FTP
Hey Everyone
I hope you have all had a great month and are stuck well into your training regimes.
As all of you know this will be my second article and was asked to cover the importance of FTP, VO2 max and how we can go about calculating it when one doesn’t have access to a trainer.
Off the bat, lets try explaining the various acronyms and take it from there. FTP, or Functional Threshold Power is a commonly defined as the highest average power you can sustain for an hour, measured in watts and is often used to determine training zones when using a power meter as well as a good guide to measure improvement.
VO2 Max also known as maximal oxygen uptake, is the measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen a person can utilize during intense exercise. It is a common measurement used to establish the aerobic endurance of an athlete prior to or during training. It is somewhat improvable but tends to plateau and is largely based on genetics. So, I won’t discuss it too much but is good to know about.
Now that we have a basic understanding of what each of these entities are, the other day I mentioned that in the event of you not having a power meter, I did not really see the benefit of knowing it and I thought let me see if I can try explain the reasoning behind it. Because as great a metric as it is, I feel that media has blown it out of proportion to the point that everyone has put it as the be all and end all of cycling and everything revolves around it and this is not necessarily the best way of looking at this metric and I honestly last had my FTP tested on the 16th of January 2017 and we set it at 370 watts and its pretty much stayed there for the last 3 years.
So, why did I say that FTP is not as important as it is made out to be. FTP is used to determine one’s training zones usually set out from zone 1 up to zone 6 or 7 depending on which protocol you use. But the most important of these zones that we determine is your aerobic zone (zone 2 where you train in an oxygenated environment and used to maximize mitochondria) and your anaerobic zone (where you do efforts in an oxygen depleted environment). Now for those who train according to heart rate, you could work out your heart rate FTP by taking your avg. heart rate during a really hard interval session where the efforts lasted for around 45 – 60 min or use a really intense race and take your avg heart rate from that. Why I am not a fan of this, is that there are far too many variables to consider when using heart rate. For example, if you have caffeine it tends to raise you exercise heart rate, If I am dehydrated or been on the bike for an extended period, I will have cardiac drift that will slowly increase as the duration of exercise increases or if I am incredibly fatigued or fresh I will either have a suppressed heart rate or elevated heart rate. This is why it is best to be working out your ftp on a power meter, ideally one would go to a lab and do a vo2max test whereby they strap you up to equipment that measures your oxygen consumption and CO2 expelled and you will do a ramp test until voluntary exhaustion, this will accurately determine your FTP and consequently your zones but not everyone has access to these facilities and the tests are not cheap, so thus the easiest way to determine your FTP is to go out and find a 20 min uninterrupted hill and go all in, you should empty the tank and have to sit down when you hit 20 min and it should not be “fun”. You then take 95% of this value and this will give you your ftp. Plug this value in your Garmin and it will give you your zones. It is not the ideal situation and does not suit all cyclists but it’s the most basic test to do.
Now back to why I a do not see too much benefit in knowing your ftp, specifically when one does not train with a power-meter. As from above, this is a test that requires an all-out effort to determine the value. Now, once again, there are a host of things that can determine how “well” you will do during this effort. How was your build up, are you fresh or not, did you eat enough the day before are there external stresses in your life from work or family? All these will drastically affect your ability to push yourself and ultimately affect your achieved value and so the value should be taken in total context and not just as a standalone be all and end all value. This test is also really intense and uncomfortable and used to determine “training zones” so if you are not training to a power meter there’s no real need to know these zones and hence the only true benefit of doing an ftp test on a regular occasion is to determine if you are improving in your fitness at which point doing a test 2 or 3 times a year will show you a steady improvement in fitness.
A much better metric to use to determine your training zones, is simply RPE or rate of perceived exertion and is what I use on a day to day basis to train according too. We break it up to a value from 1 through to 10, 1 been a recovery ride and 10 meaning I’m going to throw up, 80% of your rides should be done at a level from 2 to 3, with the remaining 20% reserved for intervals. Today was a typical example of the disconnect between power and RPE. Normally I will do a zone 2 ride around 220 – 230 watts, however, I did some testing at Movewell (Biokineticist) yesterday that destroyed my quads and so woke up a little tender. Trying to hold 220 would have dug me an even bigger hole so I rode according to feel and rode at 203 watts for the session, nearly 10% less than what I would have normally done.
Another example is I did some intervals and my Garmin auto worked out my ftp because the interval went over 20 min and I did some amazing numbers that day and wanted to set my FTP at 385 watts. Most would increase their FTP and carry on training for the next few years. I rather see it as I am firing at this exact point of my training and shall be able to achieve good results, but in 2 weeks’ time, after my event, I won’t be doing those numbers and my FTP will reduce back to its original “370 watts” and my zones wont be set so high that I am now over extending myself trying to chase a number. That been said if I start to see too many of these natural highs, then I may need to set up a new VO2 Max test to see if my FTP has increased or not.
On a side not, a really quick way of determining your FTP is through an app on the Garmin Connect IQ store, it’s called the Xert app. And all you really have to do is go to a hill or on a trainer, does not matter the length, and do an effort as hard as your physically can. Basically, stop when you collapse, and it will work out your FTP automatically. Its been shown to be fairly accurate and so can give a good ballpark figure, but once again you’ll need a power meter. Sorry I know this has been a bit of a long article, but I hope I have been able to get across my point of view on FTP, it’s a good metric and I use it almost every day. But one needs to take it into the greater picture of things and not use it as the pinnacle of excellence. Because if races were won on FTP, our podiums would look a lot different than what they are now.
Stuart Marais