Your FTP improvements

I think that you have to add more short power efforts, but maybe for one block it would not be needed. If you want to experiment the last block with vo2 max progressive overload + 2 weeks of threshold gave me the most to be honest (not only in terms of watts but also overal feel on the bike). The vo2 block was challenging mentally and probably due cortisol I was always angry. But after 2 weeks my 5 min power went 10W up but also my threshold improved.

My short power tends to be quite good so it shouldnā€™t be a problem. I like how your overall threshold went up quite fast so I might try to do those long painful threshold workouts youā€™ve been doing :wink:

149 FTP @ 75 kg. First ever turbo trainer and 1st structured training. This thread is a little depressing. Want to get up to around 185 FTP by September but I might be dreaming. My guess would be that I was up to around 190 or so the last time I trained for an event. Mostly a diesel and good at hanging on a wheel for a few hours at a time. Intervals.icu thinks Iā€™m up to 155 FTP 10 days after my ramp test, but Iā€™m not sure Iā€™m buying that.

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These are not painful by any means - that is the beauty of threshold workouts :slight_smile: First one is hard (letā€™s say 3x15), second - it is a way easier and so on. Go for 97% of FTP, so you are not going over FTP a lot, add some short burts every 3 minutes and you are golden. 3x threshold a week + Z2 and I am not even tired, no special recovery (normal, stresfull job) - some carbs after workout. With efforts over FTP - this is acompletely different beast for me, but I am planning to tackle that in the next block.

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just finished the last 4 weeks of SSBMVI. Went from 260(3.2W/KG) to 266(3.3W/KG). Starting SSBMVII

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Iā€™ve just been using TR for a bit over a year. Didnā€™t do much during last summer on TR, but the gains I had made over the brief spring sessions helped me to a real strong outdoor season. Picked it up again in November and I just finished 5 weeks of Plan Builder. Not really the first 5 weeks, since 3 weeks in most of my events were rescheduled on the calendar for the third time and Plan Builder reshuffled the plan on me again to start over.

This was the first 5 week block Iā€™ve done on TR where I didnā€™t fall apart in the middle and start failing 1-2 workouts per week. It is also after seeing my FTP steadily drop over the winter. Still donā€™t know why, but I think Iā€™m a poor ramp test taker.

I have another Ramp test later this week, and for the first time Iā€™m coming in feeling good since my 5 week block felt successful and strong. Iā€™m 62 and finally found the correct pattern for threshold, SS, tempo and endurance work during the week.

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I donā€™t know how you all seem to be making so much improvement on LV and MV Plans.

I was stuck for so long at the same level. Switching to HV finally yielded some results.

One thing which also helped me is eating more. For example, i weigh a few kg more than i did a while ago, with similar wkg. I was 323 at 65kg, and now 340 at 67-68. More food + more volume made a significant difference. Currently doing about 16-17hrs/week and around 900 TSS

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Please go easy on yourself! If youā€™re new to indoor training and structured training, itā€™s naturally going to take you some time to adjust. I had to do the ramp test 3 times when I first started because I had no idea how the ramp test or the erg mode worksā€¦ it took me the entire SSB 1 to get used to indoor and structured training.

I see this thread as motivational, and am genuinely excited for the gains that other people have made. I encourage you to see posts on this page in the same way. Iā€™ve just started Build phase, and now understand just how bloody hard the workouts are. I now see that each personā€™s gains as hard-fought and am inspired by everyoneā€™s efforts. Where else could you find a community of people who are so prepared to put themselves through hell for at least 1-2hrs, 3-6 times a week? That itself is inspiring.

I see the posts on this thread not as boasts on how strong one has gotten, but as electronic fist pumps which say, ā€œHEAL YEAH. I worked hard and I got there. You can too!ā€.

You ā€œmay be dreamingā€ in setting a goal of 185 FTP by September. But arenā€™t goals dreams?
Why set yourself a goal thatā€™s easy to achieve?

Hereā€™s a post on another page that has a similar flavour to what youā€™ve said. Hope you get some inspiration from the responses in this thread too:

Iā€™m very happy to hear youā€™re at the beginning of your TR journey. Iā€™m looking forward to checking back in September and seeing that youā€™ve reached your goal. Sky is the limit!

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Complains whilst already being @ 5+ w/kgā€¦

Jokes aside man, awesome job getting this far. I would say there is not a lot of you 5 w/kg peeps on here so hang on to what you accomplished :smiley:

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What workouts did you do in those threshold weeks ? Was it progressive or just the same workouts over and over ?

