Congrats! And I secretly hate you a little bit, because of simple cyclist jealousy 
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Long time no post in this thread
Last year, my FTP was 264 before a major block of training and a 600km audax so assume that it went higher.
Then I got covid in March and I was a long time off with some very low volume, slow rides. In May I did another Ramp Test and got 186w, July 209w I was improving but still didnāt feel right. No training plan, just outdoor rides.
This past month, on SSBLV1, was the first time Iāve felt fit again. Ramp test result = 230w
I feel like Iām finally on the way back and looking forward to a winter of training and 2021 being a good year.
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I surprised myself and now Iām a little anxious about my next training periodā¦
On Sep 2, my result from a 20 min FTP test was 230. It was a beatdown and I gave it everything I had. It was within the range I expected. Since then, I have been doing consistent SSB1 style workouts on Zwift and and just a few 1-2 hour hard MTB rides. Partway through bumped up the FTP without testing to 240 because they felt too easy.
Today I did my first ramp test and first workout on my new H3 trainer. I also logged the data with my 4iiii and Garmin.
TRās result from my Saris H3 was 261w. In disbelief, I looked at the Garmin data from my old 4iiii - the 1 min max power at 21:00 was 347w. So multiplying that by .75 would be 260w (am I doing that right??). Pretty darn close so I am ruling out calibration issues between the equiptment.
The last 10 weeks was very focused on diet and sleep. I averaged between 8.5-9 hours of sleep a night. I maintained a slight caloric surplus and ate well:
Typical breakfast - large bowl of oats, 4 eggs, banana. Pre lunch snack - protein shake and snack bar. Lunch - 1/2 lb beef or chicken, 2 cups veggies, rice or sweet potato. Afternoon snack - yogurt. Dinner - 1/2 lb meat, 1 cup veggies, pasta or something similar, large spinach salad. Evening - 2 IPA beers or wine (ok, thatās junk food I admit). Night snack - 2 bowls of cereal with a banana or blueberries. Olive oil and grass fed butter on many things. I eat a lot and try to maintain strength training as a secondary priority.
Current weight is probably 205 lbs based on how clothes fit and how I look in the mirror. I havenāt actually weighed myself since COVID closed my gym in March. Once my noob gains stabilize, I may cut weight to 195.
Not sure Iāll be able to see a 10 week gain of 30ftp again. I am going to start SSBLV2 now and will see how it goes. I am very focused on perfecting my recovery efforts and completing without having to adjust the workouts. Very likely I will add a ārecovery weekā after 3 training weeks.
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Apr 1st : 135 W - 92 kg
Apr 30th : 185 W - 87 kg
Jun 10th : 213 W - 83 kg
July 20th: 241 W - 80.5 kg
Aug 25th: 248W - 78 kg
Sep 21st: 252W - 77kg - (too much focus on strength training and purposeless outdoor rides)
Nov 16th: 268 W - 76.7kg (3.49 W/kg)
Very happy with the improvements but i cannot fix my diet problems. I am losing weight pretty well, came from 96 kg to 76 kg finally however fat percentage is still 19%. Work and family stresses are top, I cannot sleep longer than 7h 30 mins average.
Riding is the only thing keeps me alive nowadays and I really want to be the best of myself i can.
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Hi all,
New to Trainerroad, but not to cycling or sports in general. Iāve done the first Ramp Test yesterday, which puts my FTP at 375W (4.5W/kg). Iām 6ā5 and 183lbs (83kg). Iāve always been on the lean side (body fat) but due to 12 years of professional rowing, I still have muscle in weird places even though I havenāt rowed in four years. My weight hasnāt changed in 2+ years. Iāve been riding between 12 and 15hrs a week this year already. I wanted to pick your brain on what to focus from here on now. Given my FTP was tested at 375W, how realistic is it that I can improve it to or over 400W as an amateur with a family and full time job? Reading other posts, weight loss is typically the first place to look at but while thereās some places to always lose fat, I can already see veins on my lower abdomen and my diet is pretty clean (my wife is a pro runner). Muscle loss while trying to get stronger donāt go together, I learned that during my rowing days. Any tips on how to go about this?
