TrainerRoad – STW approved sessions

Gym? I hate the gym. Or can I do strength work on the bike .. thinking low cadence drills and such

Find a better gym? I was actually thinking more trunk/upper body work – shoulders, back, core etc as well as leg work. Makes a difference and it’s a good time to focus on it if you haven’t got to worry about your legs being destroyed before racing.

mrblobby – Member

Our aim with the Ramp test is exactly as you’ve mentioned. We are looking to create a test that a total beginner can complete and get their FTP without the complexity of pacing, completing a long warmup, etc.

With FTP being 60MP, we estimate it as a percentage of 20MP, or as average of 2x8MP, and now from a relatively short range of ramping 1 min efforts. I’d be interested to know how consistent a value of FTP can be derived across all the various test protocols. And I guess with TR sessions being scaled by a single value of FTP it’s something that needs to be “right”.

Really all the tests are informing you of different things, all of it potentially useful data, and then you’re estimating a single value based on that result with some margin of error and ignoring the rest

Edit… I’d prefer a ramp test too as it takes pacing out of the equation and relatively short! The ramp test TR formula gave me a ftp value 11% higher, which sounds a bit optimistic. Just going on the basis that revolver is my benchmark for a hard session, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t add 11% to that right now and expect to complete it. Have to try and see I suppose.

How do I find the ramp test? I hate the 20 min ftp so much I just guess it and tweak it during the season. The ramp test sounds much better. I’ve searched on my iPhone app and it just lists ramp test X. The description says it doesn’t generate an ftp value automatically

(I’m using a beta version of the app if that makes a difference).

That’s it

@Garry_Lager
I am really interested to hear how your next few workouts go with the new FTP. I am currently working through the Mid-Volume SSB I myself and was training at 300 FTP for the first three weeks when Nate prototyped the new formula which pushed me up to 330. Originally, I thought the formula was off, but after a few weeks at the new FTP I’ve learned that I had more fight in me than I thought 🙂

@srshaw
Yep, the test you’re looking for is Ramp Test X. Once you complete the test, Juliana from Support will calculate and comment your newly earned FTP.

@howsyourdad1
When it comes to Nordic skiing’s relationship with cycling, there is certainly some great overlap but I would not recommend fully skipping the Base phase. At the very least, you should complete Sweet Spot Base II before jumping into the Build Phase. As for what you should do with the rest of your season, that is largely goal and event dependent. To help with choosing your plans, I have written these articles in our TrainerRoad Help Center that help outline the different approaches for different events.

Choosing a Road Plan: https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005927343-Road-Cycling-Training

Choosing a Mountain Bike Plan: https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005927363-Mountain-Bike-Training

I just had a quick crack at the ramp test as I ran out or time to do the scheduled sweet spot work out. Started out hungry, thirsty and stressed so know I could do a better job but definitely liked it as a concept. If it is accurate can see it giving much more easily repeatable tests.

Gray, 2 x 20

Nailed both at 100%, feeling strange!

Hello? What?

Oh I see. OK. Well done!

😆

Not really sure why I’ve not done with those in the past, seeing as they’re apparently the standard for raising FTP.

Anyway, last few minutes of the second interval were getting desperate.

Hi all I’m reasonably new to trainerroad and just finished 6 weeks of mid level sweet spot, and have seen some fantastic results so far. I did my second ftp test last night and noticed that gradient is used in the test, where as only resistance is used in training, it was probably the case with the 1st test 6 weeks ago but I didn’t know the difference as had spent very little time on a smart trainer. I can happily spin up to 320 Watts in training and sit there for some time maintaining inertia, but found this much harder in the test as the gradient destroys inertia.

Is this right and is there anyway of increasing gradient in training to be more prepared next time. Thanks again

Looking for a 2 x 20 sweet spot workout with bursts, say 30 seconds long every 4 or 5 minutes.

Similar to Eichorn, anyone know of anything?

On the FTP test you’ve got to work out the power for yourself and get the cadence right. If I drop cadence too much in a sweet spot interval for example I find it very hard to get it back up in the same interval. During the FTP session if you don’t get to your comfortable cadence and expected power you might struggle to get up to the cadence you want.

I moved the target line also to what I expect to achieve plus a bit more as an optimistic target to aim at then settle into what feels likely over the 2 8 minute segments. I expect each time this target will get a bit more realistic as I know what I can achieve during sessions.

I did the 20min test last night, the five minutes clearing session is a good way to explore what power and cadence might be appropriate for the twenty minutes effort. It certainly helped me to hold a steady power throughout the test.

