Don't tease us, tell what you have done over those 8 weeks.

jaretj

Well part of it is just generally improved fitness. That being said, 1 time per week I do a Computrainer session of 1-1.5 hours of intense interval work using power data. That's it! I have done no other riding. I am excited to see what I am capable of with more training on the bike. I don't think I have ever logged more than 200 miles in 1 week, even during IM training and I have always taken off huge chunks of training time in the winter months.

That's a superb improvement. I'm in my third week of power training. Hope I see similar improvements but I'd be happy with a 20% increase when my taper begins. I'm looking forward to my next FT test. Good for you.

that is inline with what I would expect...

most individuals can increase at a rate ~5w/wk with dedicated LT work...

good on you and hope to hear in 8 more weeks you are @ 260w!!!

g

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greg
www.wattagetraining.com

If you don't mind me asking what was your testing protocol?

It was a Computrainer test in a controlled environment, calibrations were very very close, weigh in before hand, same exact course, which was a 12.5 mile course with 4 big hills, same time of day, same administrator. The first time the course took me 47 minutes and change, the second 42 and change.

Those are some pretty good results- how did you feel after the effort?

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http://www.reathcon.com

Dude!

I would LOVE_ to improve 5w/wk!!!

:D

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36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App

Good on ya by the way, that type of improvement means two things:

1. Good consistant training.

2. Proper EPO dosages.

;-)

A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. A lot of people take at least 3 or 3 tests before they actually adapt to the testing protocol so you'll likely see lower power numbers than what your true fitness indicates. Of course, much depends on how the person trained in the past. For example, if they did a lot of 2 x 20-type intervals @ > HIM power then the adaptation time to an FTP test is minimal or none at all. You'll likely see increases for the 3 or 4 tests even if your training provides you with moderate training stimulus.

2. Indoor FTP testing will also yield a lower FTP than outdoor testing much more often than not. It's quite common to see ~5% difference between indoor and outdoor FTP.

Btw, I'm unclear as to what protocol you actually executed. I assume you didn't execute any intervals but your ride time was well under an hour too so it doesn't really fit under any of the following:

1) from inspection of a ride file.
2) from power distribution profile from multiple rides.
3) from blood lactate measurements (better or worse, depending on how it
is done).
4) based on normalized power from a hard ~1 h race.
5) using critical power testing and analysis.
6) from the power that you can routinely generate during long intervals
done in training.
7) from the average power during a ~1 h TT (the best predictor of
performance is performance itself).

Note the key words "hard", "routinely", and "average" in methods 4, 6,
and 7...

Can you clarify?

Thanks, Chris

It was a steady state ride. I guess, I don't really understand your questions. This was a test in a controlled environment. My instruction was to go at a hard sustainable pace that I could average for about an hour. I was toast at the end, but not toast enough to not be able to do my tempo run today.

Ok. You tell me, which of those 7 do you feel your test most closely matched? What was your VI? That will tell you exactly how steady-state the ride really was. Typical intervals for an FTP test are 2 x 20 (2-3'), otherwise, you really want to execute a 1hr TT, not a ~45min TT but a lot will depend on your power profile. So, what did your power profile look like? Did you see a decline within that 45min ride?

Just trying to help...

Thanks, Chris

Thats impressive work.

I have been doing carefully crafted LT and Vo2 based interval work for the last 6 weeks and will get data from a TT I'm doing Saturday to see how my power has improved. I added 10% after only 3 weeks work and I believe that i may be able to perform a 20k TT at a shade under 400w by midway through the season (I hope). It's just a shame I'm 89kg otherwise I'd be a roadie !!!!!

Testing environment is a tricky question for several reasons. First, many people put out less power indoors so an indoor test will likely under estimate FTP when compared to outside. Second, while indoor environments can be fairly consistent, they are not always so. I often indoor ride in my garage and the temperature swing from the coldest parts of the Minnesota winter to now are huge, making the "controlled" indoor environment much less stable than would be ideal. Testing environments should largely mirror the type of riding the athlete performs and be as controlled as possible.

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Jason
Dig It Triathlon and Multisport
http://www.digittri.com

I would agree with Lakerfan--in that you may not be testing or approximating your FTP. Probably the best way to do it would be to perform a 1 hour all-out TT, apprixmate it using ride files, or do a hard 1 hour road race.

You're probably working somewhere near LT power so you'll push LT power up. You should also throw in some 5 minute intervals as well.

Your FTP will be definitely be somewhere between the NP for a 40 minute sub-LT / Hard Tempo ride and the NP for the 5 minute intervals.

The important thing here is that you're improving. That's the goal, right?

You have to break this down into common talk man, I don't know what you are referring to, VI?? This isn't a super scientific test, its used to baseline workouts. The test was closer to a 1 hour TT I suppose, how big of a difference can there be between 60 minutes and 45 minutes?? Maybe I am using the wrong terminology, maybe FTP isn't the correct term. Nontheless, whatever you call it, the improvement was there, I could actually feel the difference in strength. I was pushing bigger gears and my cadence was stronger.

I get what you are questioning, but the point is I improved under the same base measurement. The two test were as identical as any other I have heard of. Are you saying that my FTP is likely lower or higher based on this information? How much of a variance are we talking about?

My apologies. Yeah, this might be an issue of terminology to a degree. Unfortunately, in order to estimate your FTP with a strong sense of confidence there is a need to become very familiar with more technical terms. I understand it's intended to baseline your workouts going forward but it can also be very useful for racing too. The more time you spend educating yourself, the better your baseline and the more accurate your information will be. Clearly, you don't need perfection. I'm just trying to give you some ideas on where to invest more time.

It's too difficult to say whether your under or over-estimating your FTP based on the info above. The fact that you're doing this test on a CT indoors tells me that you might be under-estimating your FTP but then the testing protocol is not ideal either. Personally, I believe it really takes about 6 months before you will have a good strong sense of where your FTP really is. I would spend some time reading http://www.cyclingpeakssoftware.com/power411 and purchase the sw too.

Thanks, Chris

I'd probably use Rich Strauss' recommendation: Get in the habit of doing 2 x 20s (2-3") by taking the NormP for the full 42' or 43' working set. You can use AveP too if you don't have CyclingPeaks or an Ergomo. Your AveP should be very close to your NormP for this type of test anyway. Just remember, doing it indoors will likely under-estimate your FTP by around 5% but it varies from individual to individual.

Thanks, Chris

In order to predict my FT I:
Conducted a 30' warmup followed by 3 x 20' TT type efforts (minimizing spiking early and tailing late). Each 20' interval was followed by a 2' recover period (where my coach says I should not be kicking and eating a borrito). Each of the 20' intervals are combined with my 2' recovery in order to determine an average wattage/normalized wattage which is your FT for the session.

Edit: I was a little late I see. Just what the poster said above. I really like Rich. I'm enjoying his plan and guidance.

Yes, you must include the rest period too. That would be (20' + 2-3' + 20'). Remember, these intervals are all-out efforts. You want/need to be out of gas at the very end of your 2nd interval. However, you don't want to see a significant decline (ie anything >2%) between your 1st and 2nd interval. If you do then that's indicative of fatigue and, therefore, it would not be a good estimate.

The reason why this tends to be better than doing an all-out 1hr TT effort (especially indoors) is that a lot of people really struggle with motivation when it comes to those long TT efforts. Personally, I think one of the best ways to estimate your FTP is via an Oly race or something similar. There's something about racing that eliminates factors like lack of motivation from the equation. :-) I have yet to produce the same power from an outdoor 2 x 20 FTP test that I can from an Oly bike.

Thanks, Chris