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good lord.
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And another rower with some absurd FTP:) I want to see separate topic for rowers. Maybe some new sub-brand TrainerRowā¦
And to answer your question - as a rower, apparently there is no limit in terms of gains and power.
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My rowing days are 20 years ago but I was a competitive young athlete here in Germany. Heavy weight. I am not to sure what or who told me to choose road cycling afterwards but anyways. But my buddies admire my ability to suffer, most of them are 20-30 kgs lighter than me but I hang in with them on the climbs.
I would suggest that you focus on technic and tactis more than on FTP gain. FTP gain will come with consistence in training and with 4.5 you are pretty high already.
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Thank you both! I will try to focus on getting stronger, maybe stronger in a better position on the bike, and have weight come down naturally. Trying to lose weight in the past usually resulted in really bad workouts so maybe focusing on strength first is the way to go. The reason to post in this thread is FTP as W/kg improvement, no to hijack this with weight loss questions!
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Thatās awesome, great job!
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I think i know who you are. Youāll be at 400+ soon
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Hi all, iām fairly beginner with structured training.
I just did my FTP Test after finishing the SSB1 Base plan. I think the jump of the FTP comes mainly because I know how to do a better ramp test compared to the first test. I also adjust my manually in between the base plan because it was starting to get too easy. Iām fairly happy with the test result.
Now Iām starting the SSB2 Base plan and cannot wait for the result after the plan is finish. 
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Is there any data which shows Year on year progression expectations for FTP? i know this is not linear and different for everyone, plus depends on consistency and volume changes but still, if you continued doing the same volume i.e. a mid plan, mostly consistently and doing plan builder what can you expect in the years beyond year 1?
Ie is there a proxy for year 2,3,4,5 etc. Even if its a broad estimate, does progression suddenly drop off or is is roughly half or so each year?
Dear god, 5.0 w/kg is seriously a great feat of strenght!
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What has been your progression to get there? e.g. Volume per week, No of years, plans followed?
Thanks
So add to that the 379W for 20 min on Nov 14th.
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Thanks,
Iām most impressed with your second year Oct 19 -20, which has massive improvements even into the 4+ w/kg.
Very nice improvement in just a little over a month. Iām in the same boat - I just my FTP test last week at 236 and just completed week 1 of SSB1 base plan (5 weeks to go). So far so good. I canāt wait to see the outcome.
The first year up to October wasnāt structured at all.
I started out not knowing how to ride a road bike (didnāt know how STIs work, didnāt know what clipless pedals were, and so on), and really did whatever.
I mainly did GCN workouts I found on YouTube and probably didnāt do more than 4 hours a week for the first few months.
When the weather was good over the summer I mainly tried to improve my endurance, and didnāt really look into numbers.
I was pretty dissatisfied with my results and started to get coached in mid October. Since then, the results were pretty good. The focus in the previous 12 months was on TT, so the vast increase in 20 minute power was somewhat expected.
Next year my A+ event is a 5 day stage race, so The FTP Is somewhat secondary, and endurance, repeatability/ ability to recover and power efficiency will become paramount.
So far, I have based all my training on 8 to 12 hours per week.
I think the keys to success in the past 13 months were:
- consistency
- progressive overload
- high intensity
- focus on recovery (gleaning the hours to get sufficient sleep)
I will likely have to ramp up volume over the next year a little, to cope with the stress of a multi-day event.
Therefore, I donāt expect my FTP to increase notably over the next year. My goals are a rather moderate increase in FTP to 5.35 W/kg (to reach exceptional) and my 5 minute power to 6.7W/kg.
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So basically you start cycling and went to 5 w/kg. I agree - why bother with all these lower values that normal human beings have 
But seriously it is one impressive story. Comparing these with your bikes stable you are like a batman or something
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