My Short Time With A Power Meter - FTP Testing

Introduction

In September of last year I was searching through eBay and happen to find a good deal on a power meter and bought it. I knew a little about what a power meter did at that time, and that more and more people around me were getting them so I decided to hop on the bandwagon. What I did not expect though is how big of role it would have in my training and racing. After being immobilized for a month in a half to a broken jaw, I was starting from ground zero with this new "toy." So I went riding for a week or two always looking at these watts popping up on my screen and pushing on my pedals harder to see these numbers go up and down. I wanted to know more about these numbers so I went to Training Peaks and did some research to figure out in detail what these numbers mean. After reading through their blog I was amazed with all of the information that was in front of me and it took me a while to absorb all of that, but the first thing that I needed to do was find out my "FTP."

FTP Testing

According to Trainingpeaks FTP is "The FTP is the maximal wattage an individual can sustain for an effort of approximately 45 - 60 min in duration. What is the significance of the FTP you might ask? FTP enables further calculations regarding TSS and performance modeling relative to the individual’s fitness level. This is critical because, for optimal training and performance, pace based training metrics need to be expressed relative to a given athlete’s own ability, not the ability of some Olympic or professional athlete, or the athlete’s training partner, etc."

There are two ways of testing you FTP but the typical way of testing your FTP is to go as hard as you can for 20 minutes, and then to multiply that number by .95 and that will be equivalent to your 60 Min FTP.

Ex. 400 Watts x .95 = 380 Watts

To see how you stack up against others and track your efforts you would have to know your watts per kilogram (w/kg). This is any wattage divided by your weight in kilograms.

Ex. 380 Watts / 100 kg = 3.8 w/kg

You now have what your watts per kilogram is for your FTP and can use that number with the chart below to see where you stack up compared to others.

This rider would be ranked as a Cat 3 rider and has room to improve.

My First FTP Test

Going into my first FTP I had know idea what numbers I was capable of holding so I took a guess and tried to hold 260 watts I started my test and I felt good so after 10 minutes I decided to amp up my wattage to 270 and see if I could hold it until the end of the 20 minutes. I was feeling strong going into 15 minutes so again I raised my wattage up to 280 and sat at the number until the end and gave it all I had.

Obviously, this was my first test I did not know how to exactly pace but I gave it my best shot to see what would happen. I think that after looking at my data I could have came out with a better result, but I can not complain. My 20 min average was 262 watts and since I weigh 61.7 kilograms my watts per kilogram came out too 4.0 w/kg. After comparing my number to the chart I came in at a high category 3 which made since to me after only getting in a couple weeks of training since I had my surgery. 

My Results

My Last FTP Test

My last FTP test took place this week and I was very pleased with the results. I had not done a FTP test since late October so I was overdue for a new one. I did not want to do one in December or January due to the fact that I was sick and was never fully healthy to perform a test, so I waited until February. I really wanted to push myself on this test and try to get a number that may have been out of my reach. My goal was to average 325 watts for 20 minutes to get and FTP of 5 watts per kilogram. This number would put me in the mid category 1 where is where I wanted to be in May. So I hooked up my trainer and did my typical warm up and went for it. The first 5 minutes were fairly comfortable and was right on goal averaging 325 watts, this trend of averaging 325 watts was consistent for the entire 20 minutes but my heart rate was not. 

5 Minute Avg Heart Rate: 184 bpm

10 Minute Avg Heart Rate: 187 bpm
15 Minute Avg Heart Rate: 189 bpm
20 Minute Avg Heart Rate: 190 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 195 bpm

Even though I have held these numbers before I did not feel as comfortable as I usually do, but I still was able to reach my goal that I wanted.

My Results

As you can see my pacing was a little more efficient in this test compared to this one now that I know how to use my power meter. I would also like to note that after only using a power meter for 5 months my FTP has gone up 20% and may increase as much 28%.For my next test I want to try an average 340 watts to get around 5.2 w/kg, getting me into the high category 1/ low domestic pro range. 

To be continued...