figuring out the numbers
Knowing that somewhere this question has been raised, and I also posed this question to RnP, I just got my updated numbers on my FTP test and trying to figure them out. In the past I did them on a compu trainer and someone else did gave me the numbers. So here they are:
On my Garmin 500, it states that I was at avg. pwr of 254, a "Max Avg Pwr (20 min)" of 293 and a NP of 268. Which numbers do I figure my FTP off of?
Thanks
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Use 95% of the NP for setting your zones... 268 X .95 = 255 FTP......
.... great job!
Huh. I'd use.95 of the AP for the20 min segment; 20 min is really the shortest end of what NP is good for b/c it's a rolling average. NP was really useful for the old 44 min EN test (2x20 on 4RBI), which makes a lot more sense b/c it's a rolling average. If NP=AP for the 20 (or really close) and you saw dead people, then you did it right.
Bottom line is that the wattage that you use ought to be repeatable and challenging for the prescribed intervals. If I'm right, 255 ought to feel like lowish z3.
If 255 is his FTP, then that'll feel a lot harder than Z3....it's top of Z4.
293 and 254 and 268 are very different.....how steady did you ride the 20min effort?
The "Average Power" you gave us is a little confusing. I assume that was your average power for the whole workout... That 'probably' includes your warmup and the 5' VO2 and the 10' easy spin. If you drop a link to your file in here, any of us can take a quick look at it for you.
Yes John it was an indoor test. I will drop the link and thanks again for helping out a EN newbie. Also this shows my warm up with my test. I only did the 20' FTP test.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/513660075
FTP = 95% of the Normalized Power you get from the 20 minute TT portion of the test. We don't care about average power for this, or for the entire test, etc.
HOWEVER, the very important next step is to enter that FTP into all the jazz (Garmin(s), software, etc) that you're using to track and/or give you these numbers. VERY common for people to test, not update their numbers in all the various places, and then come back and ask about whack numbers from tests, etc.
@Eric- you need to make that file public for us to be able to see it. From your comment though (again, I can't actually see the file) it seems as though you did not do the 5' VO2 portion of this test. This part of the test is partly used to blow out your legs, so it is likely that your 20' number is slightly higher than what it would 'probably' be if you did the whole test. Either way, it's probably okay to 'swag' your FTP for indoor workouts to be around 275W. As per Coach R's comment, make sure you update the EN site and other sites like garmin and/or Trainingpeaks etc. with your new number. Also keep in mind that many (most) people have very different FTP numbers when tested outside as opposed to on a trainer inside (potentially up to 10-15% different indoors vs outdoors). A proper outside FTP test might not be a bad idea in the not too distant future, especially if you'll be training more outdoors now and for race estimates, etc.