Training plan to get to 300 watt FTP.

ecandl

I am working through the hundreds of pages of "It's killing me but...". I was hoping to get a recommendation on getting my FTP to 300 watts. I am using my Kurt Kinetic. As hard as it is to ride in my garage, I am excited to break the 300 watt barrier. To start the indoor season, I did a 20 minute test. I averaged 21.4 mph which corresponds to 300.09 watts. I took that x .95 to get my ftp of 285.09 which corresponds to just over 20.9mph. I have been doing 3-4 sessions of 2x20s at 90-95% of ftp and will test monthly. I take 2 rest days and try to mix in a long easy ride as well. I usually ride 5-7 hrs weekly. Last winter I mixed in 5x5s once a week.

My goal is to get my 20 minute power to 315.1 watts, a 5% increase by March. What do you think? I appreciate your training recommendations.

rmur17

it's probably what you DON'T want to hear right now but I'd strongly recommend getting a PT, SRM or other true power-meter and not relying on the KK curves. IMHO, you'll be happier in the long run.

With the advent of wireless units last year, you can get quite reasonable deals on <gasp> ugly wired ones . Personally I've bought three PT Pro's over the years - all of 'em 2nd hand, all wired and all working fine for 3-4 yrs now.

regards,

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rmur

ecandl

Someday I just might get a power meter. Regardless of whether the kk curve is accurate or not, just reaching my goal is good enough for me. The improvement will be real even if the number is not. I'll keep an eye out for a cheap power meter in the meantime.

dhk2

Sounds like a good winter challenge to me. As long as your KK trainer load is consistent during the sessions as it heats up you should be good.

Suggestion would be to pay attention to your level of preceived exertion on those 90-95% intervals, as they could be too hard for 3-4 sessions every week.

If you've got a long and fairly steep local hill available, you might want to test your time on that before the winter gets too cold. Then in the spring you can test again, and calculate your % improvement in time (and power). If you can climb 5% faster, you'll have real-world confirmation that you gained 5% power over the winter.....as long as you didn't also gain 5% in weight

Piotr

I have both the KK and a PT and I found that keeping a 20 MPH average is somewhat easier than keeping a 258 W average. It's probably due to the wheel momentum helping to keep the speed up. Having said that you can rest assured that your 20 min power is no less than 295W (assuming your tire pressure, coast down, etc. are all correct).

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Meek One

I ride my PT Pro on my Kurt Kinetic. One of my rides is done at ~21.1mph (34.0km/h) or slightly higher (try to not drop below 34km/h) and I am only at ~232-254watts...This is a 39x13@90rpm

Are my watts reading low or are all of yours high?

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-Meek
"Some people train to look pretty. I just train so I can be the strongest man there is. And then again, I'm already pretty." -Magnus Samuelsson

Meek One

FWIW 53x17@90rpm has me at ~21.9mph and requires about 255-270 watts on my KK using my PT Pro.

__________________
-Meek
"Some people train to look pretty. I just train so I can be the strongest man there is. And then again, I'm already pretty." -Magnus Samuelsson

Meek One

Why is this? Why don't his numbers correlate with mine? Can we get some more examples...

__________________
-Meek
"Some people train to look pretty. I just train so I can be the strongest man there is. And then again, I'm already pretty." -Magnus Samuelsson

frenchyge

AnalyticCycling.com says that you should be getting 23mph out of a 53x17 @ 90rpm if you're using 700c wheels or 21.36mph on 650c wheels.

Have you checked your your PT settings lately?

Meek One

My numbers match up almost too perfectly with Sheldon Browns gear calculator (The number given was in my small range of speed during the efforts):

Gear chart using MPH @ 90 RPM
For 700 X 23 / 23-622 tire with 172.5 mm cranks
With Custom Sizes Cassette
53 / 17
21.9

Looking at actual ride data from a 20min Cycling Peaks ride:
taking a random 5min in 53x17:
Power Min 242 Max 289 Avg 264
Cadence Min 89 Max 91 Avg 90
Speed Min 35 Max 35.9 Avg 35.5 (convert to MPH is 22.01 avg)
Sheldons calculator says 21.9..pretty close.

FWIW Here is 39x12 which finally gets me over 300watts:
Watts Min 283 Max 329 Avg 305
Cadence Min 89 Max 93 Avg 91
Speed Min 36.8 Max 38 Avg 37.3 or only 23.1 avg
Sheldon's calc has 39x12 at 22.9 @ 90, I had 23.1 at ~91..close again.

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-Meek
"Some people train to look pretty. I just train so I can be the strongest man there is. And then again, I'm already pretty." -Magnus Samuelsson

rmur17

here I think the default wheel diameter listed by ACC.com is a bit large. i need to drop it to 0.666m from the 0.674 default to get the speeds to match up to my spreadsheet. I use 700x23c tires Gatorskins or Michelin PR2's and a rollout of 2093mm is always pretty darned consistent for 'known' long courses here.

The math ain't that hard but this is but one example of why a PM that you can verify offline is a great tool. Check it perhaps twice a year and you're good to go.

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rmur

Meek One

Does my wattage look right? The OPs seemed very high for 21mph on the KK

__________________
-Meek
"Some people train to look pretty. I just train so I can be the strongest man there is. And then again, I'm already pretty." -Magnus Samuelsson

frenchyge

Assuming you have a KK Road Machine (fluid) trainer and are not experiencing tire slip, your power readings are significantly below what the power curve for that trainer would predict.

OTOH, if you have a KK Cyclone (wind) trainer, then they might be fairly close.

Meek One

I have the KK Roadmachine Fluid Trainer.

So this could mean the following, right:

1. either my speed is correct and my FTP is considerable higher

Or

2. my watts are correct and my speed is considerable slower

Or

3. everything is messed up somehow

Hoping for #1

Suggestions on how to solve this...

You know what, I actually bought the KK power computer, but never used it. If I can find it I can run them simultaneously and see what's going on...

I'll be back...

__________________
-Meek
"Some people train to look pretty. I just train so I can be the strongest man there is. And then again, I'm already pretty." -Magnus Samuelsson