FTP Progression workouts

Training
#1

Hi there,

This week I did the first workout of the NoVid FTP Progression series. I really enjoyed it and look forward to progressing through these series in the upcoming weeks!

My question is: how are these going to increase my FTP when all of the intervals are at 96-100% of current FTP? (first block is 100%, next 99%, etc)
My intuition tells me that in order to increase my FTP I should be riding slightly above my current FTP, for example with the intervals starting at 102% or even 101%. I also thought that in a previous version I saw this was the case for these workouts (but my memory may be cheating me).

I would love to hear from the coaches how this works!

Cheers,

Max

#2

There are many ways to try and build FTP, including ā€œpushingā€ or ā€œpullingā€ it upwards. Working over FTP can be effective but comes at a cost in terms of fatigue and recovery. Lower intensity potentially doesnā€™t have the same training stress but is more repeatable. Thatā€™s where ā€˜sweet spotā€™ comes in, but thatā€™s not without possible draw backs either.

Top and bottom, you probably need a mix of sessions to try and improve FTP.

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#3

They have definitely adjusted these workouts recently. They were previously all set at 101% FTP for all intervals, which I found really hard work. I like the look of these revised workouts better as my HR was climbing out of zone on the last few intervals at 101% FTP.

Iā€™m pretty sure you donā€™t have to ride exclusively above your current FTP to improve your future FTP. I believe itā€™s more about accumulating sufficient time close to your current FTP, either slightly under or over.

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#4

I noticed exactly this only this week. Iā€™m sure they used to typically have all the intervals at 101%, now they are just under and each interval is a slightly lower target than the last.

A comnent from the coaches on the efficacy of each workout and the reasons behind the change would be very interesting.

EDIT: Sorry, was meant to be a reply to @Peteski , not the OP

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#5

I would also be interested in the coaches reasoning behind the change. It makes sense to me as the original intervals at a flat 101% were seriously hard work and it was hard to keep HR under control throughout. I would imagine the gradual power reduction for each interval will help to keep HR consistent to the end. It just looks like a more efficient fine-tuned workout now. I would have been glad of this change over the last few weeks while I was doing the FTP block!

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#6

So an interesting note on theseā€¦the first one is 30 min at or near FTP, the second one is 35, the third is 40 and your reducing the rest time during the progression. So your building your FTP by being really close for well over 20 min a session. Iā€™ve set 1 hour max power records on these workouts. IMO these workouts are doing the job.

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#7

I noticed that my HR stayed closer to zone 3 than the stipulated zone 4. Are they still providing a benefit? I will readily admit that I struggled slightly with meeting the cadence specs, so I still feel like I got a good workout.

I have a fairly large (I think) HR range from resting (43 bpm) to max (183).