Wow, did the Full Frontal today a week after the TOS and really nice jump in the figures!
I saw roughly 10%…is that reasonable and what did you folks see?
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Nice increase! 10% is a great improvement! I think it’s reasonable, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect to be able to repeat that kind of increase each time. It will all depend on where you are relative to your maximum capability.
I haven’t done FF yet post ToS.
I’m doing the Post-Tour training plan, so FF is on the schedule in one week’s time.
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I am fully expecting some serious leveling off!
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I was feeling awesome in the last couple stages of ToS, but was in no shape to try a Full Frontal during that first week after.
However, this week I’m not feeling as fresh and my legs aren’t feeling as great as they felt on the last 2 days of the ToS. I’m not sure what that means. I guess we’ll see come Saturday when FF comes up at the end of the Post-Tour plan.
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This is exactly my experience so far…and kind of how I felt prior to my end of training plan FF test last time, just prior to the ToS. I’m still going to stick to the Post Tour Plan, but try adding Igniter in to warm up for FF this time.
Good luck!
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Beginner gains after starting Sufferfest in late December!
Jan 1 FF: 510 NM, 251 AC, 177 MAP, 151 FTP (sprinter)
Jan 9 HM: 213 MAP, 172 FTP (but stood for last ~90 seconds of ramp)
Manually increased NM and AC too.
Did ToS nuclear option because I knew I was due for a re-test. It didn’t feel too hard.
March 1 FF: 643 NM, 321 AC, 238 MAP, 200 FTP (sprinter)
Well, I guess that explains why ToS didn’t feel too hard. Things are about to get a lot harder. 
It seems most people have bigger numbers, but I’m happy with my progress so far! Next goal: Lose 2 kg and gain 16 watts to attain 4 W/kg. 
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Even when I’m feeling fresh, Igniter would wear me out. I never do anything before FF. The warm up included in FF is more than enough for me. 
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I usually do the Pre-ride Activation yoga before FF. For me, that’s a good warmup, without being too fatiguing.
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Likewise a Sufferfest newbie. First FF in early December that gave 715 NM, 305 AC, 239 MAP, 181 FTP (pursuiter). Started the All-Purpose Road program and HM on Jan 9 bumped up FTP and MAP by about 10%. I’ve been following the ToS recovery plan, so FF is up for this weekend. I’m really curious about whether the training since the HM and the ToS will provide further gains.
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I am preparing to board the pain train that is FF in a couple of days. However, I do not dare to dream of 10% gains (or more?!?) that some speak of, although that would be magnificent!
Did my first FF 7th of Dec ‘20, then a month of unstructured before doing the ToS prep plan and subsequent ToS. I will aim for approximately 7% increase in FTP and 5% MAP and will be really happy if I am able to obtain those numbers.
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I presume a lot of people are doing their FF as part of the Post ToS training plan today. My results were (from / to):
FTP 20min - 323 to 329 (inc)
MAP 5min - 389 to 393 (inc)
AC 60sec - 476 to 458 (dec)
NM 05sec - 752 to 751 (dec)
Pleased to see FTP and MAP increase, even though I did start on 410 and drop to 380 on the MAP test, the AC was pretty rubbish, with a struggle to find the right gears. NM just shows I’m not much of a sprinter (and probably never will be).
With my new results, will the Suff workouts now be at my lower results for AC and NM? These are both areas that I want to work on, so actually being easier isn’t necessarily a good thing…
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I think the point is that the NM and AC efforts will be appropriate. If it was a case that more is always better we could just dial everything to 11 and grind ourselves in to the dirt, but that’s not optimal.
You’ll still suffer, just the workouts won’t be so OTT that you’ll be too fatigued for further sessions. Don’t worry, you won’t be allowed an easy ride.
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One idea is to followup in a day or two with a AC/NM focused workout in an attempt to validate the results based on body feel.
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I’m 9 months into using SUF, and have tested every 3 months, here’s today’s effort (thanks Tour of SUF!):
NM 5 sec: 947w (100w down from my max; I get nervous and mess up the sprints!)
AC 1 min: 519w (+47w)
MAP 5 min: 366w (+31w)
FTP 20 min: 284w (+23w)
In terms of FTP, it’s increased (228 > 238) > (261) > (284 - 3.92w/kg)
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They’ll use your reduced ones, but you can manually override them to your previous levels. On the desktop app, go to your profile > workout settings then ‘edit’ the value and save it.
I joined in Nov '20 after spending most of 2020 sinking partaking in the “groundhog day” disaster that was the Stay at Home rallying cry of most of the officials. Eventually i had to do something more than the 1000 steps per day between the bed, the home office and the dining room table!!
SUF has been as much a mental health boost as it was a fitness lifesaver.
I am sure the curve is about to flatten hard but i have enjoyed the ride thus far…so here are the numbers:
When you get past the great videos, the SUF programs are just so well compiled and effective.
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Great improvements!
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Those are some great gains - I suspect the tour was just a regular bout of training for you!
I wonder if there’s some way to predict the flattening of the curve. Like, it’s bell-curve ‘normal’ to get 20-25% gains for the first year (or until your FTP reaches 150% of the first year), then it decreases to 10-15% until you hit some other threshold.
Of course that’s assuming weight and training schedule remains equal… there’s so many variables, but I’m wearing a Whoop now and those guys go so so deep into their data… surely all this SUF data could make some pretty accurate guesses, across the subscriber base.
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I was soooo psyched and ready to crush FF yesterday, only to wake up with a stiff neck/shoulder.
Tried “Loosen neck and shoulders” yoga to improve the situation and entered the cave to give it a shot. After 5 sec’s I felt this was not going to work, and left FF unfinished. Gutted!
Reset, and give it another shot tomorrow I guess. After aborting FF I did the start of Recharger to wind down. Suppose it is not necessary to redo Primers?
On a positive note I managed to improve my NM by 54W though. And given another shot I may improve even more 
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Just completed FF 2 weeks exactly after Tour -
NM +44 =694
AC +65 =384
MAP +27 =255
FTP +26 =218
Very pleased with new numbers.
Start century plan on Monday 
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