I had a play on the new FTP Ramp Test they’ve done. Get’s ugly fast but doesn’t last long either :0) Awaiting my result which comes via Email I think as it’s BETA but looks like it’ll be 80% of best minute. Have a 8 minute test due in wee and a half as shift plans so this should double check against this result. Not going to use the new one to set the FTP as it’s basically a rest week next week which is much needed.

Tom – you’ll get the FTP calculation as a comment on your TrainerRoad workout. I think you should get notification of that comment by email too, but in case you don’t then you can check on your workout on the TR website.

<pedant>I think it’s 77% of the best minute.</pedant>

Reading about the new FTP test got me looking at the other test protocols available on TR. If I do the HA & AC POWER PROFILE TEST, does it actually give you a ‘result’ for each of the 5 sec / 1 min / 5 min at the end, or do you have to review the power profile data from the test yourself and draw up your own numbers?

<pedant>I think it’s 77% of the best minute.</pedant>

Most reckon somewhere between 75 and 80 percent.

You’ll see a big variation when testing people’s capabilities above FTP.

I have been doing sweet spot base mid volume 1 which I completed 2 weeks ago. I had my FTP at 263 which was set on my Kinetic trainer.
I moved to a Tacx Flux but felt my FTP was fine on the new trainer and carried on regardless.

I did the ramp test, and was thinking I would get an increase in FTP, but just got a 265 :(. https://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/10930862-ramp-test-x

I then did the 8 minute test the next day, which gave me an answer of 241, which now confuses me even more.

I have noticed that my Flux seems quite sensitive to power levels, and it can be very smooth at a certain power output, but if that changes it will start to hunt for the right power showing quite clearly in the power graph as spikes and troughs. Over the period of the interval it will match the average power expected, but has anyone else seen this with the Tacx Flux, or is mine faulty?

In the results on the website it gives you power numbers for lots of different times for that session and your bests.

I found the Facebook Beta group and did more reading and yes that looks to be about 77% so a 5% increase for me which is what I’m expecting. Although with a better mindset I should improve on that in a weeks time when it’s actually due. They suggest upgrading your FTP now if you take it so looks like it’ll be a tough weekend once they confirm it.

@Haze

So we do not have anything that perfectly replicates an Eichorn with the 5-second bursts.  That being said, with our Workout Creator you can easily take the Eichorn workout and add the desired bursts in every 5 minutes or so.   You can then save the workout into your custom workouts so that you have access to it on all of your TrainerRoad devices 🙂

If you are interested in trying out the Workout Creator, you can download it here on Mac or PC:

http://trainerroadcdn1.blob.core.windows.net/software/workoutcreator.air

You will need to have Adobe Air installed first, so keep that in mind as well 🙂

workout creator is one of the unsung features of TrainerRoad 🙂

Once you get the hang of it’s its really easy to create your own specific workouts.

Thanks Bryce, have used Workout creator but hadn’t realised you can use it to modify existing workouts.

Had started to make my own but found it a bit tricky at times, dropping a block in and getting overlaps which seemed fiddly to rectify using the start/duration/end times. Then having to repeat the process over and over gets frustrating!

Maybe there’s a repeat function I’m missing or I just need to spend a little more time with it.

So I’m doing more running and weights this year which means I’m finding it tough on the TrainerRoad workouts. For the longer overunder workouts (1:30 so not that long) do people think it’s better to do the whole thing at a lower value or one less set at 100%

sweaman2
Subscriber
So I’m doing more running and weights this year which means I’m finding it tough on the TrainerRoad workouts. For the longer overunder workouts (1:30 so not that long) do people think it’s better to do the whole thing at a lower value or one less set at 100%

Just do a workout search and see if there’s a shorter variation on that workout (there’s often a 1h15m or 1h version in there somewhere too).

I sometimes do that but was also wondering once I’m in as it were…. 2 down with three to go is bailing at 4 better / worse than all 5 but @ 90%?

If you drop percentage, at some point the intervals will become under-unders not over-unders so the point of the interval becomes void.

There is definitely a lot of functionality with the WC that can get confuising, but if you check out some of the videos in our video tutorial, it simplifies things down quite a bit 🙂

https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/201377834-Creating-a-Custom-Workout

For over under workouts, you are better off bailing early than reducing the intensity 10%.  Typically, a 5% reduction is okay and worth pushing through, but a 10% reduction on an over-under workout loses the purpose of the workout and, as ferrals said, makes it an under-under workout.

Doh! I deleted a Ride from my career instead of unassigning it by accident 🤦🏻‍♂️

Is it restorable from anywhere??

All sorted thanks to the great Trainerroad support team 👍🏻👍🏻

Had another play with Workout Creator and inserted some 30 second bursts into Eichorn, spaced them out nicely then shift selected the whole 20 minute interval and added it to snippets to use as a repeat.

