Your FTP improvements

Thanks Chris,

Im doing the general build

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You will just stay consistent

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2012: 305w (4.06 w/kg @75kg)
First time on bike w PM, 320w for 20min. Serious running training but just dabbling w cycling.

2013/14: 340w (4.5 w/kg @ 75kg)
Got into bike racing (mtb, road)

2015/2016: 355w (~5 w/kg @ 71-72kg)
Was very into racing and did the ā€˜lose weight thingā€™ (racing road, mtb, CX)

2020/2021: 360w (4.8 w/kg @ 75kg)
Back to weight I started at. Wouldnā€™t be happy if I gained weight but I donā€™t consciously try to be thin now (eat whatever I want and however much). Much stronger muscularly (lifting now). Full time job and a dad now so no racing tho maybe CX

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Iā€™ve stopped closely tracking my FTP (havenā€™t done a test since April I think), but Iā€™ve made incremental improvements through most of the power curve, except for 1-5s efforts which I havenā€™t truly targeted. Biggest improvement however has been to my endurance and longevity. Where last year I would consider a 2-2.5hr ride long, now I ride that regularly and try to get a 4-6hr in every other week. I find I can hold power for much longer without tiring, my power to HR ratio has significantly improved, and my post-ride recovery shortened. Last year a 100-110km ride was a big deal, this year I did 3 in a week without even really trying. Progress can be measured in many ways!

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Yesterdayā€™s ramp test gave me 229, replacing 287.

Iā€™m really happy with this, as itā€™s the first ramp test Iā€™ve done with a power meter instead of virtual power!

60W drop isnā€™t really good for the ego, and puts me way under 4w/kg, but Iā€™m happier knowingā€¦ And Iā€™m looking forward to doing more outdoor TR workouts with power instead of Rpe :grin:

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Awesome, thanks

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Just an update on my first year with TR and structured training.

I had a goal to be at 300 W and 82 kg this summer, and although i am 2 watts of, i think its a goal made.

So an increase of almost 70 watts in 10 months time is pretty cool.

Heres the stats:

Date Plan FTP W/kg kg +/- ftp Test
09-10-2020 Initial test 229 2,69 85 Ramp
18-11-2020 Completed SS1 249 2,94 84,8 20 Ramp
06-01-2021 Completed SS2 258 3,02 85,5 9 Ramp
23-01-2021 Completed General Build 1 270 3,16 85,5 12 Ramp
20-02-2021 Completed General Build 2 283 3,35 84,5 13 Ramp
27-03-2021 Specialization 287 3,44 83,5 4 Ramp
11-05-2021 Less structured outside + ss2 285 3,45 82,5 -2 Ramp
22-07-2021 Polarized, mostly outside 298,5 3,64 82 13,5 8 minutes FTP test outside
Ftp increase 69,5
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Which volume wow Iā€™m envious never made more than 20 watts going through the plans

Inside it has only been low volume : 4-5 hours per week.
Outside it has been mid volume polarized, 6-7 hours a week, topped out last week with 8 hours (highest amount this year.)

I think my gains can be related to ā€œnewbā€ gains because i never did structured work before.

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Thatā€™s awesome progress :muscle:t2::muscle:t2::muscle:t2:

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Age 48. Previous best FTP was 340+change peaking in summer of 2019. Coming back after a bad year (nasty RTA in April 2020 / no riding until late June / complications leading to zero exercise between 01 October and New Year):

03 Jan 2021 - 225w -241 lbs
02 Feb 2021 - 241w
23 Mar 2021 - 253w
11 May 2021 - 267w
26 Jul 2021 - 279w - 208 lbs

Did SSBLV 1&2, followed by the first part of short power build and then a few weeks of random outdoor riding (mostly doing spikes of VO2Max KoM and gravel efforts with L2 in between and one longer (200k) tempo effort - also added in the odd hard SS or Threshold TR sessions to try and maintain my gains.

About to start sustained power build which isnā€™t a plan Iā€™ve done before so looking forward to it - especially as Iā€™m on the AT beta :grin:

54w up and 33lbs down in circa 6 months so reasonably happy with that. :ok_hand:t2:

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Age 35
70kg

Never really trained with structured plans, or rode a bike for two weeks straight.

Started in July 2020: 145w
August 2020 (after a bit of base and bike fitting): 164w
October 2020: 193w
January 2021 : 206w
Got injured, so no training for a month or so
Started again in march 2021 at 190w
General build to may 2021: 219w (overachieved on ramp test)
Kickr started acting up, broke down, got sent to the factory and got replaced, so no structured training in June or July.

