Your FTP improvements

Of course, one fail is not problem or two. It could be problem if you fail over n over again in order.

Btw i forgot the tell my strategy. It is too silly but it helps me :grinning: i divide all intervals as a 2,5mins. Each 2,5 mins i drink water (or maltodextrin carb) and try to countdown 2,5 mins again (no matter what the duration of the interval is). For example 4x20 i divide each 20 mins blocks as a 2,5/2,5/2,5/2,5 ā€¦ and grab my bottle each 2,5. I do not count down 20 mins (it is killing me :smiley: but 2,5 it makes a lot easieeeeer).

As i said it is silly but it tricks my mind and feels easier :slight_smile:

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Gonna try that later. Thx

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When Iā€™m maintaining weight, not trying to lose, I do eat a casein protein snack before bed. Still get about 10 hours of restricted eating in (not 12), but that wasnā€™t the primary goal anymore for me.

I started with TR this summer after spending the last three years doing mainly group rides with the local club. My only structured training previously was with Sufferfest over the winters. I did that for several years but I felt it was time for a change in early 2020. 2020 was mainly solo rides with a handful of club races in June/July, my first time doing any racing. Iā€™ve ridden the plans quite consistently, other than a few outdoor substitutions of group rides - some hard, some recovery) in the first and second training blocks.

My weight is consistently between 141-144 lbs (64-65 kg, will use 65 for calculations below) at 5ā€™ 7".

Weight loss is not a goal, FTP increase is.

I seem to be stuck at about 3.1 w/kg.

initial TR ramp test 7-18-20 - 208w (3.20 w/kg)
completed Sweet Spot Base 1 low volume (6 weeks), then tested 8-25-20 - 205w (3.15 w/kg)
completed Sustained Power Build low volume (8 weeks), then tested 10-20-20 - 203w (3.12 w/kg)
completed Sweet Spot Base 2 low volume (6 weeks), then tested 12-1-20 - 209w (3.22 w/kg)
half way through Sustained Power Build low volume (8 weeks), then tested 12-29-20 - 203w (3.12 w/kg)
planned test 1-26-21 after completing Sustained Power Build low volume
planned test 3-9-21 after completing Sweet Spot Base 1 low volume
planned test 4-6-21 halfway through Century low volume
planned EVENT Hincapie Fondo Chattanooga after completing Century low volume plan

I always carry some life stress that is not going to really change. My sleep has improved with the pandemic (thanks to work-from-home and no 40-minute commute twice a day), and I think my workouts are fueled reasonably well. I generally get up and ride first thing in the morning, fueling the ride with about 80g carbs per hour from the start, and have a recovery shake straight after.

I may try to add some yoga and/or body weight strength training on the off days (still using Sufferfest for those, at least until my subscription runs out), but Iā€™m also considering adding another day on the bike.

So, all in all, I havenā€™t really seen improvements yet but am hopeful that this winter might be different than the pastā€¦

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After having been stuck between 285-300w for the past 18 months or so, Iā€™ve finally had a decent FTP rise. Iā€™ve managed to move from 302 to 323, after 3 weeks of sustained power build MV and the 5 weeks of SSB1 MV. I attribute the rise to a switch from 2 years of LV plans and 1 long weekend ride to now doing MV long weekend ride. Feels great to have broken through a plateau. Very keen to see how far up MV will carry my FTP.

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Yesterday I hit 352w after SSB2 LV, the autumn was really good to my training after being on a platue all last year. Was stuck at 320-330 since January and now Iā€™ve been gaining 6 watts every 6-8 weeks, even if Iā€™m not feeling great everyday itā€™s an amazing feeling to know Iā€™m getting stronger in the long run.
Maybe I was too focused on losing weight all spring instead of focusing on the long term goal? These last 6 months Iā€™ve only focused on doing my workouts and refueling.
Even if Iā€™m 10kg above my goal weight Iā€™m happy that I can increase my threshold. Iā€™m almost at my dream of 4watt/kg.
Looking forward to seeing how my spring season will become with this starting point.

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dramatic fall for the last test, but this was the switch from ramp to 20 minute :slight_smile:

I was realizing more and more that sweetspot was actually theshold and theshold was not sustainable very longā€¦ so put my pride aside and took the 20 minute test, just 2 weeks after a ramp). and tested 293 instead of 301. So a 3% decrease.

But when I re-calculate all ramp results, the 2020 graph looks like this:


The positive sides on this story, threshold workouts feel sustainable, over unders feel doable and more imortant it feels productive again, which I havenā€™t really felt since the summer peak. ow, and while itā€™s not very nice to see the 300 and 4w/kg marks disappearā€¦ the last 2 weeks feel so much better that Iā€™m pretty sure I hit that with the current or next training block.

moral of the story, the ramp test is not OK for everyone, if your first start, it might still work OK (it did for the first 6 months), but when you get closer to your limit for a certain amount of training (LV+ for me), it gets harder and more critical to train with a suitable number.

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Got back into riding after a layoff for school/career change/relocation
just turned 50 and my eXcel sheet tells meā€¦
5/14/2020 124w at 95Kg
12/27/2020 163w at 95Kg no real training just get back on the bike and rideā€¦
starting to/planning to ride inside 4-5 hrs indoors a week then add back outdoors Saturdays for distance come April or so (2-3 hr long ride)

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I began my first 6 weeks SSB Mid Volume I Nov 24th 2020 and I tested at 235w (3.23 w/kg).
Jan 6th 2021 I was ready to start my 2nd 6 weeks SSB Mid Volume II and I started with a ramp test. I was really impressed with the results. 247w (3.40 w/kg). which is a 5% increase.
Let see what the next 6 weeks will bring - SSB Mid Volume II looks fun :wink:

Nov 2020: 235w (3.23 w/kg)
Jan 2021: 247w (3.40 w/kg)
Feb 2021: 257w (3.54 w/kg) SSBMV II

Btw all of my training has been done on Trainer Road with a couple of days that includes swimming. Also, all the rides on Trainer Road are done in a Group Workout (one other person) wouldnā€™t have done it any other way. Glad that we are able to workout together.

