Too many AI FTP increases?

Training
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I’ve gotten 3 out of band AI FTP increases in the recent past. Here is the brief history:

  • 28 days ago I got my regular AI FTP detection bumping me to 233W.
  • 17 days ago I completed a Sweet Spot 9.1 (Hard) in the specialty phase. AI FTP bumped me to 238W.
  • 2 days ago I completed a Sweet Spot 9.3 (Hard) in the base phase. AI FTP bumped me to 241W.
  • Just today I completed a Sweet Spot 9.6 (Very Hard) in the base phase. AI FTP again bumped me to 244W.

I have a Threshold 6.1 coming up in 2 days and next week I have a Sweet Spot 8.8 and Sweet Spot 8.9 scheduled. I believe that means I’m safe from any undue AI FTP increases next week, but I can already see a Sweet Spot 9.9 scheduled in my upcoming build phase.

My gut feeling is this isn’t sustainable and I’m wondering if I should start declining the AI FTP increases or just fail workouts naturally when they become too hard.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

2

That’s normal because when one of your PLs gets above 9.

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I would suggest having @eddie take a look.

I remember seeing somewhere when you complete workouts that are 9+ you will get an automatic bump in base and build (not in specialty). I have been a long time user and the volume of PL 9+ workouts you are getting seems like something is off.

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I know the AI will offer new FTPs if you complete >9.0 workouts. I’m just wondering if this will end badly if i keep accepting it :sweat_smile:

Yeah would love a trainerroad staff to take a look!

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I’ve had this happen to me. Stuck doing sweet spots 9’s for ages and never able to get out of the loop. Even the FTP bump doesn’t lower your progression levels down enough and your back on the 9s in no time. Given how similar the 9s are it becomes quite boring.

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And how did it end for you? Or are you still in the middle of it?

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Luckily the sunshine arrived and I went outside.

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How are you answering the survey for them? Once they start feeling Very Hard or above surely it should stop increasing. Can’t say for sure, but if you’re really concerned you can either decline them or answer the surveys differently

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I’ve noted in my first post, but I tend to rate Sweet Spots as Hard and Threshold/VO2 as Very Hard. I tried rating my last Sweet Spot as Very Hard in hopes that it wouldn’t prompt for a FTP increase, but in reality I thought it was a Hard.

To be fair I think I can still handle the current increase judging by my upcoming Threshold workout, but it might be getting close to Max Effort. Maybe if I rate it like that it’ll start toning down my workouts and I won’t see another >9 workout for a while?

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I think the key is the delta in response from your standard response

So if you have a long history of rating them at X, then doing X+1 or +2 should do the trick

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I’m looking into this now @bogardon.

It looks like your fitness is certainly increasing, and it’s likely in response to the significant increase in training stimulus recently. Are you following a plan as TR recommends it, or are you changing the volume on your own?

I’ll be in touch once I’ve gone through everything in your history. Hang in there!

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Yeah I just finished a 3 month “Increasing FTP” block and started on a new 3 month “Building Endurance” block. I pretty much followed the plans to a T.

FWIW I marked my last threshold session as max effort, but I think that’s because I ate too spicy for lunch. Either way, I hope that will signal the AI to back off a little bit :slight_smile:

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If you can complete a level 6.1 threshold workout then your FTP isn’t set too high - if anything it is still a nudge low.

No idea why it’s serving you up level 9 SS workouts - personally I find SS most beneficial if it’s at a similar level to threshold :thinking:

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Sorry for the late response here, but it does look like things are working as intended.

I know you’ve had quite a few FTP bumps in the past month, but I think your fitness is increasing pretty quickly, and you’re having no issues with the high-level workouts.

I’ve shared your case with the team, as I do think we might be able to tighten things up a bit in the future with edge cases like this, but the bottom line from me is to keep up the good work and accept the FTP changes you’re getting. :flexed_biceps:

Let me know if you have any issues with workout difficulty moving forward, but nice job on your progress! :clap:

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Thanks eddie. I’ll circle back in a couple weeks with an update on how I’m faring :slight_smile:

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