liversedge wrote:
AlexS wrote:
There are of course various ways in which one can arrive at an estimate of FTP, some more reliable than others and these are often discussed.And no way of establishing how reliable the estimate is, nor which method is any more reliable than any other -- since FTP is purely conceptual.
Reliability = reproducibility, so that's easy enough to test.
As for determining which estimation method provides an answer that is closest to the truth, you could compare the results with physiological data, but that's really just another source of noise. Instead, you should look to the method that provides the most direct assessment of "a power that can be maintained for a long time without fatiguing".
liversedge wrote:
Now if you say FTP *is* power at MLSS a study could check quite simply.FTP *is* power at MLSS. However, it is also:
power at IAT
power at the NIRS breakpoint
power at VT2
power at the iEMG threshold
etc.
As for doing a study, it would largely be a waste of time, because it has long been established that such thresholds are 1) closely interrelated, and 2) highly predictive of endurance performance ability.
Such research would only have merit if the desire was to test a specific way of *estimating* FTP, e.g., 95% of 20 min power, or the WKO4 model. Even then, data interpretation is important, since any scatter on an individual basis or bias on the whole could be equally due to variability in the physiological data, in which case you have to decide which is the better predictor of performance (I'll go with the actual performance measurements myself).
(Note that these are not new ideas, i.e., here is what I wrote for USAC back in 2002 or so:
"while LT is often defined by sports scientists as the initial non-linear increase in
lactate with increasing exercise intensity (Fig. 2), this intensity tends to be significantly below
that which coaches and athletes tend to associate, on the basis of practical experience, with the
concept of a “threshold” exercise intensity. The latter corresponds more closely to what the
sports science community has termed OBLA (onset of blood lactate accumulation, defined as a
blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol/L), but is really conceptually closest to MLSS (maximal
lactate steady state) or IAT (individual anaerobic threshold), both of which represent the highest
exercise intensity that can be maintained without a continual increase in blood lactate.In terms
of understanding the physiology of exercise, it actually makes little difference which of these
various definitions is used, since they are all highly interrelated. On the other hand, this plethora
of definitions does tend to complicate the use of lactate measurements for the purposes of
exercise prescription, especially since determining the precise lactate level that corresponds to a
given athlete’s sustainable power (or HR) can be problematic. "
and
"Given the limitations of laboratory testing as discussed above, probably the easiest and most
direct way of estimating a rider’s functional threshold power is therefore to simply measure their
average power during a ~40 km (50-70 min) TT. This highly pragmatic approach is justified by
laboratory research showing that the power a cyclist can generate for 60 min correlates very
highly with, but is slightly greater than, their power at LT (defined as a 1 mmol/L increase in
blood lactate over exercise baseline) (2). The precise value obtained for threshold power using
this approach may vary slightly depending on the exact distance/duration of the TT, the terrain,
the athlete’s level of motivation and ability to pace themselves properly, etc. However, such
variability is likely to be small relative to the breadth of the defined training levels and the
somewhat arbitrary division between them. Furthermore, the simplicity of the approach means
that the test (which doubles as a level 4 training session) can readily be repeated if the data
obtained are considered suspect, or if there is reason to believe that the athlete’s fitness has
changed significantly. ")
Last edited by:
Andrew Coggan: May 17, 18 7:20
