Started training with power this year and I am seeing increases in my FTP, but I have a question for you power experts…
What is a realistic % increase one can see in their FTP over a year. Obviously I assume larger jumps will come early on as you learn how to train with power but I want to make sure my goals are not unrealistic.
How much work have you been putting in and how much are you willing to put in now?
I went from ~270 to ~285 watts for my 1 hour power in about 4 or 5 months, but for the last two years I’ve been doing almost only cycling, and it took a lot of hard hours to to do it.
Everyone responds differently, there is just no way to put a number on it. Especially if you are a triathlete with the conflicting other two sports confusing things.
Wasn’t there a person who was a triathlete who focused only on raising his FTP for one year and had great results?
It was posted on here, but I couldn’t find it.
Whenever you remember some neat aero article you can’t find… head over to my sig, I bet this is the one you mean:
http://www.findingfreestyle.com/?q=blog_breakingthrough2010
but there were some other big FTP increase success stories over the last couple years.
Wasn’t there a person who was a triathlete who focused only on raising his FTP for one year and had great results?
It was posted on here, but I couldn’t find it.
0 percent or higher.
More important than how long you’ve been training with power is how long you’ve been training in general and the type of training you’ve done in the past.
A “newbie” cyclist might easily add 50% to their FTP in 6 months if they are starting at an untrained level, while a highly trained cyclist who is already close to their genetic potential might spend 6 months squeezing out a few percentage points.
There’s nothing magical about training with power that causes increases in FTP, it’s just a more efficient way to train and measure the results (in my opinion).
I’ve been training with power for about 3.5 years and bought my power meter about 6 month after starting up cycling after many years off. I was able to quickly take my FTP from 230 to about 260 (less than 6 months). Another year to hit 280ish. I trained really hard the following year and peaked around 300 briefly, but I think that was close to my potential without getting crazy about training (It took a couple 1,000 mile months to hit those numbers). I can keep my FTP around 275-280 without too much training (~125 miles a week), so it takes me a ton of work to get those last 20 watts.
What is a realistic % increase one can see in their FTP over a year.
70% in < 6 months for me… and very little after that.
There isn’t any “realistic” increase…concentrate on the process.
Instead of concentrating on goals, concentrate on the process of raising your FTP. Frequency and Consistency are key, only after you have those to things down pat, worry about the intricacies of your training.
FWIW I’ve had a power meter for 5 weeks now, (all whilst I’ve been at altidude at Boulder) my FTP has gone up over 1w/KG, but most of that has come from A. acclimatising to altitude and B. been in a heavy swim block and done jack-all bike milage (and intenisty) since late Febuary
What is a realistic % increase one can see in their FTP over a year.
70% in < 6 months for me… and very little after that.
I think it depends on how long and how hard you have been training. I went from 255-300 (Trainer Road Watts) in something like two weeks.
Two things:
I had a couple thousand miles (mostly with hills) in my legs from the previous season’s training and had a couple months of low volume over winter, so I was just getting back on the bike.
Probably most important: I had no idea how hard actual FTP is I had only tested a couple times.
I think if you have been consistently training and **you know how hard you can actually push without blowing up, **a gain of ~5% is probably damn respectable.
IMO there is a huge pain tolerance factor in getting a good test in. I think this video is a decent example…notice the drool and the look on her face. Can you suffer like that for an hour? Are you only giving it 90% or are you pedaling like you have hungry pit bulls chasing you? 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pykgykk7NwI&feature=player_detailpage#t=40s
I spent basically all of last year destroying myself to go from 280-284. I was doing 3 rides/wk as 2x20s @ 95-100% and a lot of 80-85% steady rides. In retro specs. I see that I was too monotonous and had too much focus on calorie restriction.
Desert Dude (below for link) has had me the last 9 months. First test, I petered out a 275ish FTP. What i was calling 284 FTp, he called 275. A week or so ago, I tested a 308W.
I’m not sure what the wizard does, but I like it!
—edit—
That’s at 165#/75Kg.
Wasn’t there a person who was a triathlete who focused only on raising his FTP for one year and had great results?
It was posted on here, but I couldn’t find it.
You’re probably thinking of Dave Luscan. http://www.findingfreestyle.com/?q=blog_breakingthrough2010
Yes, that’s the one!
Yes, that’s the one!
ride lots
never super easy
maybe should add, check your iron levels? haha
My bike sucks overall. So lately I’ve been riding 4 times a week, up to 3 hours on the long days. I don’t really look at my power until after the ride.
These posts are very informative by the way.
How does one check iron levels? and how is it relevant? NEVERMIND… read the article
well like anything if you don’t have enough it is bad. Unless you have risk factors I wouldn’t bother. Living/training at altitude would be one.
One thing to try, to get time efficient training, look up what your zone 2 power is, given your current FTP.
When you ride, never go below that.
Just an easy way to make sure you aren’t dorking around wasting your time.
My bike sucks overall. So lately I’ve been riding 4 times a week, up to 3 hours on the long days. I don’t really look at my power until after the ride.
These posts are very informative by the way.
How does one check iron levels? and how is it relevant?
You got it, big gains come early and then, assuming a time limited athlete, you’re better off maintaining bike fitness and building your swim and run strength.
I had some big gains and then basically hit the wall (plateau). I’m severely time crunched and my time has been better spent working the “other” things now.
check PM for more.
Was given a power meter back in March (great buddy… i know)
tested 20 min average at 252…
april: 267
may: 290
June: 306
July: test next week… but expecting 320ish
these are 20 min tests… but they are all the same… and all show improvement…
When you start leveling off… its time to switch up your training again… I had to do that in late june/early july…
I’m looking for roughly a 100-120 watt increase in a year… but then again I’ve kind of given up on running (5-15 miles a week) and swimming (first time in the pool today in over 3 months)… That being said… my run and swim have both maintained or slightly improved… the bike is such an amazing tool for a big aerobic engine… and its always neglected by age groupers… me included until this year.
In year one I’ll normally see a 6% gain in the first month with new clients (partly from learning how to execute the test better) and then 2-6% p/m after that until we start to run up against the limits of what can be achieved in the available time or need to start on endurance prep for races. Best improver last year was 31% over 10mths with a couple of months off in the middle (athlete new to power but not new to training, other disciplines also lifted in that time period).
As others have mentioned - if you start to plateau - look for other stimulus first before you assume you’ve hit your limits. Once you have made the early gains it gets harder to break through to a new level so going bike racing or group riding with faster athletes can help in dispelling what you may perceive as your limits.
As many have said, the gains depend on where you are starting from. Initially, when I got a powermeter three years ago I made some big gains. However, you get to a point where it’s quite hard to do much more without a real commitment to a lot of work on the bike. For me, it’s now more about improving my endurance with the power I’ve got and getting my run and swim up to par with my biking.
As a reference point, I went from a 20 min test at 327 watts at the end of my first year with power to 361 watts this year - about 10% over three years, but I can also go out and ride for hours at a pretty high % of FTP because I’ve focused more on building my endurance up.
Started training with power this year and I am seeing increases in my FTP, but I have a question for you power experts…
What is a realistic % increase one can see in their FTP over a year. Obviously I assume larger jumps will come early on as you learn how to train with power but I want to make sure my goals are not unrealistic.
I have seen a 10% through to a 100% increase in FTP in that time frame by applying and executing on sound training advice/plans.
I’ve also seen people drop power though implementing poor training advice, including at elite national and international level.