Ok, got a smart trainer and took the FTP test on Rouvy. At times I was confused if it was erg mode or not so not too sure about my numbers.
Anyway, all in all a little disappointing only 173. Plus I’m a fatty. But what next? When I do structure workouts on apps like Kinetic Fit, Sufferfest, Trainer road Et all… will it adjust the workout off my ftp that I give them? Is the Rouvy test good or should I use a more training based platform? Does that 173 work across all platforms or do I need to test a bunch of different ones?
Ok, got a smart trainer and took the FTP test on Rouvy. At times I was confused if it was erg mode or not so not too sure about my numbers.
Anyway, all in all a little disappointing only 173. Plus I’m a fatty. But what next? When I do structure workouts on apps like Kinetic Fit, Sufferfest, Trainer road Et all… will it adjust the workout off my ftp that I give them? Is the Rouvy test good or should I use a more training based platform? Does that 173 work across all platforms or do I need to test a bunch of different ones?
I don’t know how sufferfest or kinetic fit work, but Trainerroad does scale the workouts to your personal FTP. just enter that number into your parameters and go. If the workouts are too easy or too hard, you can manually adjust your FTP or adjust the intensity of individual workouts.
I would stick to the same FTP test though. Although “in theory” all tests should give you the same number, in practice different test give different numbers. it’s not so much about the platform as the test protocol.
What’s next is you should read “training and racing with a power meter†by Hunter Allen. Should be required reading for anyone purchasing a power meter IMO. Easy read and super helpful.
Just a tip - That 173 will go up quite a bit at first for a few weeks before it starts to level off. Don’t worry about it being low, you’ll get stronger quickly.
Ok, got a smart trainer and took the FTP test on Rouvy…
Was that a 20minute FTP test, a ramp test or a full hour test?
I can do 310W+ for 20 minutes which according to the 95% calculation would estimate my FTP at 295W, but that’s too high.
The Zwift ramp test puts me even higher with an estimated FTP of 315W when I tried it a couple of months back.
I’ve done actual hour efforts recently, pretty much flat out, that were about 270W. So, I take ~280W as my current FTP.
I think this varies person to person, but certainly for some people, the shorter tests are rather flattering, but inaccurate.
I would expect all training software to scale based on FTP (or a broader performance curve - which I think Sufferfest is currently going with). Certainly Zwift bases it’s workouts on percentages of FTP.
Bear in mind that your first FTP test will likely be conservative. When you know what you’ve done before you can better pace the next effort. You may well reach a significantly higher figure next time, or you may not, but the first once is least reliable.
Now that you have an FTP number as a starting point, pick ONE PLAN on ONE PLATFORM and stick with it for at least 12 weeks. They are all pretty good plans/ platforms, and it isn’t rocket science.
But if you want to really see improvement, avoid the temptation to just choose your own adventure. You have a lot of upside, you’ll probably get better regardless if you do that and just ride. But you’ll get even better, even faster, if you follow a plan that has some kind of consistent logic/ load design behind it for the next 3 months.
Ok, got a smart trainer and took the FTP test on Rouvy…
Was that a 20minute FTP test, a ramp test or a full hour test?
I can do 310W+ for 20 minutes which according to the 95% calculation would estimate my FTP at 295W, but that’s too high.
The Zwift ramp test puts me even higher with an estimated FTP of 315W when I tried it a couple of months back.
I’ve done actual hour efforts recently, pretty much flat out, that were about 270W. So, I take ~280W as my current FTP.
I think this varies person to person, but certainly for some people, the shorter tests are rather flattering, but inaccurate.
I would expect all training software to scale based on FTP (or a broader performance curve - which I think Sufferfest is currently going with). Certainly Zwift bases it’s workouts on percentages of FTP.
Bear in mind that your first FTP test will likely be conservative. When you know what you’ve done before you can better pace the next effort. You may well reach a significantly higher figure next time, or you may not, but the first once is least reliable.
20 minutes. I also currently do not have a power meter. Might get one but I can only spend so much at a time.
What’s next is you should read “training and racing with a power meter†by Hunter Allen. Should be required reading for anyone purchasing a power meter IMO. Easy read and super helpful.
I mean, you’re not wrong. lol
But yeah, besides that, I can say from experience that doing 2x20min @100% FTP worked wonders for increasing my FTP. ANd since you are starting from the bottom, you should se a pretty healthy increase in not too much time. I think you could get to 225 in fairly short time. 3-4months.
What’s next is you should read “training and racing with a power meter†by Hunter Allen. Should be required reading for anyone purchasing a power meter IMO. Easy read and super helpful.
I mean, you’re not wrong. lol
But yeah, besides that, I can say from experience that doing 2x20min @100% FTP worked wonders for increasing my FTP. ANd since you are starting from the bottom, you should se a pretty healthy increase in not too much time. I think you could get to 225 in fairly short time. 3-4months.
Hey I did that workout on Zwift this morning! Solid session in less than 2 hours.
Tell anybody who will listen what it is, even though you don’t support your family by cycling or are a national age group champion, keep increasing it so it… well… goes up then tell more people what it is.