The FTP Challenge

DON’T BLAME ME!!!

I ACCEPT ZERO RESPONSIBILITY FOR…well…for pretty much most things in life… :persevere:

BUT ESPECIALLY THIS TORTUROUSLY BAD IDEA!!! :no_good_man::-1:

Definite ‘No Go Zone’, this one. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

I’ll totally be a spectator though! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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Bad idea for me since I already know the answer. :tired_face: I don’t think I could get to 30 mins. Ramp test overestimated for me.

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This is a very interesting idea. And if enough people did it, a treasure trove of data.

Anyone who holds their ftp for an hour or longer should get a prize. I predict no prizes bring won.

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the only way I ever managed was doing zwift racing, in oct 2016 I was legit averaging threshold for hour long races (on a dumb trainer so power was really steady). Yesterday I averaged 96 percent for the hour (well, assuming my FTP is 285 and not higher, we’ll see tomorrow!) If I did a few weeks of racing I might be able to do that again.

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I’ve done it maybe 5-10 times, but not recently.

You knuckleheads could always do this TR workout…designed just for such absurdity:

Hour Record.

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For sure I would look forward to congratulating the person who is able to accomplish one hour on a trainer at FTP. As @DaveWh said, even 30 minutes would be a task for me & I suspect for many.

And then, if they could do that every day for four weeks or so…well, then their training load would be 100! More proof that all TSS is created equal. :wink: Or not.

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@hubcyclist good point. Racing pushes folks to higher intensities for longer.

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Gotta like chris21 for keeping things to just the basic stuff. Gray and Hour Record. Gray every day keeps the peloton at bay?

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That can’t…be real.

It has to be a test account or something.

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For real. What the hell?

But for real though, we doing this Hour Record thing?

Oh man, now THAT is hilarious! :rofl:

And you guys thought I was nuts. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

I would do this.

But I also haven’t given up alcohol like many of you. And am on my 4th glass of wine this evening.

Check back with me in the morning… or, better yet, don’t.

:wine_glass:

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Better yet, dream up something even more absurd you’ll agree to during your…augmented state! :smiling_imp:

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I’ll be up for this seeing as I’ve been banging on about folk setting FTP correctly. I doubt I can hold my ramp test result for very long - which should make this a short challenge…

Mike

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I guess how enlightening this (on an individual basis) is dependent on what your perception of FTP really is. Is it, for you, you Hour Power, or is it more about energy systems / lactate threshold. Traditionally FTP has been seen as hour power, but that’s not the way it is used in trainerroad (or many other training systems).
Personally, I doubt I could make it to 45 minutes holding my ‘FTP’ consistently - I just haven’t worked on developing enough of that sort of fitness. If I gave myself a 2 minute break in between 20 minute FTP intervals then I’m pretty sure I could string three 20 minute intervals back to back.
That Hour Record workout looks like hell. I think I’d rather do Disaster again

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I’m not sure if Dr. Coggan would agree with you on that. Hour power is a way to measure/estimate FTP, but that’s not what FTP “is”. And in any case, i don’t think FTP was ever meant to signify the power you could hold for an hour every day. If I came into a real 40k TT, with other people around me and I was rested/tapered for the event, then I guarantee I’m putting out a much higher number than if I just went down to my trainer right now and busted out an hour. My anaerobic threshold didn’t change just because some people on a side of the road were yelling at me.

Also, I think some people are really missing the forest through the trees on this ramp test business. The ramp test is a way to consistently measure your adaptation to training on the bike. It gets me close enough (FTP itself is just a guess anyway btw!) that the over part of an over under interval really hurts and the under part isn’t so bad. When I get in better shape the ramp test number goes up for me and I train at higher levels for the next few weeks. I inevitably (hopefully!) adapt to that and the ramp test spits out a higher number the next time. Rinse and repeat.

The ramp test is based on correlation between the results on that test and people’s FTP measured through other means. Some people on either tail end of the bell curve will need to adjust accordingly, but I think the test gets it close enough for most people.

Finally, FTP and w/kg are fun for online d*ck measuring contests, but there is a reason why bike races aren’t held in performance labs.

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No! Chris21 lives!! :crazy_face:

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For real, I’m going to do it. But not this week.

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