Finding My FTP and training zones

garetjax

Hi,

Is it necessary to do a one hour TT on a turbo to establish my FTP? I ask because I think that after 30-40 minutes of turbo training my concentration / effort lapses a little. I know i'd give more out on the road in a time trial.

What percentage of a 20min and 30 minute power value would you recommend?
My current FTP for 30 minutes is around 260W.

Also, what percentage of FTP would you recommend for 20 minute and 5 minute intervals?

doyler78

Bascially if you conducted the 30 min test properly ie you gave you all and the effort was relatively steady state then 95% is thought to be a good place to start.

See here for training zones as recommended by Andy Coogan:

http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/ ... evels.aspx

Buy the book Training and racing with a power meter by Andy Coogan & Hunter Allen as it will allow you get the most from your power data. Not much point in having all the data if you don't know what it all means or how to use to make the necessary changes to your training.

Here's a good free guide to help you understand power training and how to go about drawing up your own training plans.

http://www.freewebs.com/velodynamics2/rcgtp1.pdf

You will find in these guides that 20 minute interval efforts would fall within the Level 4 (Lactate Threshold) which falls in the range of 91-105% and probably only be able to do 2 of these and 5 minute efforts would typically be Level 5 (V02 max) in the range of 106-120% and you will do this multiple times in order to get the benefit.

Also some people are known to be unable to produce the same level of effort on turbos that they are on the road therefore if your FTP on the road seems to be higher than on the turbo and you intend to mix your training between both then you may want to consider setting 2 sets of training zones, one for the road and one for the trainer, so that you can get the best out of all your training sessions.

As regards FTP accuracy then there is the oft quoted mantra "the best measure of performance, is performance itself" therefore if you are doing time trials then use that as your test.

Over time once you have downloaded a good bit of data which includes race data then you can actually get a very good idea of your FTP from just looking at the power distribution over that period. You should see a big drop off around where your FTP is because most people can hold efforts just below FTP for about 1 hour but above FTP they can only hold this for a very limited time therefore your time in a normal mix of data will reflect your long efforts below FTP ie high percentage of time here however there will be a big drop down once you exceed this so you will see this reflected in a much lower percentage next to. You may have to fiddle with the power bin sizes in order to get the best view of this - 15 in usually good.

At least that is what I have so far deduced.

Alex_Simmons/RST

garetjax wrote:

Hi,

Is it necessary to do a one hour TT on a turbo to establish my FTP? I ask because I think that after 30-40 minutes of turbo training my concentration / effort lapses a little. I know i'd give more out on the road in a time trial.

What percentage of a 20min and 30 minute power value would you recommend?
My current FTP for 30 minutes is around 260W.

Also, what percentage of FTP would you recommend for 20 minute and 5 minute intervals?

See here for a guide to explain the common methods of establishing one's FTP:
http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/2008/05/ ... -sins.html

As for power for intervals, well that depends on what you want to achieve from doing the interval.

bahzob

If time permits I would suggest trying to do whatever test you do both on the road and, separately, on a turbo.

You may find they give different results which is useful information in terms of setting training zones/expectations especiall during winter.

May also generate ideas, e.g. if turbo FTP less than road maybe worth using a fan, checking tyre pressures/turbo setup. If vice versa then maybe road pacing is not optimal.