I tested twice over two days as the first day I accidentally unclipped repeatedly with my worn clips…
Not going to lie, I’m pretty pissed its not more. But then on the flip side I know that actually my power curve has gotten a lot better, and my ability to do sustained work has improved in leaps and bounds. (And frankly it sucked)
I find it strange though as when I did mcadie+1 I essentially did it as if my ftp was around 290W and managed fine.
If two weeks in I’m surviving, I will definitely up the intensity for SSB2
My first FTP test with Trainerroad was after only 2 or 3 weeks of casual riding and was 189. I had a couple scheduling conflicts with work and travel so only got 2 weeks into sweet spot base 1 low volume. I got a bike fit and retested at 210 or 2.65 w/kg before fully committing to a training block.
I just finished sweet spot base 1 low volume this morning which was my first training block. FTP is now 243 and 3.1 w/kg. Very much so looking forward to further improvements in sweet spot base 2 low volume.
Really pleased with my progress through the plans so far. Starting from very inconsistent, unstructured cycling and then 6 weeks of literally no cycling/running/working out (recovering from a surgery)
Start of SSBLV1
Tuesday, Jul 16, 2019
206
Start of SSBLV2
Tuesday, Aug 27, 2019
219
Start of Sustained Power Build LV
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019
230
Week 5 Sustained Power Build LV
Monday, Nov 4, 2019
244
After the summer madness of 20-25hrs a week and 1000+TSS 6 week avg, I’m 12 weeks into the winter season with SSBI and II done and starting General build.
Back down to around 600-700TSS doing structured workouts and finally seeing some improvements again after stagnating in the summer, probably due to the huge amount(for me) of stress.
Tuesday, Nov 19, 2019 280 4.12W/kgish
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019 274
Saturday, Jun 22, 2019 269
Monday, May 27, 2019 259
From 278 to 278 after 4weeks of Sustained power build LV ( had a few nights of bad sleep before the ramp test so i am pretty pleased with this , hope to get up to 280 ish on the next ramp test ( edging closer to 4W/kg )
Didn’t ride too much this year (a little over 1,000 miles outdoors heading into winter). I’m 47, started out with Sweet Spot Mid Volume at 198 lbs…
Start of SSBMV1 (ramp test)
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2019
FTP 216
Start of SSBMV2 (ramp test)
Tuesday, Nov 19, 2019
FTP 233
Was feeling really good (stronger) by week 5 of the first base phase. Plan to work through Base Mid-Volume II, and then go straight into 8 weeks of Mid-Volume General Build. Very happy with results so far, hoping by spring I’m a different rider. Building for LoToJa 2020
UPDATE…
Start of Sustained Power Build (mid volume), (ramp test)
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
FTP 252
Didn’t feel good as the test went above by previous FTP (233), but was able to push through to a new FTP record. Really happy with progress… 16+% improvement over 12 weeks of base training - looking forward to the next phase (build)…
298W - First FTP test when I bought a Kickr and signed up to TR in September 2016
309W - FTP in September 2018 after 2 years of using TR fairly sporadically (80-90% of my rides were outside, I didn’t have a PM and most of my rides were group rides anyway). I suspect the huge 11W increase in 2 years was as much due to improved pacing in the test as anything else…
341W - Most recent test after 14 months of having a PM, actually following the plans a bit more closely and just as importantly listening to the podcasts to figure out how best to tinker with those plans to suit me.
Am also ~4kg lighter than I was 3 years ago so W/kg has gone up about 20% from 3.7 to 4.5. To be honest this kind of surprised me, the improvement has crept up on me a bit and in my head my FTP was always “a bit over 300W” and my W/kg was always “about 4” and neither was something I thought about that much other than when workouts felt too hard or easy which meant I was due a test or a manual adjustment. I came into TR with pretty high fitness from 20+ years of various endurance training (rowing, running, triathlon, cycling). Not a lot of structure for much of it as I hadn’t raced for a few years due to having kids and job stuff, but decent volume and consistency and good intensity just from doing group rides and going hard when I felt like it. So I didn’t think I had a huge amount of room for improvement without making sacrifices I wasn’t prepared to make - I enjoy a beer, I occasionally enjoy far too many beers, I don’t like calorie counting, and most importantly of all my cycling is first and foremost about enjoyment (sadly nobody is paying me to do it…) which means I tend to put races and group rides on the schedule first and then fit training in around them and I didn’t want that to change.
Would put the improvement down as much to the info on the podcast, blogs and forum as to the actual plans. It was this info that got me thinking about how to structure my training better while still doing the group rides and races that I enjoy. I’m not and never will be a religious follower of the plans. But I can take the basic structure and principles behind the plans and use them to inform my training. And having a PM allowed me to better analyse the riding I was doing and figure out what kind of training benefit it was giving me, and then use structured training to plug the gaps. And to a lesser extent, to change the way I rode in group rides (and occasionally races) to get a different and better training stimulus. Have also significantly increased volume, so some of the FTP boost (and weight drop) comes simply from training more and not just training smarter. Though even there I think TR helped me to train more without digging myself into a hole.
