Anyone do this program and have an applicable review? Looks pretty fun 
https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/4wk-ftp-booster
If itās intended to effectively raise your FTP and itās fun something is wrong ;p
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I am currently in the last week of the 6wk booster. I did a race instead of one of the base sessions a couple weeks ago and received a FTP increase. My plan is to finish out the week and do a FTP test mid next week on a recovery week and see how Iāve improved.
If itās intended to effectively raise your FTP and itās fun something is wrong ;p
Youāre not wrong about that. Maybe Iāll just drink more coffee instead Ć°ÅøĖā¬
Awesome. Try to follow up after your final exam!
Is it just me or does the idea of 4 weeks with 1 day off not seem totally healthyā¦ Seems to me that rest days are necessary. I donāt think I could manage 27 of 28 days working out, especially without any crosstraining (Swim/Run).
Their 10-12 week FTP booster program definitely worked for me, even with me only doing 2-3 sessions per week.
The last 4 weeks have not been though at all. The over/under workouts can get brutal.
To tell you the truth, I didnāt even notice that. Iām open to it though because thereās so much time spent in Z1 and Z2. Compared to my weekly strategy at the moment, this program adds about 80 minutes, but the average intensity is WAY lower. After warming up, I usually spend zero minutes outside of zones 3, 4 and 5. I actually donāt think itās going to be very difficult at all.
Is it just me or does the idea of 4 weeks with 1 day off not seem totally healthyā¦ Seems to me that rest days are necessary. I donāt think I could manage 27 of 28 days working out, especially without any crosstraining (Swim/Run).
Sure 27 hard days in 28 would be bad. These arenāt 27 hard days.
IĆ¢ā¬ā¢ve done it 3 times in a row now. I started it about 11 weeks ago and liked it so much i just repeated it. IĆ¢ā¬ā¢m in week 3 if the 3rd time through. I think itĆ¢ā¬ā¢s a great plan. Obviously you need to make sure your FTP is set appropriately to get the most benefit.
IĆ¢ā¬ā¢ve done it 3 times in a row now. I started it about 11 weeks ago and liked it so much i just repeated it. IĆ¢ā¬ā¢m in week 3 if the 3rd time through. I think itĆ¢ā¬ā¢s a great plan. Obviously you need to make sure your FTP is set appropriately to get the most benefit.
What was ftp at the beginning? How much you rised ftp after 1,2,3 times?
I did it to start the year. I saw about 3% improvement in FTP, which I was quite pleased with. Itās a great program. It was written by Kevin Poulton, who is coach to Mat Hayman (Paris-Roubaix 2016 winner) , Caleb Ewan, and many, many, many others.
Iām doing the 10-12 week FTP builder. Will be interested to see what happens. Not sure if I should just substitute my rides outside (likely to be once a week) for the last zwift ride for week and do something similar, or do the missed zwift workout the next time i go on zwiftā¦i guess it could mean I take longer than 10 weeks (I started at week 3).
I did it in February, part of my Galveston 70.3 prep
The 4th day of each week was a steady hour in Z2 unstructured or you take that as a rest day - I took as rest (well, except for all the runs and swims of course)
Enjoyed it as much as you can (I.e. I hated it some days)
IĆ¢ā¬ā¢ll let you know in a couple of weeks if I consider it a success. However I just did 120km at goal pace for the 70.3 and felt strong.
Dan
Oh, this is a great overview of the plan for anyone not sure
https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/4wk-ftp-booster
Dan
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I did it to start the year. I saw about 3% improvement in FTP, which I was quite pleased with. Itās a great program. It was written by Kevin Poulton, who is coach to Mat Hayman (Paris-Roubaix 2016 winner) , Caleb Ewan, and many, many, many others.
It does look like a decent plan to start off a block with, or mix it up if trainings gone a little stagnant.
But the amount of way over 100% bursts in the plan make me question if itās biased more toward bike racing than time trialling.
I did it a few weeks back. I thought it was great programming. It did take me roughly 5.5 weeks to go through it as I did some riding outside some days and had a travel day or two mixed in.
I raced last year around 4.4 w/kg and didnāt do much of anything for an extended period (Oct-Jan). I did an FTP prior to starting and was around 3.8 w/kg - when finished I was 4.35 w/kg.
Iāve got some buddies doing it now and they are liking it as well. We are all seeing success from it - at least from getting back into race shape. As someone mentioned above, good 4 week program to kick off a block.
If you intend to go through it in 4 weeks as the program is laid out - I would adjust your FTP down slightly (my personal opinion) and use ERG if an option.
Iām beginner cyclist, started my training on February 2018, two months ago. My first FTP test result was 195 Watt. I feel like workouts which Zwift give me, based on my FTP, are very easy and unproductive. In the end of March my FTP was about 220w. But still, zwift says me, āok, letās go 215w for 5-7 minutesā, I can do that with 240 watt. I feel like i always can handle 7-10 minutes intervals based on 110-115% of my FTP, but Zwift 4wk FTP booster says me go 90% of your FTP.
Should i continue doing my intervals 115% of my ftp, or follow zwift advice 90-95% ftp?
At this moment iām doing intervals 110% ftp, 8 minutes by 4 times, 3-4 minutes rest between intervals.
In few days i will try ftp test again, should be about 225-230w. It looks like my ftp raised by 18% for two months. Sorry for my English
You got +10% increase within 2 months. That doesnāt sounds unproductive in my book.
When following a plan you have a bunch of workouts spread over a time period. If you consistently work at very high percentages of your FTP you will build up fatigue which will in the end catch up with you. This means you will have to take a long time resting to recover. A good plan will make sure you donāt build up to much fatigue and gives you the ability to plan more high quality workouts.
A couple of comments:
The FTP test protocol is like a race which is easy to screw up the first few time you do it. As a result it is common to undershoot your FTP the first time you try and calculate it so you may well be stronger than the first time you tested. The more times you do it the better/more consistent you will become at the test itself so any variability will more accurately reflect changes in fitness.
Secondly, as Dr. Coggan repeats on here all the time, the Zwift FTP tests are only FTP estimators and its helpful to look at power and heart rate together when looking at power zones. If you are consistently getting a lower FTP than you feel then the issue maybe the test. As a reference I know that 100% my hour power is consistently 2-3% higher than 95% my 20 min power. So for me it doesnāt really matter which test protocol I use but the standard Zwift protocols will slightly underestimate my FTP.
Hopefully you will continue to see big gains but enjoy being able to see 18% improvements over 2 months it wonāt always be that easy.