Truchas +1

Mediane

Help I’m Trapped in an FTP Test Factory

FTP Week: Time to Exhaustion (TTE) Test and Final Thoughts

FTP Week: 20 Minute Test

⏳: 328 (TTE)
🏛️: 327 (classic 20 minute)
🎱: 324 (2x8 minute)
📈: 319 (ramp test)
🤖: 334 (TrainerRoad AI estimate)
😎: 330 (my personal vibe-based estimate before all this testing)

(All rankings highest to lowest)

Accuracy:  ⏳🏛️😎🎱🤖📈
  The TTE test is the closest to the actual definition of FTP. All the interval-based tests were within 1% of each other, which is the margin of error of most power meters. It’s interesting my ramp test was so low. I might retry that on Tuesday to see if it was a fluke or if I really struggle with that protocol. 

RPE: ⏳🏛️🎱📈[😎🤖]
  All the tests are hard. Doing anything to failure hurts a lot. I didn't find the TTE test any easier than the 20 minute test. The ramp test hurts a lot for the shortest amount of time, I guess. 

Pacing difficulty: 🎱🏛️⏳📈[😎🤖]
  Pacing the 8 minute test as two all out efforts is extremely hard to do accurately. The 20 minute test is an acquired skill, and it always takes a lot of mental focus. You can do the TTE test in erg mode, but resistance mode feels nicer, tbh.

Intimidation factor: ⏳🏛️😎🎱📈🤖
  Nobody wants to actually hold their FTP for an hour. The 20 minute test is the classic, but it’s also feared for a reason. I think people are more afraid of guessing their FTP than they should be (assuming you have enough training history to do that).

Final thoughts:
  FTP tests are useful if you are newer to training with power, or if you haven’t trained in a long time. Once you’ve done a few seasons, I think you can pretty quickly hone in on your current FTP by doing some familiar workouts and adjusting it up/down based on RPE.
  My recommendation is to do a ramp test if you are new to training with power, and then do 20 minute tests until they're not exciting anymore. If you want to really prove your FTP, do a TTE test. For the most part, though, I don’t think testing often is all that useful once you’ve got some experience. Going forward, I’m going to stick with going on vibes for the most part. Maybe a TTE test every once in a while to prove it.

Thanks to all the BDs in the Discord who watched me grimacing on a trainer this week! Having people around definitely got me to dig deeper, so if there's one actionable takeaway, it's to invite people to spectate your FTP test!

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Eric Staats

FTP Week: Time to Exhaustion (TTE) Test and Final Thoughts

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Truchas +1

Mediane

Help I’m Trapped in an FTP Test Factory

FTP Week: Time to Exhaustion (TTE) Test and Final Thoughts

FTP Week: 20 Minute Test

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