Help Estimating FTP

fezzy said:

I am the proud new owner of a PowerTap 2.4. I have done 3 workouts with it so far and Im looking for some help estimating my current FTP. I have done a a 2x20 and a 2 x 30 workout with a NP in the range of 200-215, both indoors and my perceived effort was relatively high. Yesterday I did a 2 hour ride outdoors and found it much easier to make power. I did a 60 minute interval pushing things a bit with a NP of 213, followed by a 40 minute interval again trying to push things a bit, but not overdoing it with a NP of 220.

Also wonder if other people have experienced a fairly sizeable difference on their indoor vs. outdoor FTP and how do you reconcile that with your training. Should I just try to train outdoors more, or assume the same perceived effort is providing a similar benefit indoors or out.

Sounds like it's 213. FTP is your best effort for an hour. Many do a 20min effort and subtract 5%, but if you did an hour and had nothing left at the end, use that figure.

I think consistency is more important than utter accuracy. A 20min test may not be dead-on but for a working amateur-biking dad it's good enough for me.

I use an outdoor figure always. Indoors is mentally more taxing and I find it harder to give it my all on a turbo. But I use that figure indoors and out. Again, consistency is probably more important. Try an indoor test, try an outdoor, see which one is higher. When you have your zones it's far easier to use that as a carrot indoors, as you have a target to hold and a wider range to ride in. Doing it outdoors is generally easier. I have done 3x30s outdoors, which I wouldn't even try indoors. Needless to say, after I did a 3x30 I retested and found my FTP had risen...

The thing is, I don't really think the 213 was my best effort. It was done with the idea that of holding a steady pace and not being toast for the ride home on a 2 hour ride. And given the fact that it was followed with a 40 minute effort at 220, I don't think it really represents my best.

fezzy said:

... it was followed with a 40 minute effort at 220, I don't think it really represents my best.

Yeah, I'd start with an estimate of at least 220 and probably higher for the reasons you listed. FTP should represent your best well paced effort under ideal conditions which include freshness and race day motivation. So if you managed a final 40 minutes at 220 during a 2 hour ride and that final effort followed a similar steady effort then your FTP is probably quite a bit higher. I'd guess it's around 240 to 250 watts on an ideal day following a good warmup.

Try to do some 20 to 30 minute training intervals in the 210 - 220 watt range. If you can't finish those then bump your estimates down, if they're easy or you can extend beyond your target times then bump your estimates up. The great thing about this stuff is that it rapidly self corrects as you train. I wouldn't be surprised if your FTP is even higher since it generally takes a bit of practice to figure out pacing for long intervals but you'll find out soon enough if you just keep track of what you can do during your longer steady training efforts.

Good luck,
Dave