TSS / Ftp question

SalfordBoys

I think my base fitness is really good right now (relatively), however, I think my ftp means my TSS is outta whack.

My ftp is 225(that was set today without even intending to do a test so *perhaps* km closer to 240) as of today but I genuinely think I could hold 180 watts for 10 hours so I "think" my TSS is perhaps a little to high in relation to my actual fatigue levels.

I'm new to cycling (6 months) but is it normal have an all day figure (180watts)so close to your ftp?

SalfordBoys

SalfordBoys wrote:

I think my base fitness is really good right now (relatively), however, I think my ftp means my TSS is outta whack.

My ftp is 225(that was set today without even intending to do a test so *perhaps* km closer to 240) as of today but I genuinely think I could hold 180 watts for 10 hours so I "think" my TSS is perhaps a little to high in relation to my actual fatigue levels.

I'm new to cycling (6 months) but is it normal have an all day figure (180watts)so close to your ftp?

birdie23

TSS is based on FTP so 'all-day' power is irrelevant, though I would be interested in knowing how you derived your 'all-day' power.

SalfordBoys

birdie23 wrote:

TSS is based on FTP so 'all-day' power is irrelevant, though I would be interested in knowing how you derived your 'all-day' power.

Not in a scientific way, just that I can hold that power without any effort whatsoever.

Alex_Simmons/RST

You have neither a reliably determined FTP nor a reliably determined all day power value, so speculating on that basis isn't particularly instructive.

As to what ratio between them is possible, then yes, it is feasible to ride at 70% - 75% of FTP for a very long duration, provided you have the appropriate fitness and endurance.

birdie23

SalfordBoys wrote:

birdie23 wrote:

TSS is based on FTP so 'all-day' power is irrelevant, though I would be interested in knowing how you derived your 'all-day' power.

Not in a scientific way, just that I can hold that power without any effort whatsoever.

Holding that power with no effort for 2/3 hours doesn't mean you'll find it effortless to hold that power for 12/24 hours.

SalfordBoys

birdie23 wrote:

SalfordBoys wrote:

birdie23 wrote:

TSS is based on FTP so 'all-day' power is irrelevant, though I would be interested in knowing how you derived your 'all-day' power.

Not in a scientific way, just that I can hold that power without any effort whatsoever.

Holding that power with no effort for 2/3 hours doesn't mean you'll find it effortless to hold that power for 12/24 hours.

I never said 2-3 hours?

SalfordBoys

Wow, the forums are so friendly :-/

Guys, you don't HAVE to pick apart posts in such an anal fashion, but fine, whatever makes you feel good.

All day power was clearly not an exact science.

My Ftp was done 3 weeks ago at 209, so yes, that one was. Sheesh.....

ryan_w-2

I did 9 hours at 263w with man flu in October.

I did 11 hours at 212w in good health in May.

The 9 hours was much easier than the 11.

FTP around 340w.

Go figure.

(I’m not really sure what you want out of this post?!)...

maryka

Nobody is being unfriendly.

Your exact words (emphasis mine):

SalfordBoys wrote:

My ftp is 225(that was set today without even intending to do a test so *perhaps* km closer to 240) as of today but I genuinely think I could hold 180 watts for 10 hours so I "think" my TSS is perhaps a little to high in relation to my actual fatigue levels.

Speculation is hardly the truth. Go and do 240w for an hour, and then 180w for 10 hours (straight riding, not 15 hours with 10 hours of riding within it) and then come back and ask. Til then nobody will take you seriously, because it's not a serious question. Not unfriendly, just realistic.

birdie23

SalfordBoys wrote:

Wow, the forums are so friendly :-/

Guys, you don't HAVE to pick apart posts in such an anal fashion, but fine, whatever makes you feel good.

All day power was clearly not an exact science.

My Ftp was done 3 weeks ago at 209, so yes, that one was. Sheesh.....

Not being unfriendly at all.

I answered your original question, the TSS is accurate because it's based on FTP. Any other figures are irrelevant to it.

As for all-day power, I was curious as to how you'd decided what you could do without actually doing it. Then, as maryka has said, it's hard to take it seriously when it's just speculation.

burnthesheep

This topic seems to confuse a couple different things.

Are you more interested in determining a more accurate TSS for training, or are you more interested in knowing at about what power you could ride for a day-long enduro before you do one?

The first is easy. You don't have the data yet to determine your TSS for rides/workouts. Do a proper test of the style you like (8, 20, 60 minutes, then apply the proper % and plug into TP, Strava, your Wahoo, Garmin.........etc......

You should accumulate 100 TSS for each hour at threshold power. You can google the formula, but with a proper ftp wattage input into an Elemnt, Bolt, some Garmins, and online services calculate it for you from there.

I'm willing to bet about 75% of people riding with a meter haven't updated their ftp to calculate TSS and think they're rocking out some awesome hard weeks when in reality I bet they're a few hundred TSS points lower per week.

The second is easy.....either go do 5 hours and extrapolate the downward trend OR go ride 10 hours.

birdie23

burnthesheep wrote:

The first is easy. You don't have the data yet to determine your TSS for rides/workouts. Do a proper test of the style you like (8, 20, 60 minutes, then apply the proper % and plug into TP, Strava, your Wahoo, Garmin.........etc......

He has his FTP, he was questioning whether his TSS scores were wrong because he believes he can ride at 180W for 8 hours. Obviously that's irrelevant because TSS is related to FTP, not any other measure of endurance power.

Alex_Simmons/RST

birdie23 wrote:

He has his FTP, ...

I'm not so sure the OP does:

SalfordBoys wrote:

My ftp is 225(that was set today without even intending to do a test so *perhaps* km closer to 240)

SalfordBoys wrote:

My Ftp was done 3 weeks ago at 209

Given the guesses for FTP are spread over a 15% range, 3 weeks and with no test protocol or measurement method reported, I'd suggest the OP work out and settle on a reliable method of assessing performance capability and go from there.

What sort of performance tests are appropriate for the OP depend on things we have no information on.

Perhaps if we had a bit more to go on, we could suggest some reasonable options.

birdie23

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

birdie23 wrote:

He has his FTP, ...

I'm not so sure the OP does:

Fair point. My assumption was the 209W was an actual test.

OP, you need to do a proper FTP test. It isn't something you can think is this number or that number. If the 209W was from an actual test then you clearly didn't do it right if 3 weeks later you can get a 225W 20 minutes effort (236W if it was calculated by software based on 20 mins) and still feel like you could do more. Did you do the test on the road or on a trainer? As long as you push yourself so you've got nothing left after 20 minutes the trainer will probably be most accurate due to outdoor factors (traffic etc). Do one and then post the result here and people like Alex (infinitely wiser than I on these things) may be able to help you.

You commented on another post recently about eating 500g/day of carbs and that it is fine and doesn't make you fat. Yet, I saw on your Strava, at the time, that you were asking how you could lose more weight... You need to be doing some pretty intense miles to require 2000cals worth of carbs every day. Can you honestly say that you are doing that?

You can't be asking people's opinion and then get upset or claim they are being unfriendly when you don't like the realistic responses.