I just wrapped up SSB MV 1 and had a 2 watt increase. My focus for SSB 1 was weight loss, so I’m satisfied with this as I had a big increase in the block before this (Sustained Power Build MV) that I was hoping to consolidate. FTP went from 332 to 334, but weight went from 77.1 to 73.7, so an overall increase in w/kg from 4.31 to 4.53 (+5.2%).
My goal is 5 w/kg by the TdF, targeting 350/70. I think I can sustain small decreases in weight, the question is if I can increase FTP the 16 watts I need at the same time
Same goal here. 350/70 but a kilo lighter and a bit less power than you at the moment.
I’ve gone from 270w to 315w with TR since October and know I’ve been around 350 at 68kg (many years ago) so figured I might as well try for the magic 5…
I’m in the last hard week of HV General Build and considering doing 4-6 weeks SSB2 before a rebuild. Was targeting San Dimas at the end of March but life happens and now a cross country trip isn’t feasible so reshuffling goals and pushing back the progression.
Started Trainerroad after some Zwift but no structured training.
February 2018 210w
After SSB MV part 1 I got a nice increase in FTP from 210 to 246, probably a lot to do with never having done structured training before and not doing a great job of my first FTP test.
May 2018 246
June 2018 265
July 2018 275
Nov 2018 282
Basically no trainerroad between May and November, slow but steady increase just from riding outside.
Started SSB MV part 1 in November.
Jan 2019 300
Super happy with my progress, tested at 300w and 4.3w/kg after a bit of a holiday weight increase.
Starting SSB HV part 2 now, hope to see a similar increase in FTP but we will have to see how it goes with the added volume.
Male, 27
Started trainerroad mid November 2017 with an ftp around 200 (3.03 w/kg). Steadily progressed through ssbmv 1 and 2, general build mv, and rolling road race mv with a few deviations. Ended with an ftp of around 265 (4.03 w/kg). I wanted to to try and do another progression of some sort for cyclocross, but I could definitely feel some fatigue creeping in after my first forray into structured training. Ended up ditching a lot of the structure to kind of recoup for a little while until November. Started ssbmv2 in November 2018 (decided to skip ssbmv1 and just do #2 twice) with an ftp at 270 (4.11 w/kg). Started my second run through of ssbmv2 in December at 280 (4.26 w/kg). Going to try and bump up the tss a little (kind of like a hybrid between mv and hv) and see how my body responds. My short term goal is to get to 300 by the start of or early portion of road season. My long term goal is to get my ftp to 330, which would put me at 5 w/kg at my current weight, maybe by the end of the year or early next year.
I’ve seen a few posts in this thread with people identifying their w/kg goal (and I’m one of them!). For some, this seems to come from a “I’ve just started structured training and in 6 weeks I’ve gone from 2 w/kg to 3 w/kg, so in another 18 weeks, I can be 6 w/kg”. I’m exaggerating for effect here of course, but the sentiment is there. When I started with TR in 2017, I was exactly like this too. I should have known better. I’m also reminded of the podcast in early 2018 when @Nate_Pearson was training for the TT and hit 340 FTP. He extrapolated his FTP by the TT to be like 6,000 or something, he definitely should have known better At the time @chad poured cold water on the thought process saying that Nate would likely find further large gains difficult. Only one of them could be right! When I have found gains hard, this insight really helped me see the bigger picture.
I think my personal performance growth illustrates this quite well also and I hope it provides some insights for those early in their TR experience to understand what they might expect.
Just a quick note on the chart. The Ramp Test is the first workout to start the training block, but I think about my result AFTER the training block. Like a test result after 6 weeks of studying So, the data points here show the FTP test at the completion of the training block listed in the data point.
When I decided to give structured training a go, I decided to fully commit. So for the past year, I’ve tried my best to stick as closely to the prescribed training plan as possible to achieve consistency. My history chart reflects this and you’ll see almost all the rides are TR (336 out of 352) and I’ve done a good job of getting on the bike every week. I’ve tried to stay dialed in with my nutrition and my weight has stayed pretty consistent over the past year, usually between 73-77. Just recently I’ve focussed more intently on getting this down.
What you can see from my results is that I had really strong initial performance gains, but then a period of plateau. This was a frustrating time as I was training just as hard, but the results weren’t coming like they had. I tried my best to trust the process and persist. It wasn’t until the second Build phase that the FTP started to tick up again. I think what I’m seeing is that the Base and Speciality phase is mostly where I am consolidating my gains. This makes sense on reflection over 12 months, but when I was slogging my guts out in Speciality in July 2018 I was gutted to see my FTP go down.
I have stated my goal to be getting to 5 w/kg by the TdF. I’m at 334 / 73.7 (4.53) right now so I have 6 months to lose 3.7 kg and gain 16 watts in FTP. This seems very doable on paper, but I think the reality will be hard. 70 kg will be 2 kg lighter than I have been since a teenager and despite strong gains this year, 16 watts isn’t going to come easily.
