I see a lot of posts of people traveling from sea level to altitude to train…but what about the opposite? Does my training program know that? Or its doesn’t matter? I guess I’m trying to understand the impact on my FTP…and like when sea level cycling friends ask what my FTP is… Typical outdoor ride…

[image] What is my "expected" sea level FTP, I live and train at altitude Training Hi All, I try to use the search function but most of the questions were the opposite of my situation. I would like to know if ppl have experience or some useful references for calculating …

Short answer: it doesn’t matter. Your ftp at elevation is your ftp for training purposes. Yes, you’ll get a boost when you go down. I probably estimate about 1.5% per 1,000 ft of elevation. I live in the front range, fwiw.

I’m not an expert, but I’m not sure it’s fair to say it doesn’t matter. Depending on the altitude you live/train at, it’s reasonable to expect your physiology could have different limiters at different altitudes. As my N=1, I spend a couple weeks at ~10k most summers, including racing leadville mo…

This tracks. It’s also why living at altitude isn’t actually good training, because you simply can’t do sea level power (all else equal). So while training camps might help you acclimatize and increase red blood cell count, etc, train low and live high is the best of all worlds. But we can’t all do …

I’m at sea level now. I live, train and race at 8500ft. It’s basically cheating.

Some athletes that live at elevation drive down the mountain to do interval and VO2 workouts for maximum effect. Short of being an elite athlete with all the time in the world, that probably doesn’t work for most people. :slight_smile:

Interesting take. I don’t think you’re wrong. Thank you.

There are limits to what you can do at altitude. Maybe the way to think about it is that your FTP is the work you can do in excess of the energy it takes to live. Even with supplemental oxygen your FTP at the top of Everest might be basically zero. You just can’t work as hard or long at altitude …

I think you need one of those supplemental oxygen setups for your vo2 work if you never get to low altitudes to do them. Don’t they use stuff like that at the Olympic training center in boulder? Joe

What if you live and train and ride only at 8,500' +?

Training

oldandfast February 11, 2024, 6:17am 2

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What if you live and train and ride only at 8,500' +?

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