What's your untrained FTP?

[Scapewalker]

I just recrlently got back into cycling after a 3 year hiatus and my FTP is only ~195 now and that appears to be kind of low.

What’s the base FTP for an untrained individual?

[JoeX]

Seems quite high to me, for three years no cycling.

Everyone’s untrained FTP will vary to their physiology and noncycling activity.

You should have no expectations of a particular number, just go with it, retest in six weeks and see how it’s moved . Probably quite a lot if you were testing much higher three years ago.

[jarsson]

Same situatuon, but after 12 years of life without any sport. FTP off the couch - 201 W (3.1 W/kg thanks to my metabolism and unchanged weight since high-school - I am 34 btw). So currently I have only ideal race weight but no power to propel the bike

[thesupermarket]

Have a look at this graph. More by weight than by conditioning but it might give you an idea. I think there is one in there by age too.

The Bell curve of cylists - how fast are the average TR users?

I just saw this thread and I can shed some light on it . Remember, this data is for SELF REPORTED FTP and Weight. I suspect this can be a lot more accurate if we threw out FTPs where people can’t complete workouts and we suck in weights daily from scales. So I imagine this is a little over reported. FTP/kg Buckets for Men [image] FTP/kg Buckets for Women [image] Other insights The average women on TR is …

[joe19]

Untrained 160

Trained 260

[Trhuster]

I have trained for over a year and i am only at 183…

[Benjamin_Sandoval]

Good God. Your untrained FTP is higher than my FTP after doing SSB MV1+2, first few months on TR still need lots of training after three knee surgeries to left knee. When I started I was at 134, currently at 171. Have a long way to go… 49 years young

[Scapewalker]

I’m 27 years of age and i used to ride my bike a lot (no power meter) in high school so i got a good base i suppose.

You are making good progress that’s what it’s all about

[Stringwise]

Untrained though is different definitionally for every individual.

I trained hard and raced in 2012-2014 then was basically off the bike until late last year. My first FTP test to get back into cycling was 208 and 2 weeks later was 229. Was I really untrained? I had thousands of miles in my legs from prior years so my body knew what to expect on the first FTP test I took even though I wasn’t in shape at all.

I think I can get my FTP up more than 40% in 2019 but again, “untrained” is a long ways from “never” trained. There is a big difference.

Once I get back to my old FTP, assuming I can even get there, it will be a slog to gain every watt. That is probably more what someone that has never cycled or done endurance sports probably feels like so again, it’s different for everyone.

[Benjamin_Sandoval]

You’re absolutely right, I have never trained. It is definitely a very fun process, painful at times, but very fun. Watching myself progress is really cool. I am feeling way stronger and see the difference in power and speed, I love the training and the whole process.

[grenhall]

Don’t know and hope I’ll never find out.

[Sam_Osborne]

I’m 31 and started structured training in March of this year with FTP of 210. I got into mountain biking about 3 years ago with absolutely no idea what FTP or w/kg were and I wish I would have known what I came into the sport with. I do remember the first ride I did down our local river track and I had blown up after 15 mins and it took 45ish mins to get to the end of the track. My PR for it now is 19 mins

[Nate_Pearson]

189 FTP at 200 lbs untrained.

[robcumine]

I think there is a LOT of people IRL that do the same…over estimate their FTP. Seems a lot of users around 3.25-3.5 as a base estimate it maybe accurate.

200w @ 105kgs 220lbs.

[jeremybnz]

I was 153 @ 73Kg (160 lbs) and that was only 6 weeks ago, after over a decade of not riding!

[G650]

For me, about 120 watts

[Geronimo]

I’ve twice tested without any real training on the bike and it’s been at about 230 both times. But I’m not sure either of those could be truly untrained, just not much cycling.

[MAGNUStm]

I cycled two years (unstructured) and very little volume (2-3 hrs a week at most) and my FTP peaked at 225-230.

I then focused on running for about two years and with little to no riding and my ftp was down to 210.

Not a terrible drop though I was running a lot. 30-35 miles a week and just over 60 during marathon prep.

After returning to cycling this January I’ve upped my ftp to 264 (weigh 67kgs).

[stevemz]

My earliest FTP test was around 260 after a few months of inconsistent training and one year of JRA

[craigmanning]

Mine is 234 at about 175 lbs. It has happened multiple times, I take a 6 week break and dont ride in the fall and my test will be 234…then I run through all the base, build and specialty and I get to about 300 and drop to the low 160’s.