@ozmadman looking at your numbers I think it’s important to realize that you are in the top 1% of Boomers with regards to fitness (I’m a Boomer as well). I am in 100% agreement with @CPT_A and the others is that the most important thing is to stay training so you can keep doing the stuff you enjoy.
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Perspective is a wonderful thing. And as a near-boomer, I am very much guilty of this as well.
Though fairly confident I’m nowhere near the top 1% for mid-50’s. 
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@ozmadman – Hey Guy, definitely keep on with training, for so many reason – sanity most likely being one of the primary ones, and increased health being the other. So when you really look at your ‘FTP losses’ you have lost about 4.5% Any statistician will tell this is perfectly within the margin of error. Now, I understand you are desiring gains, not margin losses, so my question would be what type of training have you been doing the past 5 months? You could definitely try an FTP building block training plan and re-test to see some FTP gains. Follow that up, maybe, with a MAP building block training plan to snag some gains there as well. Also remember that HM is heavily weighted on MAP performance and if that is not a strength it may underestimate your FTP, as the calculation is an approximation. Lots and lots of great advice here, and I also really agree with checking in with both your mind and body, if you are feeling ‘cooked’ and your outdoor bike season is a ways off, take some time off, let your body fully recover for a week or so. This is an especially great prescription during the holidays. Expect to go backwards a wee bit, and be confident that within a week or two you be fully back to where you were and your body will be fresh enough for gains. Also, remember to add SYSTM Strength! This really really helps, trust me. And yes, we coaches are always here for a chat to help with more details and individual questions. Best,
- Coach Corey
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Thanks Corey, after my 4DP test my weakness was my MAP about 118% higher than my FTP. I did the MAP plan twice and afterwards I started the TT plan as that is what I want to concentrate next year. I did about two weeks of that and then went camping for a week so when I came back I started it again and this is what I am doing now, hence the HM. I will carry on until the end of the plan and review things afterwards. You mention that a MAP weakness could give an inaccurate FTP but I thought that FTP was calculated from the 2 minutes before and during the constrained 20 min effort and that the ramp was purely to calculate the MAP. Thank you
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So what is the coefficient of variation of FTP as measured by HM or FF? Is that known? Of note, 2.77 times the cv gives the 95% confidence levels to determine whether two test results are different. For example if the cv is 1% then you need about a 3% difference between values to be reasonably confident that they are different. Do we know what the cv’s are for FTP, MAP, AC, and NM?
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(Fellow) nerd alert!
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What I really want to know is what is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
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African or European?
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Pssh…there is no way a 5oz swallow could carry a 1lb coconut. Simple air/weight ratios…
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Yes 
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FTP, MAP, AC and NM are just a numbers, human beings are a lot more complicated. You have to ask yourself what is the point of knowing what their “true” values are. I don’t think that its an important or even worthwhile thing to try and measure the coefficient of variation of a particular fitness power test because the very act of measuring them via a testing protocol affects the body such that you’d get different results if you tested again immediately, the next day, a week later…
What is important, is doing a test that gives ballpark figures to base power targets in a workout on and knowing what to do with those targets and intervals when on the days we are feeling good or not so good.
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Hi @ozmadman I’ve just turned 50 my last FF was at the start of the year I’m only 55kgs but my FTP was 222 but I find the On Locations are really good for my FTP as the recoveries aren’t quite as low as the proper workouts but I also find the Inspiration videos which some may find boring or just zzzzzz are good for building that Aerobic Base and if you can build it then you can go longer. I know Zone 2 rides are not the most exciting vids or rides to do but even over the last few weeks I’ve noticed I can hit my targets better if I’m doing more Zone 2 rides each week, just my opinion
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Since July I’ve been doing mostly 2 hour Zone 2 rides with only 1 or 2 interval sessions a week. Usually 9-11 hours of riding per week. Despite back issues the previous 8 months I hit my best FTP and MAP numbers ever. There’s definitely something to be said for a good 80/20 training ratio.
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I agree with you, but if you know the variance and the expected rate of change you can figure out how often to test. I also agree that people put too much emphasis on what the numbers are. People should not be stressed out about doing the test. However, they are a useful tool to set targets for sessions.
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The variance depends on your rider profile, so there is no golden rule.
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I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Those numbers are used to set target values for the workouts you do. As long as the workouts are feeling like they should (e.g. MAP blocks should not feel 3/10) you should be fine.
You wouldn’t be the first to “stagnate” in the lab, to find out that you have actually improved once you hit the road. There is so much more to cycling than just those “x minute effort = y watt” data points.
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Best movin picture in the history of forever.
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Not my strong suite. What is CV?
EDIT: never mind, explained farther down the thread…