I overheard a recent conversation between two cyclists, one was explaining to another that the reason why he doesn’t compete is his FTP is lower than his mate who does.
This led me to think that perhaps people don’t understand what FTP actually is and its relationship to cycling performance ……let’s start at the beginning.
As a cycling coach I regularly test people to find their true personal performance numbers so I can extrapolate training zones – simple.
Amongst these metrics is FTP or to give it its full title Functional Threshold Power which is quite simply the maximum average power you can produce for 1 hour on a bike and is quite handy for training and racing an athlete to their potential.
Some seem to ‘wear’ FTP as a badge of honour but, and this is a big but, your weight also is a huge factor because power to weight is just one of the things that determine how good you are as a cyclist.
The best example of this is I coach some riders who weigh under 60kg with an FTP in the low 200’s and riders over 90kg with an FTP of just over 300w – who’s going to be better? The answer is probably much the same. OK there are a few other variables but you get my point.
Which brings us back to power to weight ratio, hereafter referred to as watts per kilo [w/kg].
There are two ways of expressing it, either maximum or FTP.
Your maximum power is usually decided by a ramp test and is the average power you can produce in the final minute before you decide it was a bad idea and want to go home. This is referred to as MAP – Maximum Aerobic Power or MMP Maximum Minute Power
The classic ‘Threshold or FTP test’ to give it its commercial name, was ‘invented’ by Messrs Allen and Coggan who also own and run an organisation you may have heard of called TrainingPeaks. The test involves a specific warm up protocol followed by a controlled flat out 20-minute effort. We then take 95% of the average power from the 20-minute test to determine Threshold Power [FTP]. This is simply because no one wants to test for the full hour. With me so far? Good.
For both tests simple maths is applied to divide the rider’s power either MAP/MMP or FTP by the rider’s weight. The figure you end up with is w/kg. For a club level male rider, the max test aim is around 5w/kg and 3.7 w/kg on the FTP scale.
Most serious cyclists ride around with a GPS attached to the front of their bikes these days – many don’t have a clue what it’s telling them so long as the ride looks good on Strava. With many set up with incorrect zones - heart rate, power and weight, those results can be misleading.
So…if you want a reputable cycling coach to take you on, your question should be ‘I have this goal I’m struggling with and want to improve’ not ‘I want to improve my FTP’ you’ll then have a good conversation and usually a long and fruitful relationship.