Also think it’s helped just focusing on following and enjoying the process, not worrying too much about the numbers. Will continue with that philosophy so won’t be setting myself any specific goals for FTP, weight, 5 minute power or anything else. But feel like there’s still some improvement to come both with the watts and the kg (just started reading the Endurance Diet which is kind of confirming some things I already knew about my diet but hadn’t quite got around to addressing…), so interested to see where I end up.
32 watt drop! From 275 to 243. Back to a few watts over where I was after my first ramp test a year ago. Granted last year that first test was straight after racing cross season and 4 weeks of structured training via zwift. This time, I’m coming off minor surgery and a nearly monthlong stretch off the bike/occasional easy rides.
I’m not sure if I’m happy or sad about the result. I suppose its roughly about what I expected. I’m actually excited about what will hopefully be a couple months of relatively easy riding during traditional base. Going to try and cut a bit of weight before going into SSB.
Finished last winters training at 295W and 83kg. Not ridden as much as I’d like this year. Started training again in October and was 266W and 86kg at the start of SS1MV. Now in the second week of SS2MV and hit 282W and 85kg in this block’s ramp test. Hoping to be over 300 by the next ramp test, but the one after that seems more likely.
I hope so.
I’m going to take some insight from training last year to hopefully be more productive this coming year. Less short power work, more volume, focus on working up to 20 or 30 minute sweet spot intervals before I perhaps address VO2 max.
The good news is I havent put on any weight at all in my off season…perhaps even dropped a pound or two.
Oh I should add - man I am so happy ftp got adjusted. The last few ‘endurance’ workouts hadnt felt very endurancey. They felt not just like work, but WORK. Pettit felt much more in line this morning with what I remembered from a month or two ago. Excited now about training again.
I started on TR in January of 2017 after a few years of road cycling, including club riding and Granfondos.
January 2017 FTP - 315 (Wahoo Kickr Snap, 2x8min FTP test)
-I’m highly skeptical of the Snap’s PM, so I think it should have been lower.
November 8, 2019 FTP - 369 (Stages PM with Wahoo Kickr Snap and Powermatch; Gray - 2x20min).
-I’ve recently started to use Gray as my FTP test/confirmation. Obviously you kind of need to know whereabouts your FTP is going in.
Given the difference in PMs and testing protocols, it’s hard to get too specific about the conclusions…but I think I can be confident in clear improvement over this time.
Finished my first 3 phases just before the summer and ended up with an Ftp of 366 Watts and weight at 83kg giving me a 4.4 w/kg, I never thought I could achieve that in my wildest dreams. Took the next 13 weeks off and enjoyed the riding, with no aching or fatigued legs. In that period I managed to bag 8 kom’s and have currently 40 top ten positions on Strava. Please know that I’m not saying this to brag, merely to say I had nothing before I started on the trainer road journey.
I’m a 46 year old male, whose hair has turned the wrong shade of silver and my nose and ear hair have gone the same colour, but I’ managed to take on and beat younger and I thought fitter people than myself thanks to this program. It helps that I’m nearly 20 kgs lighter than I was when I decided to take things a bit more seriously.
So now I am week 8 out of 12 on the sweet spot base high volume program. My first ramp test after the summer yielded 308 Watts and 89 kgs giving me a 3.4 w/kg ( although I know I bailed earlier than I should, 320 Watts was probably what I should be). Mid point ramp test has me back at 351 Watts and as of this morning I am at 83.6 kgs, so w/kg is a very healthy 4.2 which I am really pleased with.
My ultimate aim is to try and get to 4.5 w/kg but will see how that pans out. Its tough all this extra load, fatigue is far more than I thought but I’ve not bailed a session yet.
Apologies if it’s been a ramble, but I really just wanted to try and encourage at least 1 person to stick at it, even if you feel that you have not made the improvement you should have, it’s all relative. If you’re better than you were, you are still better, and that’s what we are all doing this for.
Last year 2018 I rode a VLC ( Very long Commute 50 hilly km a day) for a few months ( about 220 hrs total for the year)
Then strict on the couch no training policy September to March 2019. In March I started getting ready for the summer commute with once or twice a week run or ride. Completed Zwift FTP test KK Virtual Power 258W March .
Did a lot of what I now guess to be low sweet spot commuting all Summer and bought a 4iiii left side power meter in August 2019, promising myself I would do some crits next year to justify the purchase.
FInished the summer commute and made a pledge not to loose that fitness, signed up to TR. Tested Ramp Test Aug 2019 298W.
Completed a month or so of Short Power Build tested 340W Oct 2019.
Now Finished SSB 1 LV and tested at 347.
March 258W
August 298W
TR Start
Oct 340W
NOV 28th 347W 3.75W/KG at 92.5kG
**Later Edit: Dec 26 357W at 93kg
Jan 2020 368 @ 91 4.03w/kg (goal achieved)
Having a hard time believing the numbers but I complete the workouts fine. I often add a run or second ride on the weekend. Looking forward to the spring.