The editing seems to work much nicer if you work methodically from left to right, think maybe before I was jumping around too much adding bits here and there with the intervals pushing and pullling everything around to suit. It’s just having familiarity with how it behaves I guess.

Hows everyone’s TR plans going? I am failing at the moment – hectic at work means I’m stuggling for any time and not getting enough sleep plus I’m actually doing physical work at work rather than just computer stuff so am generally tireder than normal.  Still, starting to ease up a bit so hopefully get a bit more structure back.

Question: According to my plan am starting week 4 of Sweet Spot Base but didnt do any TR last week, just a couple of commutes to work and a mess around in the woods on Sat. The week before that I did week 3 but rode outside on the w/e and was time limited so didn’t get the training stress I’d have got from the over unders I should have done on Sat or the duration of Sunday. Not sure whether to do start week 4, re-do week three or even re-start plan as its been a bit haphazard so far.

My feeling is to stick to week 4 as it would mean I’ll be finishing off base 2 when I have my first xc race, guess the question is how much do I loose by having breaks in the plan when it comes to adaptation.

ferrals – I’ve been in your shoes (missing a few workouts, having an easier week by mistake) and decided that I should just go straight back into the plan. I suspect that the wee rides you did last week have maintained what you’ve gained so far so you should be fine. The reason I chose to keep going with the plan when I was in your situation was mostly just the mental boost from keeping looking forward and progressing.

My current TR-ing is non existent. I took a break from TR when my kid was born and just hada few rides on Zwift (didn’y like it as much as TR). Have now found the time for a low-vol plan but my Flux has decided to stop working so is on the way to Holland. I finished SS1 about xmas time and have done a reasonable amount of base-y stuff in the interim so am going to pick up SS2 when I have the means to do so. Am not training for anything in particular so although a reset to the start of SS1 might be better for getting faster I prefer the VO2max stuff in SS2.

The reason I chose to keep going with the plan when I was in your situation was mostly just the mental boost from keeping looking forward and progressing.

Yeah valid point. Plus I like Carson which would be tomorrows workout

I found SSB 2 really wiped me out for very little gain oddly. Then I continued into Short Power Build but my consistency has been so poor that I’m not sure it’s done much good. Trying to start fitting in some racing hasn’t helped as I kind of feel a owe it to the entry fee to taper a little- which of course starts a downward spiral

I’ve made the decision to switch to Sustained Power Build from scratch and train through any further racing. Planning on retesting with the Ramp Test tomorrow and cracking on from there.

<div class=”bbp-reply-content”>

Hows everyone’s TR plans going? I am failing at the moment – hectic at work means I’m stuggling for any time and not getting enough sleep plus I’m actually doing physical work at work rather than just computer stuff so am generally tireder than normal.  Still, starting to ease up a bit so hopefully get a bit more structure back.

</div>
Pretty sheeeeiiiittttte here as I got ill [along with every cyclist I know it seems] and have been away, but fingers crossed all over it now. Was doing a sustained power build and don’t exactly fancy jumping right back into those heavy intervals, so think some easier sweetspot sessions will be the first order of business.

I followed SS bases 1 & 2, low volume but introduced a Weds speed skills/spin ups session as well as a longer weekend ride.

Did roughly the same with sustained power build but only really followed it loosely since I was working on the two weeks on/one week off thing suggested for masters athletes.

Should have been my last this week but have scheduled an easy week in due to three weeks of reliabilities and now feeling knackered. I’m also in Mallorca next week so a break now will hopefully  freshen me up for a week of solid riding over there.

All in all I feel stronger than I’ve ever been for the time of year, just hope it translates to the racing!

Hows everyone’s TR plans going?

Heh. Erm. Well. Excuses excuses from me! I had man flu in January that stuck around in my chest for a few weeks. Then a couple of weeks ago I snapped an Achilles tendon. So now I’m bollocksed for the foreseeable again. Just as well I recently bought a shiny new Neo! Bah!

Ouch, unlucky Gray! Hope it recovers ok.

@Haze, I’ve always thought doing low volume wouldn’t be enough to improve but after your comments I’m thinking switching to low volume and then adding in extra when I can will probably be a more satisfying way to do things. That way I can feel pleased with the extra rather than guilty about skipping stuff!

Yeah I find the flexibility helps keep me motivated particularly towards the end of winter, I use the low volume as a base and pad it out around weather/family/work commitments or whatever’s going on.

Gray, best of luck with the injury, I ruptured mine a few years ago playing badminton. Recovering from it was what got me back on a bike since BMX as a kid. Turned out to be a very positive thing!