Your FTP improvements

I’m 183 cm and 114 kg and 54 years old
I started SS base 1 low vol at 195 watts and have just started SS base 2 at 208 watts. I’m very happy with the training but I can’t get the bloody scales to move down yet.
Thank to everyone who has posted their results. I’m glad to see my improvement is about normal.

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Oh.god… my numbers are so shocking!!

Perpetually stuck around 210-220 indoors (though admittedly consistency without injury has always proven a little problematic)

According to Xert and my Garmin auto estimator I was in the 240-250 range outdoors over the summer and felt strong and could see the gains. The ramp test at end of summer was very sad then (though these modern A rated houses are so warm that I’m still toying with having ac installed)

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Ditto. First structured winter. After 1 month off the bike, I’m almost done SSB Lo vol 1 (plus my own added Endurance rides). Noticeable rise in fitness for sure. I feel like a bike rider again instead of a sweaty blob of Spam. Doing my next Ramp soon so it’ll be interesting to see what the improvement is.

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Started cold off the couch never rode a road bike before at 140 ftp and 210 lbs. Started training with zwift and over the winter did some random workouts and topped off with an 8 week ftp builder and got up to 233, and completed the Tour de Zwift which was the hardest thing I’ve ever done! Rosen mostly outside over the summer and a few TR workouts thrown in there on rainy days and upped to a 249 ftp and 165lbs!

Lookin forward to seeing where a full training plan can take me. I’d love to see 300 watts and a few more kg lost and get over the 4w/kg mark and am pretty confident I can get there!

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Just so you know there is life at the other end of the Universe…I’m a 60 year old, overweight guy and my first FTP ramp test with TrainerRoad gave an FTP of 130. After completing the low volume I sweet-spot base it went up to a mighty 138, or a 6% improvement. Coupled with weight loss, power/kg went up 11%. Chunking my way through Sweet-spot base LVII now.

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So, i started TR with a FTP of 270 in November 2017 and i followed SSB, SPB & a rough 40k TT plan to finish. I managed to lose about 8kg during the time too. These are my results:

Start: 270W
2nd Jan 2018: 274W
5th May 2018: 285W
14th May 2018: 296W
11th June 2018: 300W
3rd October 2018: 318W

So happy with how my first year on TR has gone, and i can’t wait to see what another BBS cycle will produce :smiley:

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Completely new to structured training…well any training really!
I ride MTB and focus on Marathon and Multi Day Stage races

I am not too concerned with my FTP number, but more with my w/kg number. I am in my third week of SSB Mid Vol and did the ramp test 3 weeks ago, I came in at:
99.5kg
263 FTP
2.65 w/kg

I hope to get this number up with a combination of dropping weight and increasing power. I would love to be around 85kg and 300FTP = 3.5 w/kg. I am 1.78cm tall, so even at 85kg, I could probably be lighter, but I am big boned! :grin:

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Hi, I got from 239 to 296 in 2017 using Traditional Base, Sustained Power Build and Century plans. These have all been heavily modified since, but I reused them in 2018 and got to 297. I’m 51 years old and with discipline can get to 4 W/Kg eating healthily (Endurance Diet) and structured training. I’m thinking changing it up in January next year when I kick things off again getting ready for an Haute Route in August. I’ll go SS Base (mulling whether my old bones could handle High Volume), Sustained Power Build and then thinking of going to Climbing Road Race for speciality as I need more VO2Max ability and seem to adapt to sweet spot fairly easily.

Hi!

First time poster here. I started using TR after a 5 year hiatus living abroad. I went from 189W (november 2017) to 280W (april 2018). My target are MTB Marathon events, so I went through SSB 1, SSB 2 and Sustained Power Build. Then again life got in the way, couldn´t even finish my specialty plan and nowadays I´m starting the 2019 season at 240W.

This year I would love to hit again 280W (or more!), but with at least 5 kg less of body fat.

Cheers from Spain!

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Just joined Trainerroad.
Did 8mins FTP protocol to kick off Sweet Spot Base Mid Volume plan. Tested at 304W at 89kg at 49 years old.
We’ll see where it goes.

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Just finished my first ramp test ready for sweet spot.

After seeing all the results here it’s lower than everyone else at virtual 224W & 3.2W/kg but it is a starting point.

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Dude…do NOT compare!!

It’s YOUR power – own it.

Sweet spot the hell out of it!

:zap:

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hi i am new to trainer road, coming from zwift, my FTP was 217, just did the ramp test got 250 ! thats a 15% increase, i guess i was not good at testing with the zwift test.

any ideas ? is this accurate.

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Hi mate, welcome to the TR community.

I believe zwift uses a different testing protocol which is more susceptible to pacing errors. Not many people know what their 20min max or 2 x 8min max effort is, so it’s generally an exercise in figuring out what you think you can do and then trying to do it. As you can see, unless you have a good basis for your assumption, it’s not the most fantastic way to achieve what you’re after, which is accurate training levels.

What’s important to note however is that although the ramp test takes away a lot of these pacing issues, it is still predicated on an average deviation from your 1 min max power, which is to say that TR takes 75% of your 1 min max and says “that’s your threshold”. For many people, this percentage will be higher, for others it will be lower. The best way of finding out where you sit is to try and do a 2 x 10min threshold workout. You should be able to sustain it without feeling like you want to die or that you’re digging really deep. During the workout, adjust the intensity up or down, and I would use that as your new FTP.

Enjoy!

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SSB Lo 1 (TSS 305/wk av)

  • October: 271 (+8%; 3.93 w/kg)

Might be closer to 275 but strength training messes with muh legs.

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I’m only 210W & 3.0 W/kg, but I came from 2.1 W/kg. As said above don’t compare with others just yet. Its your journey :muscle:t3:

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3,2W/kg is what matters which is not that bad !

I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s not like you have a ‘real’ FTP that’s engraved on your heart. TrainerRoad know their protocol and calibrate their workouts against that. Zwift have theirs and calibrate their workouts against that and so on. I’d recommend always using the same protocol to compare your ability, so if you started with TrainerRoad’s ramp test, test yourself with that every few months even if you also use Zwift’s or Suf’s or anyone else’s. By all means use other people’s FTP tests, but choose one to be your benchmark index.

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My FTP history:
Nov 17, 2017: 143 (Weight: 110kg so 1.3 w/kg)
Jan 2, 2017: 160
Feb 3: 181
Mar 6: 203
Apr 16: 216
May 23: 230
Sep 14: 245
Oct 3: 255 (Weight: 83kg, 3.07 w/kg)

I started out doing mostly the low- and mid-volume sweet-spot base plans, with one build and specialty phase leading up to early June. I’ve also done a lot of Zwift rides/races and SufferFest videos here and there as well, but the Sweet-Spot Base plans have been the core of my training. I’m currently on the high-volume SSB plan and yes, it’s pretty much kicking my a$$.

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Impressive increase from 143watts to 255wattd… Even more impressive going from 110kg to 83kg. Great work mate

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