I suspect that this is just me not testing well (repeatedly) but not sure where to go from here.
All the last 3 tests I’ve done have left me at ~198 (today dropped to 193), but every work out in ssb1 lv has required me to up % at least 3% or feel easy.
Do I try another test (after not riding to work etc) or make a guess and manually up my FTP to 210ish?
I don’t think I will get lots out without an increase of sorts.
Don’t stress it. Bump your result manually and see if the workouts feel suitably taxing.
If you struggle with the ramp test you can still use the other 8-minute or 20-minute tests. they are still viable ways to test and are still in the library. You can also self adjust your FTP as danielm suggests. You say you are having to raise the intensity 3-5% in the workouts. I would raise it manually 3-5% to see if you are still able to hit the target but the workouts are manageable. If you raise it too much, you will quickly realize it because the workouts will get really tough. You should be tired at the end but not completely wiped out.
Bump it manually 5W and then give the workouts a try for a week or two. Remember, you are doing low volume which means you are not riding that much and have loads of recovery time. You should not be expecting to seriously struggle or feel trashed after each ride. That is not the goal of training.
Another option might be selecting the harder version of the workout if there is one. For example, instead of Ericsson, do Ericsson +1.
Lastly, as others have mentioned, perhaps do the 20min test.
Used 5% increase to 210 so lets see how it goes.
Can always drop it a bit.
This exact thing was happening to me. Same numbers too. I crushed my last ramp test and increased m FTP by 25W to 230. Needless to say the subsequent workouts were brutal! So I dropped it down to 210 and am going to go from there. I might try the 8 or 20min tests next go around.
I think FTP is important but you gotta be able to do the work and get quality work in.
Not surprising. 205w to 230w is a 9% increase. That is unlikely to happen for all but the newest riders or ones starting back that will see a quick rebound.
It is much safer to plan on a 2-3% increase and do a workout or two to see how it goes. That increase is a reasonable and common one in many plans for many people over a 4-6 week period.
Resist the urge to overestimate the FTP as it will do more harm than underestimating.
A rose by any other name…
I don’t think renaming the metric would ever allow people to ignore the constant fretting and comparisons that occur with FTP. That would likely be true even if they took the step of making something entirely “new” that wasn’t FTP in disguise.
That metric would still vary from person to person and over time for the same person. The desire to evaluate, grow and compare something like that is innate in humans overall, but even more so for people in this area.
We see growth and competition on an internal level at the very least. And that expands to external in most cases as well. My point being that you can’t escape the inevitable outcome of people comparing anything that can be measured. Add in our fragile EGO and all bets are off, IMHO.
That is the best way to go, no need to re-test to get some supposed “accurate/exact” FTP number. You’ll know soon enough if workout are too easy/hard based on the IF, the workout description/intentions and your RPE.
I had a similar “bad ramp test”, due to the fact that I was using PowerMatch for the first time and I may have reached the trainer’s power ceiling. So my poor test was because of equipment/software communication failure having trouble with my low cadence and high power at the end of the ramp test. See below…
I had my head down at the end of the ramp test and thought I was grinding out the last 1:30 of the test, only to stop and find out I was way under the target power. I was initially very upset and frustrated. But after I slept on it and then looked at my past weeks and months workouts, I realized that my fitness had been steadily increasing. I had increased the intensity in some workouts in the past weeks and felt strong in the final work week before my recovery week. Also, each of my previous FTP tests I had a 2% increase.
So instead of retesting or being frustrated by my “bad ramp test”, I simply raised my FTP by 2% and the first workout so far felt right. I will continue to evaluate this new FTP and determine if it feels appropriate per the IF and the workout description/intention. I’ve done enough TR workouts over the past 9 months that I know how certain zones should feel. It’s easy to get caught up in FTP tests and their accuracy etc., but once you start doing the workouts you should know soon enough if your FTP is correct or not. If its not you simply adjust accordingly.
Thanks, glad to hear I dialed it back correctly 
I couldn’t disagree more with all of that. You have a FTP, then how you choose/need to express that FTP depends on your cycling decipline and that will guide your training. There is no need to “check it” by doing a bunch of other tests.
I didn’t read the whole thread but even that thread Dr. Coggan implies that a MAP protocol with fixed increases in power x .72-.77 should give you an estimate of ftp that is reasonably accurate… he also says that a 20 min x .95 would do the same… always with outliers for either test.
So pick the protocol you like and test away. The TR guys have mentioned this on the podcast as well.
Every time I’ve done the ramp test I wind up with a lower FTP than my current one. Each time I’ve then self-bumped my FTP up by 5% and I’m able to do the workouts more or less ok.
I’ve about given up on the ramp test. Maybe I’ll go back to the 8 minute test or just keep self-managing it based on how I feel I’m progressing.
The workouts in SSBLV1 are “easy” - meaning they will not push you towards the point of failure.
It’s worth doing some harder workouts like Lamarck or Kaiser before judging if your FTP is too low.
Most of my previous response was in regard to this question. Even Coggan says you can use a ramp test to estimate your ftp.
2x20 is a fine way to evaluate your ftp accuracy, but also has a relatively high training load… so would I do that to verify an ftp at the beginning of a build plan? Probably not if I wanted to benefit from the plan as written.
I test poorly. Maybe someone with more experience and knowledge than me will chime in; however…I test poorly. For example, I completed the hard rides on SSB2 at 235, to include Mary Austin. I took my FTP test, and it rated me at 231. I bumped my FTP up 238 and began Sustained Power Build. Every week I bump up 1-2 clicks, although I’ve been stuck at 238 for the past two weeks. I’m ready to go up another 2 clicks right now (NOTE: Elephants +4 took a lot of discipline to NOT bail—-last nights ride). It is to my most amateur opinion that an FTP test is what it is. Don’t read too much into it. If you tested at 225, but you’ve been training, and completing workouts at a higher threshold, then disregard that 225.
Exactly …
I did a ramp test and TR gave me a 315W result and then the following week did a 60 min indoor TT and averaged 302W (~96% of TR number). Based on what I heard from Sebastian Weber in a podcast about 60 min TT being 95% of “FTP”, this seems to line up. You could try using a 95% of TR number to set your interval workout intensities.
I’ve found that I ‘score’ low on the ramp test compared to 20min or even a 40kTT. I’ve played around with multiplying my max 1min by .74-.78 and have a figure that seems more accurate than the .75 that the test uses. It’s easy enough to do yourself, do the maths, get the figures then try a few workouts and you’ll find where you are. Same goes for any of the shorter duration tests, the 20min x .95 test is widely acknowledge to be erratic for many people, some are as low as .90, some as high as .97. It’s not difficult to find where you are with some trial and error.
+/-3 %… how accurate do you think your power meter is?
Additionally, I don’t think it’d be very hard to figure out if you’re someone who falls into the upper or lower end of the multiplier and adjust it yourself so the ramp test still gives you a reasonably accurate ftp (yes, you’d have to analyze the ride yourself). If you want to spend time doing sustained threshold workouts to verify… fine. Is it necessary for everyone… probably not. Remember, TrainerRoad has the data set to be able to determine what multiplier seems to be best for the MOST people. There’re going to be outliers regardless of your protocol or post test verification procedures.
There are other limitations to threshold riding as you suggest which include the fact that ftp is not actually “hour power”… it spans a much larger time frame 30-90 minutes. So how would you know that your ftp was correct if you fell on the higher or lower end of that spectrum? Your 2x20 test would surely over and under test people.
What I’m really arguing and what I have said from the beginning is that there is no perfect test, so pick what you think works for you. I just don’t agree that it is necessary to test and then verify with some arbitrary threshold workout.