So you just completed the FTP Test
1) Phew, FTP test done. Do you recall your average watts? Dare to compare with other Stages riders? Numbers are from 2019.
2) Balancing intensity and duration is the ultimate test. Your average watts (and heart rate — see lactate threshold heart rate) over twenty minutes dictates your training zones. So instead of looking at your neighbor’s console to see if you’re winning, resist the sprint (or unnecessarily standing up on the bike), and keep going until YOU ARE done. Then compare yourself against yourself.
You may come across a lactate heart rate threshold test. Your lactate threshold is the heart rate where lactate— a byproduct of your muscle and the work they do— rapidly builds in your bloodstream.
3) Hopefully, you took my advice and used the power zone calculator to generate YOUR training zones based on your estimated FTP. [Remember, since we did the 20-minute test, your FTP is .95 of the number you observed in class.
4) Watts can be a confusing metric . . .I know, we aren’t electricians. Conversely, everyone knows something about speed. It’s fun to go really ‘fast’ and almost feel the wind in our hair. Few seek out the hidden challenge of ‘more.’ The chart below shows the difference in watts as a function of speed. The two are not linear. The greater the speed, the more watts you must generate to increase your efforts. (Top right number going up?).
5) We’ve spent the last six weeks focusing on breathing and maintaining effort over longer durations. The video below further drills into the primary energy zones. Cycling is more than just losing your breath. Let’s not “stranger things” our legs . . . they deserve better. (never heard of the “Stranger Things Effect?”)