Yes, thanks for sharing your data & experience in this regard. Also, congrats on the improvements!
I agree with your point of it being dangerous to extrapolate from early gains, even though it might be tempting.
Lifetime FTP improvements (provided training, nutrition and other factors are all kept at the right level and decay from ageing has not yet set in) will probably end up resembling a logarithm much more than a linear function, while approaching a limit ever more slowly (either your genetic limit or the limit of what is possible with your current volume of training) - kind of like diminishing returns.
what I figure this would look like. already looks somewhat similar to yours
What I also gathered from your eperience and the others shared in the forum and the podcast: for a young, healthy male an FTP of about 4-4.5 W/kg should be achievable in a reasonable timeframe with proper training, rest and nutrition. Everything beyond that will not only depend on your result in the genetic lottery but also probably require additional training. So I feel like aiming for a target in that range would be reasonable for most TrainerRoad users.
I need to go wherever you are, I was at 4w/kg when I did road races last year and got my butt handed to me in Cat 5 (new england)
i say that tongue in cheek, I’m good steady power, but I start to fold quickly above threshold, instead of a general build I think I’d like to do sustained power
To be fair, I wasn’t referring to road - but most everything else (I am in the PNW, btw). My observations are based on racing for some time in a few disciplines (CX, STXC, XC MTB) as a Cat 4 at less than 4w/Kg.
I wonder if this is just the difference between road and the other disciplines. Possibly a difference in field size? (Most fields - especially CX - tend to be enormous here).
In the PNW 4.0wkg used wisely will get you pretty far. I’d say the same for CO or CA. The issue newer racers have is how to use their strength.
These three regions can also be brutal because regardless of w/kg you’re highly likely to get smoked by the next up and coming junior phenom in your 3/4/5 race. I can recall dealing with all the slipstream kids in Boulder back in the day as a 27-28 year old newbie and more of the same in the PNW recently. I forget if it was Lance Haidet or Gage Hecht who thanked me after the final road race at Cascade one year for dragging him in a four man break that got him the GC in the 3s. He must have been maybe 16???
48 years old, just completed SSBMV1 after a summer and autumn of outdoor unstructured cycling with a four week break at the end. Went from 232W FTP to 257W in roughly six weeks. Really pleased and motivated to push on with the hard work.
Started using TR in Aug 2017 after 1 year in CRNA (nurse anesthesia) school. I was doing intervals and creating my own training plan, which was too time consuming with school. Now I just follow the plan and along the way I’ve learned to tweak to my own needs. I’m fairly compliant with the usual breaks and life happenings. Really pleased with the product and how it keeps improving. FTP numbers below. 8 more months of school and plan to stick with TR afterwards. I typically do SSBHV and SPHV plans. About to re-test and expecting higher. I’d say it works.
Started using trainerroad in March of 2018 on my Cyclops fluid 2 trainer. I did an 8 week speciality plan for an Olympic Tri and loved it so much that I bought a wahoo kickr to train with. Started out at 208w in June and just last week tested at 285w! I got a quarq PM in October which based on some testing with both the wahoo and the quarq there was about a 10w difference(lower on wahoo). I owe most of my improvement to trainerroad as I trained on my own for 3 years and never knew to push myself as hard as TR workouts do. I wish I started with TR 3 years ago!
FTP progress
208w - June 2018
212w - July 2018 ( end of SSB1 MV)
(3 weeks off Honeymoon)
208w - Sept 2018
230w - Oct 2018 (end of SSB2 MV)
244w - Nov 2018 (half way SPBuildMV)
264w - Dec 2018 (end of SPB MV switch to quarq)
285w - Jan 2019 (end of Trad base 3 HV)
I had time off for The end of the year so took advantage and did high volume traditional base. Wish I had time to do that much volume year round as I feel I responded very well to the high volume.
I’m 46. I picked up a mountain bike for the first time in 2016 and had no structured training until TR.
My first Ramp Test in Nov 2018: 259
My second Ramp Test after SSBLV1: 275 (tested today)
I weigh 93kg, so juuuuust short of 3 w/kg. Darn it!
I must say I am very happy with what TR does for me. I’ve also become a data geek. When my wife and I discussed our idea of what hell would be like over dinner recently, she said my hell would be to have only qualitative feedback from the power meter, such as “you’re doing well, hang in there”.
I am back from a 1 month holiday…I managed to do some cycling and a bit of running. No structured training at all and ate waaaay to much nice food! So results were expected to be down…
This is 20w down and 2.9kg up, not happy with the result, but expected after a long holiday.
For this ramp test I covered the screen so that I can only see the power numbers. I did not like this at all! I realize that I am motivated by seeing the 19:30 mark and that everything short of 19:30 is failure and everything after 19:30 is winning. Next ramp test I will keep all the numbers visible.
At the time 
