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Re: should I bother with FTP testing anymore? [trail] [ In reply to ]
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Agreed! I’m a lot more aero than I was last year. Excited to see how it translates.

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Re: should I bother with FTP testing anymore? [RChung] [ In reply to ]
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Can you elaborate your thoughts?
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Re: should I bother with FTP testing anymore? [AndrewL] [ In reply to ]
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AndrewL wrote:
Can you elaborate your thoughts?

I had a longer response but started cutting out the boring obvious bits and got down to that. You really want the boring obvious part?

Jasoninhallifax wrote: "after 4 months of training with a power meter and incorporating a variety of efforts (from all out sprints, to easy rides, to Zwift races and TTs) that I have a fairly fleshed out power curve. If I'm doing a couple of Zwift races per month, is there any point to doing a standalone FTP test?"

So that means he's already got a fairly good idea of power over the durations he's interested in. He's been training, so he knows whether he can complete his workouts (he didn't say his workouts are based on FTP but most training plans are, so that's a reasonably safe assumption). So, what's the marginal benefit to doing a specific test for FTP?

FTP was originally proposed as a "functional" test as opposed to the traditional metabolic tests that involved gas exchange and sometimes blood samples, so you'd have to do that in a lab. But FTP is a point estimate that summarizes an entire power duration relationship, much like per capita income summarizes the entire income distribution. Within that income distribution, there's a big range between low income and high income people, and you might want to know not only what that range is but also the proportion of people in each income group. In some sense, if you have the entire income distribution your marginal benefit for knowing the per capita income is quite a bit less; it may not be zero, but in that situation it's not really "actionable." You have much more detailed information available. That's the situation here: if JasoninHallifax has a reasonable idea of his power duration relationship over the range he's interested in, then the marginal benefit of doing a specific FTP test is quite a bit less.

So after I cut out the boring pedantic off-putting bits, I got down to "No."
Last edited by: RChung: Mar 5, 21 9:57
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Re: should I bother with FTP testing anymore? [RChung] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. I like the boring parts. Essentially, since he’s feeding his curve regularly no testing is needed. If one were not regularly performing maximal efforts, then I assume your answer might be different?
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Re: should I bother with FTP testing anymore? [AndrewL] [ In reply to ]
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AndrewL wrote:
Essentially, since he’s feeding his curve regularly no testing is needed.
Yup. No "standalone" testing is needed in that case.

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If one were not regularly performing maximal efforts, then I assume your answer might be different?
Depends on what his goals (both training and racing goals) are but, in general, yes. I try not to be too doctrinaire so although I myself am more a fan of "finding the envelope" than nailing down a single number, I try not to fool myself into thinking everyone should do that. I think occasional maximal efforts *as a part of* regular training workouts rather than *standalone tests in replacement of* regular training workouts can be good information to have but realistically I know that some riders prefer standalone tests.
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Re: should I bother with FTP testing anymore? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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I'm generally in the 'look at training metrics' camp rather than one FTP test. For the most part, I look at the power I'm able to do in intervals and AP/NP over longer rides of 2, 3, 4 or more hours, then base my racing on power I'm able to do during every day rides.

However, I feel that sometimes there is a place for an FTP test along the way to really nail down where your power is. A few weeks ago I did a Zwift race of just over an hour, and my NP ended up being right around where I pegged my FTP. I'm racing Eagleman (well, hopefully) and wanted to get another data point, so I did an FTP test (I prefer the 20 min one as it is better suited for triathletes) and got a number that was a bit higher than I expected. Now I know I can push a bit harder in my training, knowing I have it in me, hopefully bumping the FTP maybe a tiny bit higher for race season.

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