I know there has been a lot of discussion in the forum in recent weeks about people completing SSB LV1 and experiencing a decrease in FTP. However, I wanted to report that I I finished SSBLV1 last week and had a slight increase…and had some pretty adverse training circumstances as well, which I feel made an FTP increase even less likely.
Short story - my FTP went from 280 up to 285 after a ramp test today, which is an all time high for me.
Long story –
I’m currently sick. Not sick as in fever/chills, etc., but I do have some lingering chest congestion that has been tough to get rid of and really starts to get irritated when I ride over 45 minutes of low intensity, or anything at high intensity…like a ramp test.
Furthermore, my training schedule has been a mess since Thanksgiving due to business travel, personal commitments, etc., and my TSS has nose-dived. I forced myself to do a ramp test today because I am 2 days past when I was supposed to start SSBLV2, and I was losing psychological momentum, and I felt that if I didn’t get going I would really have to confront a setback. Given all this + the recent reports of FTP declines after SSBLV1, I was more or less resigned to an FTP decrease.
(NO…I don’t let FTP define me. But I do use it as a mark of progress, and I hate to do all this work while not being able to demonstrate upward movement. That’s how I’m wired, for better or worse)
With that being said, here is what the last two weeks of training looked like for me leading up to the ramp test:
– 30 minute jog
– Palisade
– Off day
– Carson
– Off day
– Off day
– Off day
– Off day
– Baxter -1
– Brasstown
– Off day
– Off day
– Off day
– Off day
– Ramp Test (today)
Not great. I toyed with the idea of doing an “opener” workout a day or two before the Ramp Test, but I decided to bite the bullet and get 'er done and take the results as they came.
After the ramp test, i spent about 45 minutes coughing uncontrollably due to the congestion + stress, but I made it through overall with the slight-but-encouraging increase.
Obviously, I feel that if my training and health had been on point I would have had better results – OR I just learned and INCREDIBLY important lesson about how much recovery I need (read: too much). As a 44 year old athlete, I know I need a bit more…but 8 off days out of 10 is ridiculous. Such is life 
Make of these results what you will – but building a base doesn’t necessarily mean stepping back in threshold output. I know everyone is different…
Good luck out there! 