Should I re-take my ramp test?

Training
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I just started with my TrainerRoad journey today, and the first step was a ramp test. At about 250 W, I couldn’t get a decent cadence so couldn’t produce enough power, that I usually can. I realised I would have been better in resistance mode instead of ERG mode. So I canceled the ramp-test, already just a bit tired from it. I re-did the ramp test immideatly in resistance mode and my FTP came out to be 200 W. Which is a bit low as I regularly do 190 W hourly average rides on flat and rolling terrain. If I go by 1 hour power = ~90% of FTW< the FTP should be 211 W. I see all the daily plans have pretty low power targets, targets I can hold and exceed in zone 2 as well.

Should I manually adjust FTP to 210 W or should I take a day rest and re do the ramp test for correct results? My only goal of re-doing the test is to make sure the training plan is targetting hard-enough power to make healthy gains and is not too easy.

P.S., this is my first time following a structured training plan.

2

Welcome!
Both options are fine, it’s a bit of preference.
It also takes a few tests to learn how to do the test (equipment, not standing, music etc).

I think your 210 FTP sounds reasonable, provided you use the same power meter, and you can always adjust from there up/down by maybe 5W if you feel it’s off. That’s what was done before there were ramp tests and adaptive training etc.
There’s also an “intensity” regulator on the left bottom part of the screen where you can adjust if it feels off during a workout.

On the other hand, maybe you like the idea of looking back in a few months and seeing what you actually could push to exhaustion. Then doing the test on a new day should be fine

Good luck!

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So with TR I used my smart trainer (Elite Suito) and the 190 W, 1 hour avg power I’m talking about, I have done that many times both indoor using same trainer and outdoor measured from pedal-based powermeter. It could be a ~10 W drivetrain loss between pedals and trainer’s internal powermeter, so maybe 200 W isn’t that wrong all together.

There’s also an “intensity” regulator on the left bottom part of the screen where you can adjust if it feels off during a workout.

Where would I find that option, when doing a workout?

4

Intervention!!! :smile:

Be wary of falling into the “all training needs to be hard” trap when starting interval training. It really doesn’t. Better to have 2 hard days and 3 easy days than to have 5 ‘somewhere in the middle kinda hard’ days.

Start conservatively.

:+1:

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Agreed! I think I phrased it incorrectly. What I meant was, if a certain intervel is supposed to go, say, 30% above ftp, with 200 W it goes to 260 W and with 210 W it goes to 273 W. I’m assuming that difference can reduce the benefit of training plan. Am I thinking correctly?

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Well … there’s a can of worms.

In reality, working above FTP probably shouldn’t be prescribed as a percentage of FTP in the first place. That’s using a measure of your aerobic fitness to dictate training of your anaerobic systems. Which is at least slightly nuts.

Also, depending on your own unique physiology, 130% of FTP might be a bit too easy for you. It might just as easily be a bit too hard for you. :slightly_smiling_face:

Having said all of that, the difference between 260 and 273 isn’t going to have a massive impact on your adaptations.

If you do the workout and rate it appropriately in the post-workout survey, TR will make sure your next workout of that type is at a suitable level. So if you say it was Easy, you’ll get a harder one next time than if you’d rated it as Moderate.

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I dont think the diff between 200-210 will make much difference at the start of your journey. As said above, rate the workouts appropriately in the post workout surveys and TR will iron out the creases for you and keep you on track. :slight_smile:

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8

Use the highest FTP you got from the ramp tests you did. FTP doesn’t need to be exact with TR, just in the ballpark. Answer the post workout surveys honestly and soon adaptive training and aiftp will have you serving the correct workouts. In 28 days you’ll be able to use ai FTP

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This. Use the results you have, let TR adjust the workouts as you go. Answer the post-workout question and it’ll prescribe harder workouts where appropriate.

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Hey there and welcome to the TR community!

It sounds like you have a decent idea of where your FTP might be at the moment. If about 211 watts feels like it’s a difficult but sustainable steady-state power, then you should be in the right ballpark with your estimate. If your recent Ramp Test result seems a little low to you, then I think that’s some good information to use to back your thoughts up.

I’d agree that setting your FTP to 210 W or so and getting into your training plan is a great starting point. Adaptive Training will get you dialed into the right workouts for your current fitness levels as you progress through your plan, so rest assured that the gains are coming your way! :muscle:

Feel free to let me or support@trainerroad.com know if you have any other questions as you get started. Happy training! :smiley:

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11

Thanks everyone for the very helpful comments! Like everyone said, the adaptive training will adjust the workout intensities based on my feedback over time and that seems perfectly reasonable.

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13

Okay, so update on the situation. After about 6-7 days of following the plan, it was still way too easy. The hard days were easier than my daily rides that I do 4 times a week, from past 3 years. I feel the plan builder questionnaire doesn’t take into consideration your existing fitness and training level. For example, I’ve been doing three hour long zone 2 rides twice a week for last 5 months. Still the plan suggests a very very easy, very short endurance ride.

So, what I did was end the plan and create a new one, answering the plan builder questions a bit differently, as follows-

Training Load - true data 7-9 hours

Volume - mid volume, as get very bored in long indoor sessions.

Experience - This was a bit tricky, because the wording here is “What is your level of experience with interval training”, and I following a training plan for the first time, I previously selected Beginner, but this I selected Advanced, interpreting the question as what is your level of experience with high power surge sprints, climbs, attacks and hard rides in general

Start data - as normal

Event - this was also tricky as previously selected I’m Not Training For an Event, but also added a personal goal event of a 1 hour 40 min long TT course. I also selected a lower level of intensity for this, which I think was my mistake because I’m aiming to do this at a flat out pace. Its a local course which I just wanna get good at. So this time I added the same TT course as an “A Race” and selected the correct intended intensity - All Out!

Schedule - For both old and new plans I selected to make it a Masters Plan so I get time to do strength training a bit of running as well in the weeks.

And thats it!

TL;DR - interpret What is your level of experience with interval training as what is your level of experience with high power surge sprints, climbs, attacks and hard rides in general and always add an A race event and select the right intensity.

So far the plan has been very good - not toooo hard, not boringly slow. The slow days are slow enough to bore me, but in a good way.

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For future reference, and something you’ll probably hear elsewhere, but the ramp test isn’t the gold standard. It works okay on average, but for some it over reports, for others under reports. It just so happens that the ramp test is pretty damn accurate for me, but you’ll find that not to be true for many others. So feel free to adjust your FTP as needed, regardless of what the ramp test says.

You are better off under estimating your FTP. And if you are newish to training, it will be on the low side as you get gains fast anyway.

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Give adaptive training 2-3 weeks to ramp up

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