Hey everybody,
I would like to get your opinion on my thoughts about my last FTP Test. Its the one that opens the specality phase. I did the Sustained Power Build plan and had a loss of FTP.
As the Ramp test is a Vo2max kind of thing I would like to hear what do you think: does a steady power plan effect the FTP Test in a negativ way?
Thanks all.
I’ve been thinking the same thing, having taken a drop in FTP after Sustained Power Mid. It was like I wasn’t ready for the hard work at the end of the Ramp Test. Shortoff +4 was the last VO2Max workout before the test, and I had to reduce the intensity when I did it.
I think doing the 20 min test would be a better guesstimate of your FTP since that’s more of the kind of riding you’re doing. The ramp test assumes FTP is 75 % of VO2max, and since you aren’t using VO2max that much, why not do the test that’s more akin to the riding you’re doing? For you it’s more important that sweetspot and threshold fits a close as possible. The 20 min test is also a very good workout on its own.
Then again, I saw an increase in FTP after SSB, and that has four VO2max sessions over 12 weeks.
Some good points.
Or try an opener workout a day or two before testing – just to get yourself acclimated to that type of effort again.
After being at this structured training thing for a little bit, I’m starting to think that the most versatile training plan would be to do two 90 minute Sweet Spot workouts per week bracketed around a 60-75 min Vo2 workout.
MAYBE every once in a while you swap a 60 min threshold workout for one of the sweet spots jobs – but that’s up to the user.
After that, just mix in endurance rides to fill in any necessary TSS.
I might give this a go. It covers all bases.
Thanks for your thoughts.
That’s why I started this Polarized Training Plan Top.
For sure it would affect it; consider race specific efforts. If you’re only doing sustained power but then have a test that draws from Vo2max efforts, if you haven’t been doing those efforts, you’ll surely score lower.
That being said, just a couple weeks can ramp up those capabilities again (doesn’t take much to get sharp), and your number will go back up.
Maybe try that and let us know how it goes!?
Yeah. I’m thinking about it in a similar way. But wouldn’t that mean, that @chad s Plan in the specialty phase could never be accurate at zones when you do the sustainable stuff and the ramp test. He would have considered that I think. Thatnwould be to obvious. 
this.
Ramp test does a good job estimating vo2max (roughly 5-min power). And then uses a fudge factor to estimate FTP.
I lose my top-end quickly, and gain it back quickly. Lost so much vo2max in Nov/Dec that my December and January ramp tests were failures (gave me ~190W ftp but I was doing sweet spot intervals at 220-240W). But then I had a good ramp test after doing a handful of vo2max intervals in February.
top end goes away if you don’t use it. I’m sure there’s a reason; let’s see what he says!
Or, do a 20m test and 60m test and compare!
Ok. I did 40/20 Intervalls. FTP is accurate. 
But the question still is: if Vo2max is the baseline from where the FTP is taken. So if I “just” train muscle endurance at threshold and not at FatMax and not at Vo2max, is the long sustainded build phase not a training “for nothing”? And is the FTP then less limited by muscle endurance and more/just by Vo2max so that the ramp test shows not accurate what I can handle at FTP after stustainded build but on the other hand very accurate what is expected and needed for an upcoming Vo2max Phase?
lost you a little in that but I think that the ftp taken from vo2max can definitely be misleading for the reasons people mentioned and that it won’t be accurate after your sustained build, but accurate for vo2max phases
Looking through the sustained power plan, there are only slight variations from the other build plans. You would have still stressed your VO2 max during the plan. It seems to be that many people aren’t fully recovered after the build and might not be testing well at the beginning of the specialty plan because of it.
There have been a series of threads with a pretty consistent theme where the Ramp Test is producing a result that is lower than what the individual has consistently been training at. Usually it occurs in someone who is doing a lot of aerobic and sweetspot work and little VO2 work. It might also be more common in aging athletes based on what was said in some of the threads.
As TR gains more data, hopefully this is an area that can be honed in on. For those that feel the Ramp Test is under reporting FTP, it would be very interesting to see what results are produced with either the 8 min x2 test or a 20 min test and how much of a delta there is between the Ramp Test result. If there are big differences between the tests, then it would suggest that the Ramp Test might not be suitable for some riders.
I’ve done 9 ramp tests over 11 months, and 7 were “good” and 2 were “bad” (Dec and Jan) at setting proper zones for training. After doing a small block of vo2max work and some racing, my March Ramp Test was good.
Going forward, I’m hoping to gather more data comparing Ramp to longer test formats.