No plans to race, what next after sustained build?

Training
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Researching this topic unearths a lot of threads but all of them are focused on ‘next seasons races’.

I’ll be 40 soon, I’ve only been cycling 14 months and consider myself a relative noob, with no plans to race next year whatsoever. I may join a club at some point but I doubt it - I much prefer just doing my own thing as it suits me.

Plonking around on the road, zwift and trainerroad here and there for the past year resulted in an ftp around 270 at the beginning of the year (I think).

A month ago I decided to commit to an actual plan and went for sustained power low volume and I have loved every minute of it. I tested at 299 at the start of the plan and 323 at my mid way point. I have another 3 workouts to do to complete the plan’s big sessions before I’m supposed to do the week’s worth of easy ones and I don’t see any problem bashing them out like I’m supposed to. The workouts have been challenging, especially after the ftp increase but I’ve gotten through them with no drama.

I’m kinda intrigued how far I can push my ftp for the foreseeable future and given that I am not bound by a forthcoming race season I am wondering if I should simply continue to repeat exactly what I am doing for as long as I continue to see and feel improvement?

I’d love to hear some input from more experienced cyclists.

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Join a club.

Also with that ftp, think about racing. TTs are a good way to start. :slight_smile:

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Ride some local sportive or non-race events for the experience, see how you enjoy riding those.
I train almost exclusively by myself but enjoy riding with others in events.

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Thanks fellas but I was talking more about what path I should take with trainerroad going forward.

I do appreciate your replies all the same!

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You’re a new cyclist so I will assume you are also new to endurance sports.

If that is true, and really even if it isn’t, I would suggest you start to work in base training as well as build. Since you have no races on the horizon you could easily do Base->Build->Base->Build over and over again

It’s been said elsewhere, by myself and others, that you will likely run into either a mental or physical blocker at some point. As such I’d suggest changing which build you do, and occasionally throwing in a specialization plan for the variety

So maybe something like Sustained Power Build → Sweet Spot Base → General Power Build → Sweet Spot Base → Short Power Build → Century Specialization

Obviously you can swap things around based on your riding style, but the variety will serve you well

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Is sustained power build the best way to increase FTP? Or is short-power build?

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Broadly speaking, yes. They are focused on different things and Sustained Power Build will better increase your hour long power

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you can do that for sure, although mental and physical stagnation might lead you to a plateau; and those are no fun. All the work and no gain.

Don’t forget to work more than your FTP, which will indirectly help the FTP. For example, working vo2max will push out your vo2max ceiling, and indirectly allow you to have the capacity to increase the FTP even more.

Since you’re new to cycling, work on becoming an all around cyclist. We’re not trying to turn you into a pack sprinter, but work on some short hard efforts. With an entire offseason ahead, you could track 5s, 15s, 30s, 1m, 2m, 5m and 20m power. See where you make the most gains.

There’s a whole world of riding ahead, don’t just limit yourself to FTP.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

Brendan

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