Good day, I’m just wondering why I struggled at the second ramp test considering that I’m in good condition. My first ramp test result at the start of SSBLV1 was 180, and then at today’s test, it became 158?! I suddenly thought of the lower intensity workouts at the 6th week of SSBLV1. I felt like it pulled me down to the point that I cannot sustain my sweetspot-threshold zone. My question is, is it normal for an FTP to decrease even after a six week HIIT training?
pulled me down to the point that I cannot sustain my sweetspot-threshold zone.
I seriously doubt this is even remotely possible, especially since week 6 is a recovery week.
- Were you hitting all your workouts during SSBLV1?
- What is the power source for TR (i.e, on bike power meter, smart trainer, speed sensor and dumb trainer, etc…)?
- Did you use the same setup for the Ramp Test both times?
- Were you rested, hyrdrated, etc…?
- What is the difference between 180 and 158 on the Ramp test (i.e., how many steps/minutes is that)? Maybe it was a bad mental toughness day?
Lastly, I would not expect a big jump in FTP after SSBLV1 unless you were totally untrained to begin with and even then it might only be a smallish gain. After all, it is base and it is low volume. I would not overthink it. Continue w/SSBLV2 using the same FTP. If you have been nailing all the workouts during SSBLV1, then maybe raise your FTP 5W and see how the workouts feel. Another option would be to raise the percentage difficulty a few percent during your next workout(s).
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Seems common during base see the discussion here:
https://www.trainerroad.com/forumt/ftp-loss-during-ssb1/6614
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I just completed SSBHV2 and my FTP went down 2%.
I have way more muscular endurance but my high end power has dropped off just as much. I’m starting to guess that SSB is good at raising your fractional utilization (even though it’s at a lower ceiling) but the ramp does not show this.
I’d love to jack my FTP by 5% but that’s going to make the upcoming VO2 workouts initially incredibly hard.
Will be doing a TTE test today to get a second opinion.
Oh, and this:
Sweet Spot Base is not HIIT training.
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I noticed that you ended Brasstown early. If that was because of some fatigue than I would say that is likely the cause.
IMO most of us beginners get FTP gains even during the SSB plans. Are you calibrating properly?
edit; Looking back at your notes on your rides… you’re just tired bro!
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off topic, sorry - how do you search people and see their workouts? I see how to search them in the forum but didn’t see a link to workouts.
The only thing I can think is that you’re still tired. Ssb2 is much more demanding than 1, so I’d be inclined to start ssb2 with your old ftp. Then, if you’re two weeks in, and feeling like it’s too easy(I bet you won’t) you could redo the ramp test to see if you should up your ftp setting.
After ssb1, I had increased my ftp by 9 percent. With my new ftp, coupled with the increased demand of ssb2, my workouts feel very hard to me!
I actually could still finish the Brasstown. It’s just that I had something else to do. 
Thank you for all your inputs! My question now is, how many off days is advised before I jump in to the next volume?
UPDATE: I had two days off before I had my ramp test a while ago. Still it went down. Now its 171. I suddenly thought how come my FTP went down after finishing SSBLV1 at 180? I nailed majority of the workouts but still had a very disappointing result. Should I stick with the new FTP or train with my previous one?
I’d go with the FTP you had before doing SSB. I did another test and gave me the same results. So your FTP might not have changed but you’re still stronger in different ways which will show up in future workouts. 
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Thank you sir!
I got 263W after my first TR ramp-test, was at 268W before. Had one resting day after a race that gave me ~140TSS. I thought it was low and bumped it to 270W and finished all my workouts as expected. Now I’m at my first recovery week in GB and hoping to increase next Tuesday.