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Iā€™ve spent the last two years focusing on running. Working from home during COVID offered me a chance to get back into the saddle. My first FTP was at 170w. My doubts began to form after 3 weeks of SSB High Vol I as the workouts felt ā€˜easyā€™. I stayed with my training after reading many encouraging posts - believe in the process. I am so glad I did. I got 180w in todayā€™s ramp test! Phase II seems a lot more challenging with longer intervals at sweet spot, but I am stoked.

I ride 5 days on the trainer and 1 day outdoor. I also incorporated strength and core workouts twice a week. Canā€™t wait for the next build.

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Hello everyone,

I have just finished ssb1 and ssb 2 high volume (now 5rh week is over) and today i did zwift race instead of last Sweetspot workout. In the race i did 12 mins 302 watt and 2 mins 100w and then hit 333watt for 20mins. My last ramp test result (end of ssbhv1) was 310watt ftp. And today i hit 333w for 20 mins so my new ftp 317w (i think its higher than that beacause i hit 12 mins 302watt before that 20mins). So my scheculed ftp test one week later and i will see where i am.

So i have a question a about my future plans. I will not race until 6th months of the year (because of covid) and i just want to improve my ftp and loose 4-5kgs more. I have just followed 12 weeks Sweetspot high volume plan. Which plan should i go with i dont know. I dont have planned race so should i do Sweetspot again? Or go to build? (General build maybe?) if i do ssb hv 1-2 again for 12 weeks can i imrpove my fitness again?

For info
Ssb1 hv 297w started ftp
310w end of ssb1
Ssbhv2 5th week zwift race 317 or a little bit higher ftp.

Todays race results
12 mins 302w
2.5 mins 152w
20mins 333w

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Awesome :clap:

Your FTP is your 95% of 20min after a rigorous warm up that depletes anaerobic energy and just leaves aerobic strength. So depending when the 20min max occured in the race 95% may not be valid. But its still an awesome effort and even if the 20mins max was set right out of the traps, without that rigorous warm up, circa 90% would approximate an FTP :+1:

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As i said i did 12 mins 302watt before that 20 mins efforts. So does it count as a rigorous warm up? And also i am on the fifth week of ssb high volume 2 so i didnt do reco week yet before this race.

And for my question which one should i go; base again or buld if i dont have following race for following 5 or 6 months.

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Agree with @HLaB. The previous 12ā€™@302w did not deplete your anaerobic system since they were done at even lower power that the 20ā€™ power.
But the FTP should not be far from that number anyway. Good effort!

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Last ramptest i got 218. I adjusted the ftp to 220. The following month i raised every over/under workout about 3%.
I felt very well with all the workouts i have done in this month.
Ramptest today 224 watt, my weight is stable.

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So far I have done all my workouts first thing in morning. But at last week I had 1 day off work, so I decided to do later on day. I had Avalanche Spire +1 in my program (GBMV week 3). I hop on bike and start workout be ready for hard session. What a hell, is my Kickr broken, no resistance!? It felt so easy, I had to adjust 105% intesitety that O/U feels like it should. Weekend I also did my workouts (Junction-1 and Tallac+3) first time after breakfast and same thing, I had to adjust intesitety 104-105% to reach correct RPE and HR. Amazing feel. By the way the microburst part of Junction-1 was the hardest i have done this far. Terrible!

What I learn is that I decided not to do early morning workouts anymore as I perform much better quality later. And possible races and group rides in summer are also in afternoon/evening. Now IĀ“m on my rest week. Next week at start of last part of GBMV I thought to bump up my FTP 4% and skip ramp test. I think I underperform in ramp test because of VO2max is my weakness. VO2max workouts feels absolute brutal and IĀ“m always scaring if I fail, but with same ftp adjustment threshold and SS are totally doable.

I have also lost 2-3kg while gaining power, so IĀ“m really happy now with my progress.

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Ramp tested tonight after completing SSBLV1 with some extra rides thrown in. All of the sweet spot workouts felt great, struggled with threshold workouts but gave them my best shot. Rewarded with a bigger than expected FTP bump (+11w) and set a new max heart rate for myself. I feel like I went harder on this one than I ever have before, and at the end had a heavy iron taste in my mouth. After many months of fun outdoor riding (and a relatively stagnant FTP) Iā€™m super happy to get this bump.

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October: 244
November: 260
December: 270
Today: 275

Pretty happy with my results thus far.

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Its just so demoralizing FTP scores :frowning: Really felt it was going to be more than that, training went really well, hardly missed any sessions (apart from swimming) Still Base is done and moving onto build whatever that is (TR newbie)

Late October 204W
Today 220W

(Plus a extra 2kg which iI am pretty sure is muscle due to using recovery drinks after workouts, its on you Amber its on you !! )

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Nice. I hit 376 for 20 min the same weekā€¦ But I was several KGs heavier than your likely current mass. Now Iā€™m up outside of your old lifting weight class after taking December ā€œoff-ish.ā€

Oh, and I just bought a rack and barbell, so even if my body comp improves, mass isnā€™t likely to drop below 85kg.

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