Weekly CTL ramp rate from zero?

reppohkcor

Hey guys,

I know my required ramp rate for extended training throughout the season BUT what about when one has had a forced period out > 6 mths i.e starting with a CTL of 0?

I'm asking because i'm experiencing a weekly ramp rate of 20 TSS/d + at the moment. . .

chrisw12

An interesting question. I'm a fan of all this stuff but I think if was starting from scratch again then initially I wouldn't be too worried with the numbers. If you think about it, coming back from a lay off your fitness and ftp will be all over the place anyway.

I'd do a few weeks of suck it and see and then start looking at the graphs for accurate ramp rates.

jibberjim

reppohkcor wrote:

I know my required ramp rate for extended training throughout the season BUT what about when one has had a forced period out > 6 mths i.e starting with a CTL of 0?

I'm asking because i'm experiencing a weekly ramp rate of 20 TSS/d + at the moment. . .

Got to agree with Chris, you can sustain a very large ramp up in volume and intensity, but at the same time measuring your TSS is going to be extremely tough as your FTP will also be changing rapidly. If you really want numbers, using a PE or HR related measure rather than power related which is less impacted by your rapid changed in fitness would likely be better.

However I wouldn't worry about trying to measure it too much, if you have lots of experience training and it sounds like you do you should be able to listen to your body enough to know if you need a rest / could go harder.

Alex_Simmons/RST

reppohkcor wrote:

Hey guys,

I know my required ramp rate for extended training throughout the season BUT what about when one has had a forced period out > 6 mths i.e starting with a CTL of 0?

I'm asking because i'm experiencing a weekly ramp rate of 20 TSS/d + at the moment. . .

It's pretty normal for high ramp rates in this situation for the early weeks. That will plateau pretty quickly if FTP is adjusted according to actual fitness levels (which you'll be able to guesstimate if experienced in using power meter before you are ready to do some more formal testing).

If from month 2 onwards you are still seeing ramp rates > 8 TSS/d/week, then your FTP is probably underestimated.

reppohkcor

Cheers Chris, JibberJim & Alex I'll keep going for now then - whilst keeping a close eye on my fatigue etc.

You're right about it being hard to calculate tss due to changing FTP - Looking at the data i'd guess my FTP has increased almost 40W in 10 days! Now if I can continue those gains until May .... HA :P :P