Do you get better at ramp tests each time you do it? I’ve been on trainer road for about 10 months and seems to avoid it and opted to bump my ftp 2 watts every time i move up a training plan. Something about the ramp test just scares me.
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Having completed the first half of General build with two weeks of business travel I was pleased to see a very small increase in my FTP on the ramp test yesterday. 254 from 251. The way I figure it, if I can get a 1.5% increase every 4 weeks or so by year end I will be back at 261. I started the year on 202 so to end it on 261 I would be very pleased with myself.
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Every time I do Ramp Test I find that I’m 30w less then I have my FTP set on.
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I actually don’t mind it! I think it’s all mental. You just gotta accept that it’s going to hurt.
I like putting on a bike race on another screen and listen to really heavy electronic music with a strong beat and zone in when it starts to hurt. It’s a race against myself!
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Having tested with many variants (hour power down to ramp tests) over the years I do think you get better at performing the tests. To quote a famous cyclist: they don’t get easier, you just get better.
That doesn’t change the feeling of hesitation or angst that most athletes have when testing. It is mental in terms of the effort but also in terms of not wanting to disappoint ourselves. We train hard, we prioritize workouts, we desperately want to see performance gains to justify the work and see movement toward goals.
In a sense, there may be as much performance anxiety around testing as there is for races.
My problem with FTP tests is that they only measure a small number of parameters that make a better cyclist. FTP estimates are very valuable for training but we often over interpret the data or get frustrated with plateaus.
Hope that helps.
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Start of my Recovery+ Frankenweek, in the middle of SSBMVI to line up nicer with Thanksgiving. I’m borrowing the IF from the regular recovery week, and then finding workouts that (roughly) keep that intensity while adding another 15 minutes or so. (For example, this one should have been Pettit, and tomorrow I’ll do Pettit instead of Taku.) I know progressive overload is really important for growth, and SSB is supposed to be 5 weeks of load, not 3, so hopefully I have progressively overloaded myself to the point that this week won’t set me back too far.
Heart rate on this sucker is right in line with what it was before I got sick at the end of September, so that’s encouraging.
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Monitor - 6x6min SS. Demanding but no drama, just the way it’s supposed to be. Zwifting through London for the eye candy factor. 90s hits in my ears. Quite the overall sensory attack.
Officially adopted the @mcneese.chad method of big chainring shifting for those standing slow cadence breaks during recovery. It works.
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Just finished my 20 day no bike challenge (how I have branded my end of season down time) and did my first ride this morning. Didn’t want to take an FTP test so just lowered my FTP from 360 to 340 - figured 10 watts/week would be a reasonable amount of decline
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Bumped to 102% for the second set and 104% for the third. Adjusted my FTP up to 345 post workout, will see how things go at that number and adjust accordingly - sort of optimistic that I can get back to 355 or 360 fairly quickly
FWIW - after 20 days off I noticed a distinct increase in HR at the same RPE. Presumably related to decreased blood volume that you see after that amount of time off. Legs felt fantastic, as one would expect. Will see how I do with some endurance work tomorrow - that will give me some insight into how much base I need to do in the coming two months
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Nice! Glad you tried it and liked it. I use that for every workout I do.
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Very much follows with what I saw in my 21 days totally off. Ramp tested 21W lower (about 8% for me) than what I was training at before.
A couple weeks in, I suspect I’m due a bump. Will see how this week goes.
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Kicking off my offseason plan today. Goal is to push the FTP up to that 400 mark while dropping some weight at the same time.
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Slacktober is OVER!
I have modified a plan to carry me through my initial 8 weeks. Then on to more 4x8’s in earnest.
TSS will be supplemented with fatbike rides and indoor strength training.
Getting ready for the Quebec Singletrack Experience next summer:
https://quebecsingletrack.com/en
Down into the rabbit hole we go!
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Kickr Core with power match from a power2max
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@trpnhntr as the ramp test is really a max aerobic power (MAP) test, would be really interesting to compare results from a longer test. Just wondering out loud, not sure if top-end aerobic/anaerobic declines faster than actual lactate threshold.
Did a ramp test for the start of SSBMV2, up 13w from 300 to 313. Pretty happy with it, I am pushing just under 4.5 w/kg now so hopefully I can hit 5 sometime in 2020.
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I think it likely would decline faster but just an assumption.
I will say I rarely test anymore - I mostly just adjust my FTP based on a few repeatable workouts as well as performance on high IF workouts. Today I did 0.9 IF for 65 minutes without ever feeling remotely close to failing, so for me that means bump the FTP a bit. Easier to adjust to the point of failure than to make time for a test
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Virginia. Finished Good Omens, onto The Boys.
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