Increasing my hour FTP, help please.

ravenvrider

I have just completed my first ever round of wattbike 3min, ramp and 20 min tests, i struggled to understand balancing resistance setting/cadence for the first 2 and went out way to hard in the 20min test so i view all 3 can be slightly bettered now i understand how to ride the wattbike, i would like some advice as to how to structure a training plan to increase my hour FTP over the next 19 weeks as i am struggling to know what to do next, i can train on a wattbike 2 or 3 times a week, but i also commute 16 miles a day (total) and ride around 2 hours on Sundays.

Here are my results;
3min
Av power 345w
Ramp
MMP 339
MHR 190
W/kg 5.14
20 min
Av power 263w
HR 181
Cad 97
W/kg 3.97

I have gone to wattbikes site and got my training zones but i cant find any training plans based on using a wattbike or power meter for the time i have so was hoping somebody here had some advice, it should be noted i am training specifically for one event in 19 weeks which should take an hour ish hence why i thought increasing my hour FTP would be the best way of maximising my result.

Any advice appreciated

mrwibble

If you have about £120 spare go get a lactate test and V02 work up. You will get all the numbers you need and they will be to what your bodies current fitness level is. In a nutshell there is just too much information out there, getting a test is your starting point and they should be able to guide you through the next 19 weeks which is plenty of time by the way. This is my third season of TT, there is just too much too much stuff to take on board. Fitness only comes with years of cycling...

napoleond

So basically you want a free, personalised training plan?

mrwibble

http://www.bicycling.com/content/downloads

Check out 40km plan, which is what I am doing

ravenvrider

Thanks Mrwibble yes a VO2 test would be very interesting and how far into the 40km plan are you and do you have any idea of gains so far.

Napoleon, No i am open to any advice including that of specific coaches etc. I am 52 my racing years are over but having broken my back 2 years ago i have a personal challenge i wish to complete so am looking at all avenues to complete it.

napoleond

In that case, book an appointment with Garry at Sportstest.

JayKosta

Do you have an actual 60 minute test result? The only way you'll know your true 60m ability is to do a 60m test.

Can you have the wattbike (or other similar) available for a 60+ minute training session?

I belong to a fitness center and use one of their 'exercise bike' (position and seat not ideal) but it does do 'immediate power' and 'average for session power'. I ride at a power level that is slightly higher than I can maintain for 60m, and then drop back lower to finish the 60m. I need at least 1 'easy day' to recover sufficiently to do another useful 60m session. My 60m 'hard days' are M/W/F with easy on TU/TH/SA, Sunday is a non-training day. Typically, I perform best on Monday, and decline on Wednesday and Friday. With the following Monday doing the same or better than the previous week.

You'll need to find the training intensity & duration, and rest & recovery pattern that gives you good training stress and which also allows sufficient recovery.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

nigeldoyle

I wouldn't get fixated with increasing your FTP. Sure increasing will help but there's more to going further and faster than increasing your FTP. Improving your core strength, pedalling efficiency will help as well. I suggest the Cyclo90 12 week program by Graeme Street or the Masters program he has if you're a seasoned cyclist. I'm doing the Master's program. Link:

http://cyclo-core.com/
http://cyclo-core.com/CYCLO90/masters-cycling/

The marketing / website design is way over the top but the training he provides is top notch. You could do the 12 week base building program followed by the In Season program 2 x 4 week modules. A lot of his workouts are one hour or less during the week. Longer on the weekends or you can shuffle workouts around to have one of your rest days on a Sunday (2 rest days a week usually). His programs include doing FTP tests to measure your progress.

Hope this helps.

Tom Dean

Some strange replies IMO. Knowing blood lactate levels or your VO2 max will be no use to you whatsoever. A simple measure of fitness like FTP will be, if you know how to use it, and you can get a perfectly reasonable estimate from a test shorter and less stressful than a 1hr max effort.

I recommend the Time Crunched Cyclist Plan.

FatTed

Tom Dean wrote:

Some strange replies IMO. Knowing blood lactate levels or your VO2 max will be no use to you whatsoever. A simple measure of fitness like FTP will be, if you know how to use it, and you can get a perfectly reasonable estimate from a test shorter and less stressful than a 1hr max effort.

I recommend the Time Crunched Cyclist Plan.

I'm using the Time Crunched Cyclist Plan on Strava, better than no plan.

bobmcstuff

The Time Crunched Cyclist plans on Strava are essentially the same as the TCTP book plans (same sorts of workouts and concepts but structured differently depending on what you select).

I found the Strava one quite good, if only because it gives you some focus. I had planned to do the Century plan in TCTP starting mid-March but I've been away too much to start it so I'm going to make up something similar.

meanredspider

Given how much the Time Crunched Cyclist gets mentioned on here, I decided to buy it and give it a go. I'd agree with the last few comments that it would fit the bill for the OP. Like others, I can't quite see why lactate threshold and VO2max testing is going to be a priority for the OP. I'm looking to up my power as, whilst I'd jump on the bike now and bash out a century, I'm not feeling very "strong" on the bike and the TCC seems to be ideal. Same goes for this request (except maybe that the OP has time for two training sets).

ravenvrider

Just to update this thread as op, i started a free plan i downloaded from Bicycling.com but found it difficult to adapt it to my requirements, in the end i found a coach Dan Bennett from Progressive cycle coaching and am now 3 weeks into a 17 week paid plan, whilst it is too early to say how its going i can say combined with 2 weeks of the previous plan i have had some significant improvement in various timed segments.

I am looking forward to my 2nd wattbike 20min ftp test 2 weeks today to see if/how much improvement there actually has been.