Huge FTP increase

[Chris432626]

Actually, not.
Slightly peeved that the hard work I've put in on the turbo / trainer road over the last month has given me an FTP increase of.......2!

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

Stick with it and you will see gains over a 3-6 month period. My FTP went from 230 to 295 from October 2012 - March 2013. This was using a build and a base build structure.

Since then i took a break from the intensity of TR/turbo and done 95% of my riding outdoors - PB'ing most things in the process. Bearing that in mind i have just started up again on Trainerroad, as the weather has been darker and crapper, and i had to drop my FTP to 280 - a drop of 15. I simply wasn't used to the intensity, i was a mess after starting the 40k TT program. It takes several months to get back into it IMO.

I think the key to big gains is to proper bury yourself into the sessions. They properly hurt but the result is worth it.

Remember to think recovery meal/shakes after workouts too so that you are ready for the next day.

 

[Rob3rt]

Actually, not.
Slightly peeved that the hard work I've put in on the turbo / trainer road over the last month has given me an FTP increase of.......2!

It takes time... maybe you need to adjust your expectations and/or training plan.

 

[machew]

I find that opening port 20, and 21 has a makes my FTP better

 

[VamP]

It doesn't increase linearly either. A month is a really short amount of time, and some months you go forwards, others you go backwards. Best not to worry about the FTP as such too much, and look at seasonal increases if you are looking at making training plan adjustments.

This season I have gone from 260 to 301, but there have been months where there was no increase, or I tested below expectation. Structure your plan well, carry it out diligently and most importantly consistently, and have faith the gains will come.

 

[Rob3rt]

Quite frankly a 2W variation could be the accuracy of a proper power meter. A current Quarq has a specified accuracy of +-1.5%, So at a rather puny 135W you can expect the sort of variance you are seeing.

You are using trainer road where the error could be absolutely huge compared to a proper power meter.

 

[VamP]

How does Trainer Road measure power?

 

[Rob3rt]

How does Trainer Road measure power?

Uses speed as a proxy for power using user submitted calibration curves I believe (transmits speed data to your pc using an ANT+ dongle and converts to power in software). So it depends on loads of things, such as turbo trainer type, how good the calibration curve is, you setting up the same every time, and also setting up the same as person who obtained the calibration curve etc.

 

[VamP]

Uses speed as a proxy for power using user submitted calibration curves I believe (transmits speed data to your pc using an ANT+ dongle and converts to power in software). So it depends on loads of things, such as turbo trainer type, how good the calibration curve is, you setting up the same every time, and also setting up the same as person who obtained the calibration curve etc.

The potential for accuracy is there! Somewhere

 

[Rob3rt]

I am not 100% on the origin of the calibration curves, I think user submitted, but maybe the site owners have slowly collected them using a standardised method. Maybe you can obtain and enter your own, but then there would be no point, as this would indicate you have a power meter anyway I suppose you could borrow a PM, obtain a decent curve then return it and use your curve.

Ultimately as long as it is repeatable it is useful. But then again, many turbo trainers don;t have particularly stable speed vs power relationships and you need to be pretty thorough with how you set things up to maintain repeatability.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

Trainerroad have a long list of tested turbos which give them the data required to measure power.

Several reviews/tests have showed the power data to be very close to power meters, i think it was within 5% on average. This isn't the overly important part though, consistent progress is.

The important part is that you keep the tyre pressure the same for each session. Then from there everything will be in the ball park and more than adequate for measuring improvement and keeping track of your numbers.

It is a good cheap alternative to training with power. IT's not as good as a dedicated power meter but compromises have to be made sometimes. Mostly when you can't justify or afford a PM for your turbo bike.

 

[Dusty Bin]

Actually, not.
Slightly peeved that the hard work I've put in on the turbo / trainer road over the last month has given me an FTP increase of.......2!

Two possibilities:

1) your measurement technique is incorrect, or unreliable
2) you have not been working as hard as you think, or you may not have been doing the right sessions

 

[Howard]

Can we merge this with the power thread? There's some good stuff here.

 

[Chris432626]

Good info here, thanks for all the input. Underlying message is...must work harder! I'm setting all kinds of pb's so I think I'm going in the right direction, maybe just a bit shocked that I hadn't gained at least 10. LTHR increased by a fair amount though, I'm looking forward to another test at Christmas.

P.s. Really, really poor I.T. Joke!

 

[jdtate101]

My FTP went from 245 to 312 over the last 12months, this was measured by doing 20min tests every month. It's worth while and very satisfying to see your power curve (over all rides) with clear space between your current yr and the last one, also helps you see where you need to work.