As i enter a rest week I look with dread that next Tuesday is another ramp test. When I first started training I loved doing all types of FTP testing. Now I just freaking hate them. I hate it more since I recently had shoulder surgery (on both shoulders back to back) and recovery is slow and numbers are low ( try biking from a primarily upright position while really not using the handlebars sometime )
Thus I am just going to bump up my FTP by five percent which I think is manageable. My question is will adaptive training adjust correctly with me not taking a test !
I am so looking forward to FTP estimation!! Also hope that TR and Zwift merge and all the happiness in the world for Nate and the TR crew
Iāve always said, if you think life is passing you by, and time is moving too fast, take an FTP test, ideally a full hour one, and you will experience the sensation of time apparently standing still
Ha ha, I don.t know if you race, but I must admit I donāt mind the ramp test.
I treat it like a cyclo X race.
Get up , prepare in the same way. Strong coffee, Torq energy 500ml bottle mixed , do warm up, take Torq gel, then start the test.
The less time I have to think ,the better. The end part is horrid, but no worse than a cyclo X race. A cyclo x race is like doing 6 or more end parts
I actually used to HATE the 20 minute FTP test. It is just a slog (indoors anyway). The ramp test I find very exciting for some reason. Think its the whole idea of holding on as long as you can in 1 minute stages. It reminds me very much of the ābleepā test at school.
I really did used to like the ramp test version but since injury it is pure torture (although undoubtedly better in the long run). I used to love the beep test back in the day though!
If you manually adjust your FTP, the Progression Levels will adjust and you will likely get an adaptation set for a training plan depending on how much you adjusted the FTP by.
Source: I do this and that has been my experience.
Yup, FTP change from any trigger (completed and accepted FTP in a test, or manual adjustment) can lead to PL reduction. We donāt know all the rules or amounts, but it is a common trigger.
Best thing I ever did was start AT and stop thinking I āknowā what my FTP is! Used to hate the ramp test and rarely did it. Now do every ramp test and look forward to them, to see how much progress the previous block achieved. Failed workouts are now a thing of the past (so far).
I donāt like them that much as well but do find the more you do them the easier mentally and physically they get. If i wait too long to do them they become mentally harder where as at least every 6 weeks its not that bad. The earlier poster that compares them to a CX race is a good analogy (B-race-local-mid season.) Its still a race so you have to take it semi seriously but no real need to taper, its short and hard enough that you feel a little satisfaction afterward.
The AT thing will be cool but there is going to be a lot of people that have a banner effort in a race, group ride or just an exceptional day, agree to āupā their FTP then realize what Baxter feels like for a real 350 watt FTP.
So I bumped up my FTP by ten percent and tr moved my ramp test from Tuesday to Wednesday and asked if I wanted to adaptations. I declined as I donāt want to do the stupid test but now am worried that all my future workouts are screwed up?
Just delete the test from your schedule. Take the workout from the following Tuesday, and copy it to the day where the ramp test was. Rather than using a (random?) 5% bump, base yourself on your last few threshold workouts - could you have increased the power a bit? Were you right on the edge?
