:05:13Z")
Hmm where did you get that structure for an FTP test? That’s not what he prescribes even for more experienced riders. I’d take a minute and read his article on the subject and look at his progression of FTP test workouts at the end. They’re all much easier that what you’ve built here. > **[The FTP Test: Physiology and New Protocols](https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/the-physiology-of-ftp-and-new-testing-protocols/)** > > The standard 20-minute FTP test might not work for all cyclists. Using WKO4 for deeper analysis, Kolie Moore explains new protocols. The article states “Target FTP” but I think since you have had issues with over inflated FTP settings in the past and you feel like you’re still building up I would be a bit conservative with that “Target FTP” [Previous page](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979.md?page=166) [Next page](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sweet-spot-progression/26979.md?page=168)