A well-trained athlete is any athlete that can hold a steady and targeted pace for their specific race distance. A well-trained marathoner will have even splits the last 10k. That's the definition of a well-trained athlete.
I don't mind the new definition of FTP because a well-trained athlete should be able to hold, for example, 85% of there FTP for a 56-mile Bike ride -- which well exceeds an hour.
Before there were power meters, everyone used Heart Rate as a metric cause it's all we had, aside from cadence. Your FTP is equivalent to your Lactate Threshold (Jack Daniels) or approx 90% of your maximum HR. For a 20' FTP test you're cycling above your threshold; above 90% of maximum HR. You can cycle at FTP or LT for greater than one hour dependent upon your fitness level. Subsequently, even if you cycle at your exact LT/ FTP the two will decouple over time -- your HR will drift up and your watts will stay the same and/or eventually drop.
A power meter is an extremely accurate tool that measures in a one-dimensional vacuum. Therefore FTP based off watts, alone, is an extremely limited and one-dimensional analysis. Just like your HR and your pace will vary by external factors such as temperature, humidity, altitude, etc and because of human internal factors such as fatigue; sickness just as your HR varies your FTP should and does vary! Your FTP should just be a guide and more of an after-the-fact data point. I believe an athlete should incorporate the other real world dimensions of terrain, weather conditions, RPE, HR, etc.
The best use for a Power Meter is for indoor training, and outside keeping you from going out too hard in a race and measuring your effort during a sustained hill climb.
I don't mind the new definition of FTP because a well-trained athlete should be able to hold, for example, 85% of there FTP for a 56-mile Bike ride -- which well exceeds an hour.
Before there were power meters, everyone used Heart Rate as a metric cause it's all we had, aside from cadence. Your FTP is equivalent to your Lactate Threshold (Jack Daniels) or approx 90% of your maximum HR. For a 20' FTP test you're cycling above your threshold; above 90% of maximum HR. You can cycle at FTP or LT for greater than one hour dependent upon your fitness level. Subsequently, even if you cycle at your exact LT/ FTP the two will decouple over time -- your HR will drift up and your watts will stay the same and/or eventually drop.
A power meter is an extremely accurate tool that measures in a one-dimensional vacuum. Therefore FTP based off watts, alone, is an extremely limited and one-dimensional analysis. Just like your HR and your pace will vary by external factors such as temperature, humidity, altitude, etc and because of human internal factors such as fatigue; sickness just as your HR varies your FTP should and does vary! Your FTP should just be a guide and more of an after-the-fact data point. I believe an athlete should incorporate the other real world dimensions of terrain, weather conditions, RPE, HR, etc.
The best use for a Power Meter is for indoor training, and outside keeping you from going out too hard in a race and measuring your effort during a sustained hill climb.
Last edited by:
BT_DreamChaser: May 3, 19 9:02