Over the past 5-6 seasons my FTP has pretty much been the same in season (around 340 watts - ~325-330 currently). I’m curious as to what sort of workouts I should/could do to get it a bit higher. I’d love to get the FTP up by another 10-20 watts in season, but I’m not sure what way to go about it. My first race of the season is Eagleman in June, so I’ve got a little time to bump up the efforts on the bike. The reason I’d like to do this is to not get much faster on the bike, but more so to make the bike leg a bit easier on similar watts I’ve rode in the past (275-280 in a HIM) and in turn have more left for the run.
I’m currently biking around 3.5-4 hours a week with a longer weekend ride (NP at or above HIM effort), an easy ride on Mondays, and a hard interval ride on Thursdays (NP around 95%).
Seems to me you have reached your FTP ceiling and plateaued, so you will need to raise that ceiling by doing VO2 Max work. One hard interval ride per week won’t do it. Need to do at least one VO2 Max session plus at least one threshold session per week.
I am not the person to answer this question, but I am curious if you would share how much you weigh at your in-season FTP and what sort of HIM bike split you put up with those numbers if you do not mind sharing.
Do you do any VO2 max training? If you are stagnating at FTP you may need to build some room between FTP and VO2 max power output, but I donno hopefully others will have better advice for you.
I am not the person to answer this question, but I am curious if you would share how much you weigh at your in-season FTP and what sort of HIM bike split you put up with those numbers if you do not mind sharing.
Do you do any VO2 max training? If you are stagnating at FTP you may need to build some room between FTP and VO2 max power output, but I donno hopefully others will have better advice for you.
Currently around 172-173 pounds, but should be in the upper 160’s for racing. 2:10 was my fastest bike split in a HIM this past season.
I’m pretty time crunched - 3 year old and 5 month old - so the three bike rides per week is pretty much all I can fit in without getting chastised by my wife. My ride yesterday had a 6x4’ at 105% main set. I’ve also done some tougher rides where it’s 30" at 120%, 30" easy anywhere from 20-40 times. Maybe I need to incorporate these type of sessions at more of VO2 max level. I’m not complaining about where my FTP is, but I feel I have the potential for more.
Try doing 6x4’ @ at least 112% with 2 minutes rest in between. This set will give you the best bang for the buck. I always shoot for 115% FTP when I do mine.
If you have TrainerRoad, it may be worth it to you to incorporate some of their “Off-Road” (MTB) training plans into your regular riding.
I trained for a MTB race last year using the “Gravity” plan and it had A LOT of VO2 max work aimed at punchy climbs. It will hurt, but it will produce gains. I went from 242 → 296 in about 4 months (weigh 71kg).
Starting in November 2016, I retested after some time off and was at 275 FTP. Worked on my 2 min power by doing a lot of 2 min climbs at as much power as my legs could bare (120-125%), plus a 2x30 O/U sweet spot ride (Zwift’s SST Medium) once or twice a week. FTP went from 275 to 315 in about 2 months. Still at 71kg.
I think you need more Vo2 work. I took my FTP from 340 to 360 this winter. But three rides per week might not cut it. I was doing 10-14 hrs per week with 3 Vo2 workouts, 1 tempo ride, and short threshold intervals on longer rides (2-3 mins). I would sprinkle in a few recovery rides. My goal is to get it up to 370 before May but my runs have suffered the consequences. I’m pretty much shelled from the work I’m doing on the bike that running at 8 min pace feels like I’m running 7 min pace if you get my drift.
The fact that your FTP has plateaued while training only a handful of hours per week does not necessarily mean that the best way forward is to try to raise your VO2max.
Over the past 5-6 seasons my FTP has pretty much been the same in season (around 340 watts - ~325-330 currently). I’m curious as to what sort of workouts I should/could do to get it a bit higher. I’d love to get the FTP up by another 10-20 watts in season, but I’m not sure what way to go about it. My first race of the season is Eagleman in June, so I’ve got a little time to bump up the efforts on the bike. The reason I’d like to do this is to not get much faster on the bike, but more so to make the bike leg a bit easier on similar watts I’ve rode in the past (275-280 in a HIM) and in turn have more left for the run.
I’m currently biking around 3.5-4 hours a week with a longer weekend ride (NP at or above HIM effort), an easy ride on Mondays, and a hard interval ride on Thursdays (NP around 95%).
It all depends what part of your system hit the limit, or just simply you need more time for additional stimulus. You could work on utilization, stroke volume, cardiac volume, oxygen uptake, muscle hypertroph, lung capacity, lung volume, mechanical balance… it could be anything. I don’t think anyone here can give you prescription that means anything without doing some work with you or knowing specific info about you…
Don’t even look at suggestions: 5x6m@130% its like pulling rabbit from the hat hoping it will be a frog…
It is so interesting, so many people here know drag values of bike frames\wheels etc, stuff that they have no influence on, but have absolutely no clue about their own physiology and how to work it to their advantage…
He’s a dad with young kids looking for the best bang for his buck.
What would you recommend?
With 4 hrs a week to train the best thing to do is calibrate your expectations.
I’ve helped plenty of athletes make similar gains but then we hit the limit of what can be done with restricted hours.
That’s not to say that he should give up on trying to improve. Just that time poor training is not how anyone reaches their potential.
For me the only thing that really helps kick my ftp to new levels is getting depleted before intervals. 3 hrs of endurance then 3x20. With racing and other intervals in the week. Clearly not an option here.
For me the only thing that really helps kick my ftp to new levels is getting depleted before intervals. 3 hrs of endurance then 3x20.
Interesting. What is the science behind this? Do you not eat at all during the 3hrs? At what percent do you target your 3x20 when in this depleted state?
Honestly, you need to train more hours. There are no shortcuts. Almost anyone can find the time to train 10-15 hours per week. With an FTP of 330 you should probably focus on swimming and running more. 330 FTP is pretty much the top end for age group triathletes unless you weigh over 80 kg.
Looking at your Athlinks account.
Your swimming could use some serious work…
Some of your bike splits are a little slow for an FTP of 330. You should be riding 57-58 minute 40k and 2:08-2:15 for HIM. Are your aerodynamics optimized?
Your runs are decent, but could be faster given your open run times. You improve running off the bike by increasing weekly volume for both running and biking.
Nope, I am 32 and am a physician who is married to a physician and I have 5 month old kid. If you train from 4:30-6:30 AM every morning during the week and log 2-3 hours per day on the weekend, that is 16 hours. Yes, you have to make sacrifices in other areas of your life, but he is asking how to improve an FTP of 330. I can tell you there are no shortcuts, and riding 3-4 hours a week is simply not enough training to reach your potential.
