I finally relented in the British Winter and came back to TrainerRoad today after a long time of not doing any indoor training. However, I HAVE been doing Cross Fit, Weight Training and low intensity cardio, hill walking, gentle cycle rides etc, just not been logging them.
When I logged into TR, it recommended me an FTP of 140w ??? down from 220w WTF. So I thought I would run with it and see what happens, given that I had just read some posts by TR Staff and watched the video. I accepted it, and started the recommended workout, and it would have been wayy too easy to the point of being a waste of time (might as well have gone for a walk). So I manually reset it to 200w and did the workout, and it felt alright, like a Sweet-Spot workout should and like 200 is the right ballpark maybe a little bit on the low side. I would estimate my FTP to be somewhere between 200-215.
So I scheduled some more in and firstly when I schedule an AI workout on the Android App, it just endlessly thinks about it and never comes back with a session unless I force close the app and re-open (possible bug?). This is very annoying and not something I could cope with moving forwards, if it isn’t fixed.
It is also telling me that I need an easy day or rest day every day when I know full well I can cope with what I’ve got set, and the whole point is to ramp up the load not just take rest days every other day ?
So far I’m not very impressed with it. When I read the posts by the Jonathan and Nate and watched the Vids on the TR YT site, I was preparing to be impressed, but so far I don’t see it?
Theres no way I was ever going to be FTP140W… I mean thats just so ridiculously stupid it makes me question the whole AI system??
What data have you actually fed it? Garbage in, garbage out … or nothing in, fairly wild guess out.
If it was me I’d be backing up the manually entered FTP with a ramp test, just to hopefully move everything into the right ballpark. It can’t hurt.
From what you’ve said, it just seems that it doesn’t have a good picture of you yet, so it’s going to err on the side of not killing you in week 1.
The slow processing on the Android App isn’t the usual behaviour, if that’s an reassurance. I’d have launched my phone across the room by now if it was.
Thats the plan, just put what I think is ok until its got some more data and see what happens.
EDIT; Just thinking about it, the slow processing is possibly also down to the lack of data.
Do I need to do anything to re-enable the AI FTP detection, or will it just come back with another recommendation when it thinks it knows better than I do?
Also, its not happy with me scheduling in Pettit for a rest day . That workout is one I can do whilst I’m doom scrolling without it even touching the sides. My classic rest day leg loosener from my racing days (when my FTP was LOT higher, obviously).
Hopefully the slow processing will sort itself out. I can post a vid if anyone needs to know what it looks like.
You may know this but the system isn’t telepathic and can’t know that unless you give it data to prove it, which you can do via your upcoming workouts.
Regarding the fatigue detection being overly sensitive for you currently - since the system does not yet know that you can handle what you believe you can - then in your shoes I’d consider temporarily disabling Fatigue Detection in Settings. Just remember to re-enable it after a few weeks once the AI has had a chance to better get the measure of you from the data you’ve provided it, proving what you can handle.
NB on the subject of the low FTP, for reference mid January I had an actual FTP of 250w. I then had a bad injury which prevented me doing any activities at all initially, and when my Calendar showed no activities for 7 weeks (as it did initially after I’d “cleared the decks” for rehab), my AIFTP Prediction 7 weeks out had fallen to 150W, being a 40% reduction. Given that, your 220W→140W forecast, after you presenting only easy aerobic activities to the AI, doesn’t seem outlandish. If your capabilities are higher than that, then you can prove it to the AI over the coming week or two by giving it data that better represents your capabilities. This is just a temporary adjustment period for you for the AI to get your measure, after which it’ll get things dialled right in for you.
This is what my mate has just done. His AIFTP came in at 153 with very little data, He scheduled a ramp test for the next day, it came back a 200, and away he went.
