So I got Trainerroad just before the start of the month and I’m absolutely loving it. I’m following SSB1 MV at the moment and well I’m having a blast having not done any real structured training before. (I’ve been riding my bike a lot since April, till oct and I’ve gone from 201W ftp to 269)
However workouts are already starting to seem, well easier than they should be. (I did fail one, but I as hungover and had no fan).
I seem to have no problem holding myself to 15-20W above stated interval power. And that’s for sweetspot, it doesn’t really seem to burn. (See examples below).
Even with overunders I can push it.
I came into the ramp test with fresh legs for my 269 (I tapered somewhat for it) and I’m aware that the workouts are meant to get harder to cater for an ftp rise. But the opposite is happening. They are getting easier and easier. So is it worth me throwing a retest in and if so how do I do this without screwing the program?
Presuming your trainer is calibrated correctly, what week and workout are you on, and what’s your max and threshold heart rate?
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Week 3, I slightly changed the days of what workouts are when, plus I had a running race Sunday, so I had to move my ‘longer tempo/sweetspot’ ride into this week.
Max HR is 192, threshold, 170-175.
Next up is Tunnaborah, then McAddie, rest day, then antelope Sunday.
Your power is for sure set too low. Raise it 10watts and see how that feels. As a generalization I’d like to see your average heart rate for your workouts in the low to mid 150’s, which would probably be high zone 2. Given that you are doing SSBMV you might even shoot for high 150’s ie 156-158bpm average.
I prefer the SSBHV plans and shoot for low to mid 140’s average heart rate. My max is 185bpm and threshold is 169. I’ve never added less than 20 watts after a TrainerRoad HV plan and am a 5w/kg rider at sea level. But I live at 7k altitude so it’s lower.
My heartrate in sweetspot work varies between 150-165 odd. Rarely see 170 these days (which used to genuinely where I used to chill)
Definitely though I’ll bump up 10W and see how it goes. Can’t see it being a problem though (11W just so I can be a round 280W)
Just schedule in another ramp test, see what it throws up then do another session as well. The ramp test once you’ve recovered shouldn’t leave you unable to do another workout (in my experience anyway).
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I wouldn’t bother retesting. Just bump up your FTP. If you overshoot, you can always take down the intensity mid workout.
HR is unique to you and meaningless to anyone else.
Keep in mind SSB1 is relatively easy. SSB2 gets noticeably harder. So don’t go overboard with the FTP bumps.
I would say that the fatigue accumulates and a plan that seems easy in weeks 2-3 can really bite you in the ass by week 5. If the workouts really are getting easier though, then would suggest manually bumping your FTP up by 5W instead of retesting. Do a week of that, if it still feels easy then bump it another 5W and so on. SS shouldn’t leave you falling off the trainer and dreading the next session, but equally they shouldn’t be easy.
The above is also assuming you’ve calibrated your trainer correctly and haven’t changed power meter or anything since you tested. If there’s any reason to think your readings aren’t accurate then sort that out first.
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I had a similar experience my first time through SSBI.
I would hesitate to do a retest in the middle because the workouts are already getting more difficult on their own, even if they are feeling easier you are doing more work. I.e., intervals are getting longer, with less rest, or more time at or above threshhold each week.
So if your new ftp was 20 points higher, you wouldn’t want to start working out with the later workouts that already assume it’s higher than when you started, and have done 15 other specific workouts prior to it at that level.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with just bumping it up a few percentage points to see if you can handle it.
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