Just did a ramp test with the new trainer; back to 186w :frowning:
My quest for 3w/kg and beyond starts again. Regression sucks though.

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Sorry if I dig out this old post, but it reflects pretty well what I experienced myself.
Iā€™m happy though at least for my needs (epic mountain days) ā€¦ FTP dropped a little but LT1 is now at almost 80% of FTP and sustainable (1.5h) Tempo at almost 90% of FTP.
So I guess the number might be lower but I can make more use of my FTP if that makes sense.
Just like Nate said ā€¦ whatā€™s your ftp? 300 tempo level 1 or 285 tempo level 9

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This year has been a really mixed bag for me. COVID restrictions (UK), work changes and a lack of racing (ability to get a start place) have combined to leave me floundering. Since completing a big charity ride back in April 2021, Iā€™ve really lacked direction.

I finished 2020 with an illness. Looking back, it might have been COVID. Dropped my FTP down to 277 and did nothing but Z2 work for January.

From January - July 2021 Iā€™ve gone from 277 back up to 301. In numbers terms, that looks like great progress but itā€™s not. It has taken me seven months to get back to where I was (ish) at the end of 2020.

What I can honestly say though is, this isnā€™t ā€˜brittleā€™ fitness. My muscle endurance is better than it has even been and my HR for sustained Threshold efforts is consistently 4-5 beats lower. This is evidenced in both racing and training.

I start to wrap my season up at the end of August for Iā€™m not expecting to see my FTP increase much further. What I am happy about is the base Iā€™ve built during 2021 :+1:

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My results:
16.01.2021: 164 (2.1)
06.02.2021: 182 (2.4)
20.03.2021: 185 (2.5)
13.04.2021: 198 (2.6)
11.05.205: 205 (2.7)
09.06.2021: 212 (2.8)
28.07.2021: 212 (2.8) outdoor

This week, I did a first outdoor FTP test. Mainly focused on avoiding high spikes early on. Tested two training sessions after being sick with a head cold for 8 days (no training). In the past month, focus was on endurance (more outdoor rides) while maintaining FTP.

Havenā€™t decided yet how to continue. Im getting my ass back in the gym because I miss it and I need it. Am also going to drop some weight in the coming months.

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Hi all,
I am having a great time training and love the forum and the Podcasts as well.

Hereā€™s my FTP history:
08-Feb-2021: 222
22-Mar-2021: 240 - 7.5% increase
10-May-2021: 248 - 3.3% increase
07-Jun-2021: 263 - 5.7% increase
06-Jul-2021: 268 - 1.8% increase
02-Aug-2021: 274 - 2.2% Increase from my last Ramp Test and a 19% increase since I started in 08-Feb-21. I think the big leaps in FTP are over but I am going to keep at it and see how far I can push this :grin:

Process Goal: Consistency = Compliance = Improvement.

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Hit my new high FTP yesterday 257 on a 20min test :metal:
I seemed to get ā€œstuckā€ on 243 in a couple of ramp tests a month and six weeks ago respectively. I manually bumped to 253 after some very manageable threshold workouts.
Iā€™m struggling to think of a time where my FTP increased from a ramp test (Iā€™ve always had to manually bump an improvement), hence the switch to 20 min and stoked to get a wee bump.
This time last year I was 218 after taking too much time off over winter so Iā€™m really pleased with my consistency this year and hopefully I donā€™t find another way to derail myself :upside_down_face::metal::grin:

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I started cycling a little bit serious since February and this are my results (34 years, 183cm):
2/26/2021 FTP 249, 80Kg
6/6/2021 FTP 310, 78Kg
8/9/2021 FTP 337, 77Kg
I just started this week my first building plan on trainerroad, excited to see if I can still keep crashing my previous FTP results, I just feel sorry I didnā€™t discovered this passion before :slight_smile:

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Wow thatā€™s really impressive. Less than 6 months of cycling, and youā€™re over 4.3 W/kg.

What has been your training so far?

I was doing mostly 5 to 7h per week of unstructured training, just in the indoor trainer or taking the bike and go outside. My friend (with cycling experience) told me to follow some structured training and I should see bigger improvements, then here I am, just with 2 weeks of base phase in trainerroad and this week I jumped to the building one with high volume, letā€™s see if I can keep it up.

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