power / time

Team Banana Spokesman
Team Banana Spokesman Posts: 538
edited February 2010 in Training, fitness and health
if ftp is the max power for an hour:

what % of ftp can you do for 2 hours? 3 hours? etc?

Comments

  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    I believe what you are referring to is "tempo" riding which is usually 75-90% of FTP (the percentage starts at 90% and goes down from there based on the length of the ride).

    The longer the ride, the harder it is to go 'full out' for the entire time (more due to terrain than physical capability).
  • Alex_Simmons/RST
    Alex_Simmons/RST Posts: 4,161
    Team Banana Spokesman wrote:
    if ftp is the max power for an hour:

    what % of ftp can you do for 2 hours? 3 hours? etc?
    I had an IF of 0.80 for a 6-hour Gran Fondo in California last October and have raced with an IF of 0.95 for 3-hrs and 0.97 for 2:15

    So I'd say anywhere between 0.8 and 0.98 x FTP, depending on duration and fitness.
    RST Sport : Coaching - Training Plans - Powermeters -- My blog -- AeroCoach Australia
  • Team Banana Spokesman
    Team Banana Spokesman Posts: 538
    Thanks.

    I do not have much time to train but will have some 2 or 3 hour slots soon where I will go as hard as possible for the entire ride, warmup / cooldown exempt. I have been looking at the SST idea again and wondered how long I could go at that level before the power fails to fall into the right zone. It now looks like I can pace it right and it can still be very hard riding.

    Do not have a power meter but will try to estimate 90% first and maybe increase the effort on the home straight!

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