First block (progression):

Week Workout 1 Workout2 Workout 3
1 FTP Test
2 4x15@100% 3x20 O/U 2x30@97%
3 1x60@95% 3x20 O/U Gibraltar +2
4 Z2 FTP Test Ramp test
5 4x15@100% 3x20 O/U 3x20@97%
6 3x20@97% 2x30@97% 2x40@97%
7 3x20@97% FTP Test 3x20@97%

Recent block

Week Workout 1 Workout2 Workout 3
1 3x20@97, 2x30@97% 5x15@100%
2 3x20@97 3x20 O/U5x12@97 (power burts every 3 minutes) 5x15@100

I have a whole set of threshold workouts and I rotate them according to my needs. The last block I felt my FTP is gone up so I self regulated the power during workouts.
First block I have done in ERG mode, recent block - level mode (self regulating works great, because you feel progress even after 1-2 workouts so even after 1 week your threshold can become higher SweetSpot)

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Thereā€™s a lot of history of FTP improvements and decreases for me over the years but these are the latest based on a much more solid commitment to TR planned training indoors. Starting from probably the lowest Iā€™ve been for many many years and ready to ramp things back up to were they were in my peak fitness 3 years ago.

MARCH 2 - Ramp Test FTP 250w - 82kg - 3.05w/kg
TRAINING - 6 weeks SSB Mid Volume 1
APRIL 13 - Ramp Test FTP 277w - 80kg - 3.46w/kg
TRAINING - 4 weeks Sus.Power Build HV 1
MAY 26 - Ramp Test FTP 285w - 79kg - 3.61w/kg

Still another 5kg to lose to get back to ā€œrace weightā€, however trying to balance that whilst increasing FTP back up to the low-mid 300ā€™s is always challenging.

My plan based on Plan Builder now takes me through 6 weeks of SSBHV2 which looks to be a lot of 90-95% ftp work in longer and longer intervals, Iā€™m keen to re-test somewhere in the middle if I feel up to it as Iā€™m unsure this evenings test was my best result after a long day at work. I supose the next week or so of training will give me a good idea of whether its accurate.

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Tested this moring, 15 hours fasted, just coffee.

Additional info, (Sorry TrainerRoad :relaxed:) NO STRUCTURED TRAINING since my last Ramp Test back in April. Just 2-4 outdoor rides per week as the weather is so nice.

May 2020 - Unstructured outdoor riding LV - 68kg - 226W (+7.5%) - 3.32 W/kg
:sunglasses:

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Outdoor riding does wonders for the mental game.

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Consistent gains so far:

18/02/2020 - 224W (3.29W/kg @ 68kg), start of TrainerRoad
31/03/2020 - 239W (3.51W/kg @ 68kg), end of Olympic triathlon base LV (284 TSS weekly)
26/05/2020 - 254W (3.79W/kg @ 67kg), end of SSB LV 1 (384 TSS weekly)

(Male, age 29)

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Iā€™m pretty happy with how things are going. Iā€™ve been struggling at the beginning but right now itā€™s all going in good direction. I was able to improve my FTP, running and swimming during that time. Since April this year Iā€™m on medium volume cycling plan with extra 3 days of running, instead of low volume triathlon. I figured I can take more cycling if I donā€™t swim at all. The tests until 2020-03-31 were on different trainer, so the results arenā€™t comparable I guess, but I feel the progress

Date FTP Weight W/kg
2019-03-11 234 71.1 3.3
2019-04-23 232 70.9 3.3
2019-06-11 248 69.9 3.5
2019-07-31 242 67.5 3.6
2019-09-29 227 69.4 3.3
2019-12-10 231 71.8 3.2
2020-02-04 257 71.1 3.6
2020-03-31 276 69.6 4.0
2020-04-25 281 70.8 4.0
2020-05-12 292 70.3 4.2
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I must be weird as itā€™s very hard for my training friends to get me out for outdoor ride

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No you are not :slight_smile: I also like indoor training and how uncomplicated and controlled it is.

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That looks completely miserable! My FTP is higher than yours and I would look at that block and probably puke even if I did it at your FTP lol. Killer job, impressive ability to do some tough workouts with a lot of frequency. :+1:

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Thank you very much! :slight_smile: Couple of months ago I could not finish Galena +1, so I am also surprised. To be honest I recover very easily from these efforts. 3x week Vo2 max made me miserable, 3x threshold - I am really happy. I also like them from mental side - they are my way to relax after work and shed the stress.

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