Long time user, first time poster.
A lot of things happening here… but I wanted to hear your thoughts.
I started SSBMV1 in mid December with a ramp test and stood at the end giving me an FTP of 246. I tried that and ended up dropping down to 242 after a couple of workouts. I took an early down week for Christmas after two weeks of the program as I was travelling to see family.
In January I was travelling for work each week without a bike, but was able to make it work and the travel days ended up being my two recovery days (not idea, but I got through it). I did the final four weeks of the program in January and was feeling great!
I completed the six weeks and felt pretty confident that my numbers were right. The over unders and long SS rides were all tough but doable.
I then took a few easy days and decided to jump into SSMV2 with another ramp test instead of taking a down week, because I had the down week two weeks into the plan. This time I decided that I should stay seated the whole time. I ended up with an FTP of 221. A big drop from 242! I figured it was just due to the seated VS standing and decided to go along with it for a workout or two then bump it up as I saw fit.
Well thanks to all the travel the past month I got sick the day after the FTP test. I’m thinking that that also had something to do with the FTP drop.
I ended up taking a light week to get over this cold - it was below the neck so I wanted to play it safe, and my body needed some rest and recovery after a high stress January with lots of travel.
Ok so now do you think it’s best if I retest? I’ve still got somewhat of a cold, but I think I’m mostly over it at this point. I’m assuming I should do the test seated again. If I do the test seated and still get a lower FTP, should I complete the plan at that lower FTP even though I was able to do SSBMV1 at the higher FTP?
Any advice?
Thanks!
Absolutely retest. The real benefit of the ramp test is that you do not have to prepare in advance and it does not tire you out for forthcoming workouts.
There is no downside to re-testing.
What I do not understand is when you had a FTP of 246 but found it too hard you dropped it to 242. I cannot really see that making that much difference. I think I would have gone to 235 and then increased if workouts were too easy.
Are you saying on your first ramp test you stood up/ sprinted?
Yes - I stood up on the first ramp test I took, then completed SSBMV1 at that tested FTP (well 4 watts lower…)
That can massively affect your FTP result, the ramp test needs to be completed in the saddle
Yes - I understand that, which is why I included that information in the post. I was curious about being able to complete the plan at that tested value even though I cheated to get that FTP. Is it possible that I could have done the whole plan 10% higher than what was supposed to be done at? I would assume that if I was that far off, I would know about it and would have had some failed workouts.
Basically I found that I had to knock down the intensity a few percents in the over unders to complete them early on when I was at 246. That worked out to be around 242, so I just updated my FTP manually and completed the rest of the program at that level without issues.
It sounds like you did manage to end up at the correct FTP, since you say the workouts were tough but not unmanageable. However, I would still urge you to stay seated during future tests.
It is also very possible that you will need to train with reduced FTP for a little while(a week or so) after coming back from illness.
If I have more than enough time to train (My only racing focus is CX in the fall), would it be more beneficial to start again with SSBMV1, or to proceed with SSBMV2?
So the situation is that you completed SSBMV1 and then were sick for 1 week?
I would continue with SSBMV2 now, just warning you that after illness you may not be able to work at the same FTP of 242 for the first week or so.