My wife did triathlons for a few years. Very casual. I think her FTP was ~120W. Hopefully that gives you a ballpark for a starting point.

I would let her just ride and spin on the trainer for a month before doing any kind of FTP test.

When I started riding again from nothing about a year ago (I did use to race 30 years ago), it took me a couple weeks before I could even work up to an hour on the trainer without feeling absolutely miserable. I just spun with as much effort as I could sustain for 30 minutes, then 45, then an hour. An FTP test is a brutal ride, so I would not do that to her until she can ride on a trainer for more than an hour without heavy fatigue. After that, transition from spinning to power-based structured workouts.

Does she really want to bury herself in a training program? Would that burn her out/stress her out or otherwise turn her away from cycling? I can't see the harm in just letting her get on and spin at whatever effort level she wishes and have some fun for a while. If she really wants to improve her fitness she will start pushing herself, regardless of what the power numbers are.

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Team Zoot - Great Lakes

FTP test for a beginner? No

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Don't tempt me to pull out the "if she was a male newbie cyclist would you make this suggestion" card? OOPS, I typed it already!

There is no reason not to have her test herself, period. Don't dumb down the test, or set the levels lower or whatever (why would you ever set the 'values ridiculously low'?). Numbers should be real, whatever they may be.

FTP is a measure of her capacity, right now, whatever fitness level she is. Give her an accurate number to aim for. Yes, get on the bike and spin and have fun. But don't set her up with alternative facts about her fitness.

She may have an FTP that is ridiculously low according to YOUR standards. Improving your FTP is easier to do, and a more positive goal than 'just trying to lose weight'.

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Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com

I agree with the others. There are ZERO reasons to do an FTP test, and lots of reasons not to.

has nothing to do with being a female IMO. I wouldn't dump any new athlete directly into a demanding max effort test. It's a sure way to discourage them and turn them off. Start by giving her some workouts with basic structure to ease into the trainer. Use simple PE and don't focus on the data. Do you have a TV set up? If so using commercial breaks during a regular show can be a simple way to insert some triggers - ride steady until a commercial break and then push "moderately hard" until the show comes back on. You can of course be more specific and use timed intervals the same as you would with a run/walk approach to run training. 2-3 weeks of that is enough to take the next step. I'd be logging the data from each of her workouts through this process to establish some reference point as to what "feels" moderately hard to her. I wouldn't even bother looking at it for a few weeks. The point is to get her accustomed to the rigors of structured work on the trainer while at the same time establishing some basic cycling fitness prior to throwing a ball busting FTP test at her. Hell, After I take a bit of down time at the end of the season I don't even toss myself back into a test immediately.

i feel like maybe the entire point of the question kind of flew over your (and only your) head. i'm not trying to set up alternative facts (seriously?!?) about her fitness. i also don't have any predetermined standards i'm comparing her to (seriously, why you mad?). what i'm trying to do is not instantaneously demotivate her (and this would apply a new guy cyclist too) by having her do some grueling test right out of the gate. the other part of the equation is that as a new athlete the test would more than likely not be accurate at all. even seasoned athletes struggle pacing an ftp test, so why put her through that? i like the ideas others have put forth of just letting her ride with no structured workouts until she is more comfortable with spending time on the trainer

i really like this idea. as someone who is used to the grind, i guess i forgot that it's possible to just jump on the trainer and spin without target power or trying to keep up to a virtual group. thanks for your response

Some personalities would enjoy doing the whole FTP thing, some would not, some don't care. Only you can answer that question as we know nothing about her personality.

If your wife is anything like mine and they're just along for the ride, for the love of God don't even mention FTP and all that stuff to her.

When my wife was just starting out in all of the training, all she wanted/need was a decent plan structure of "Bike today, Run Tomorrow, Swim this day...etc." Hell, I'm still trying to figure out the whole power thing and how it fits into my training. If someone is "along for the ride," I would venture to say they're there to have fun and enjoy an experience with you, not become the next Kona champ.

Like others said, I would definitely just get her going on the trainer for 30-45 minute sessions and make sure she's comfortable (BIGGEST thing to consider here...my wife is still dealing with saddle issues). Once you have somewhat of a routine built in and she's still enjoying it still, then start to move towards more structure in terms of a workout schedule. Once you can nail that down, then maybe consider adding in heart rate / power training. Throwing someone new to a sport into the deep trenches right away will only scare/confuse most. It took about 4 months or so for my "along for the ride" wife to buy into heart rate training, but now she loves it. Power is going to be the next step, but forcing a very technical training regiment on someone who doesn't want/need it will only push them away.

appreciate your reply, yes, I'll accept that it went over my head. No, I'm not mad!! I just don't type smiley faces.
Not suggesting that you demotivate or kill the fun.
I'm a more aggressive type, wanting to go hard, eat bugs, etc.
I let my personality steer my response, without knowing your wife or your goals.
Maybe she will get a gas out of stomping on the pedals for even 20seconds, and see 'wow shit I hit 300 watts'. To me that's fun - clearly I'm not normal.

I do think there are creative ways in coaching to test, make it fun, and let folks peek into their capacities. Tests suck, true, but aren't tests supposed to challenge your capacities? Haha my teachers always said I knew the subject but 'tested poorly'.

INSERT SMILEY FACE

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Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com

As a professional coach who has coached multiple married couples, I would advise that you not coach her. If you can't find a coach or don't wish to spend the money, perhaps try and get her involved/connected with a local group that would be at her (presumably novice) level. You can still "share" multisport with her, but more from the perspective of a fellow athlete and sometime training partner.

wasn't planning on it, i know the dark road that could lead to. i got her involved in a local run group she's made friends at and it's why i wanted to set her up with a TR plan she could follow on her own. i wish there were more beginner friendly cycling groups in my area but alas there aren't. i haven't set any expectations for her, i'm letting her decide all of that. it was her idea to sign up for the duathlon

Talking someone into doing an FTP test who really has not interest in doing one is probably not the best way to encourage them to come back for more. But she seems raring to go. If she expressly wants to do a training plan and power is easily accessible, no reason not to have her test. Frankly, coming at this from her perspective, this is not going to be a big deal. She likely does not have any preconceived notions about testing nor is she all freaked out about the results or worried that her number might not be high enough to show off on Strava or hit some specific goal one might have in mind. Those are the things the make many people nervous about testing and also drive them to go way too hard and puke. If she knows it is just a tool to set targets, she'll be fine.

Lesson - if you are going to coach, the number one rule of coaching is don't ever hold your athletes back because of your lack of faith in them ;-)

I think if she is going to be riding a trainer, it is good to have some structure to the workout - if anything just to break it up and be less monotonous. But instead of giving her power targets, just tell her 10 minutes at a 5/10 effort, then 2 minutes at 8/10, or whatever. She can look at power numbers while she is doing that to begin to have an idea of what effort level equates to what power. Then after a few weeks, months, whenever she wants to, you can do an ftp test and start structuring stuff on power.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

I wouldn't even bother with structured training for a while if she has no cycling background at all, give it a few months and see if she wants to get that serious.

I say you test her. To make it accurate you just have to yell at her the entire time to push harder. Make sure you film it then post the video here so we could all share it with our spouses and encourage them to do the same.

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Don't drown, don't crash, don't trip.

Ha! I guess you just got the attention of every divorce attorney on Slowtwitch.

Cheers!

Ps - the iPad's spellcheck REALLY doesn't like the word Slowtwitch.