![]() ![]() Ideally, the power for the efforts should be the maximum power that can be sustained for each interval in the set, without dropping power from the first effort to the last. To improve performance on long climbs, do efforts at 100-110 percent of FTP on a sustained climb. Build up to 3×10 minute with 5 minutes easy spinning in between. Start with 3×8 minutes at “sweet spot” with 4 minutes easy spinning in between. A steady grade 3 to 5 percent hill works very well. Do these efforts on a stretch of road without interruptions, and focus on maintaining a steady effort. By riding below your FTP it is a more repeatable workout and won’t take quite as much out of you. You can achieve more positive physiological adaptations than if you were to ride harder at zone 4/threshold. Sweet Spot gets it’s name because it is a balanced amount of intensity and volume. “Sweet Spot” occurs at 83 to 97 percent of your FTP and riding here can help improve the aerobic, steady state efforts that characterize FTP. From this 20 minute test take 7.5 percent off of the average power and use that as your FTP. Then, on a stretch of road with no interruptions (most often this is a sustained climb) go for 20 minutes at your maximum pace. There are a few different procedures, but the one I recommend goes as follows:įirst, warm up for 20 to 30 minutes starting with easy pedaling and progressively building to more zone 2 endurance pressure on the pedals. The most common and easily accessible is the 20 minute field test. There are a couple ways to establish your FTP: a blood lactate test, a sustained 60 minute effort, or a 20 minute field test. Before you go out and start hammering away, you should perform a field test to learn what your current FTP is. So now that you know how important FTP is you’re probably running out the door to improve it as fast as possible. Training FTP is important for all cyclists. Every time a race goes hard, it will take less out of the athlete with the higher FTP, and in return they will have more energy left in the tank for a big selection or for the sprint at the end. The higher this number is, the bigger their sponge is, and the more efforts they can absorb. ![]() FTP almost can be thought of as a sponge. It might not seem like FTP has much bearing on ability to sprint, but it very much does. ![]() Long climbs, solo breakaways, and time trials all rely very directly on an athlete’s FTP, but improving it can help an athlete in all aspects of riding and racing. Not many people in the world have an FTP power to weight ratio close to Wiggins, but the utility behind it is the same. Essentially, he knows that by riding at his FTP he can set a very hard pace, one he can sustain and will not blow up. Watching him tick out a strong steady pace on the summit finishes, Wiggins was riding at or around his FTP. In those stages he leaned on his high power to weight ratio, or watts per kilogram (w/kg), of his FTP. During the Tour of California there were three major stages where Wiggins was able to distance himself from his rivals for the overall victory. Andrew Coggan, “the single greatest determinant of cycling performance” 1. FTP is the maximum wattage an athlete can sustain for 60 minutes and according to Dr. Last month at the Tour of California, the name of the game for Sir Bradley Wiggins was Functional Threshold Power (FTP). ![]()
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