Hello FasCats - for those of us that are new here, FTP testing is a crucial part to your training.
Read and watch this training tip and let us know if you have any q’s here!
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Hello! I have a question on how to salvage a “failed” test.
Did my first ever field test a few weeks ago (at the start of SS1). As I had no idea how though the 20min would be, I started out too easy. I also started my last push way too late. This resulted in a big spike in the end.
The average power for the 20min was 203w so this would have given me an FTP of 193w.
Would it have been a better idea to calculate the FTP from my Normalized Power (212w) or do the test over again?
Thank you for the help and great products!
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Hey @jarkko.puustinen I responded to you in TP, but just wanted to respond here too as it may help someone else.
You do not want to use NP from your 20 min test (NP is not a good metric for shorter efforts). That being said you can use NP from a 60 min effort to get a good idea of whether your current FTP is accurate. If NP > FTP then your FTP is likely higher than you have it set at.
It just so happened that you set a new 60 min power on the 14th that showed a NP of 216w. So until your next planned FTP test, use that number 
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Thank you Lacey for the help!
SS1 plan has worked well so can’t wait for the next FTP test 
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You are welcome… Keep turning those workouts green!! 
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I did a 20 min FTP on July 4th (9 weeks ago). About to start the Cyclocross Intervals block which calls for a FTP test. Should I test or substitute for another workout? In regards to whether I will test up, the answer is “mostly likely” as my training has been mostly green in TP given the intense summer heat in July and Aug.
Yes, you should definitely test!
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I hold a somewhat different view. Any cyclist with some tenure in structured training knows when their quality sessions (“QS”) are or have become too easy. Further, and especially for masters riders, IMHO most only have so many absolute max efforts in the tank per season and I believe in tapping into that reservoir for meaningful events.
Lastly, there is no specific magic number for FTP that then makes one’s zones and training so much more productive. There are significant physiological differences even between riders of very similar slow/fast twitch characteristics and to posit that a fixed formula should be uniformly applied across all phenotypes to define their apt training ranges/durations for QS just doesn’t bear out.
The most productive training is accomplished as a longer term process with studious attention to weekly, monthly and seasonal trends and steadfast commitment to continuity of the process. Beginners look at things linearly because their progress is daily discernible but that doesn’t hold for long. Focus on and commit to the longer term process and the results will take care of themselves.
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What if my power meter read zero for 38 seconds (which it did today, annoyingly, at minute 13:33)? if I skip that part, the first 2/3s were at 270, the final 1/3 was at 265; the average with the 38s of zero is 261. the NP for the whole thing with zeros is 268. Should I average the two values e.g., (270 + 270 + 265)/3 = 268
either way it’s about a 5% increase (wohoo!) in FTP halfway through SS 16 week program (which I did first block of, then switched to weights program, finished that, then re-engaged second block SS 16 wk).
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I would take my average (not normalized) power excluding the 38 seconds.