Manual FTP adjustment to proper HR zones after Full Frontal

Hi everyone,

After my last Full Frontal, I started training with my updated power targets. After a couple of weeks in I felt that I was not getting enough stress (basically by looking at intervals.icu / Strava and my own RPE assessment). Basically, the workouts were asking for Z3-Z4 sometimes and I was in fact at Z1-Z2. I read that as a good sign as that would indicate better fitness. I knew I could push a lot more.

So I decided to bump up FTP a tad (effectively 8.5%) and then the training sessions started to land on the right HR zones. A few weeks after I did a Half Monty and I was able to reach the FTP goal I have set. I was super happy about it.

Now that my FTP matches what I established earlier, I have two options:

1- Stick to the current base FTP for the next weeks until the end of the training block (6 weeks)?
2- Give it another bump because I feel I have good momentum?

Have anyone experienced the same and care to share some advice? I would be happy to follow approach #2 and lower it if I feel it is too much. My current bump is at 10% (I was feeling a bit sporty/ambitious).

So, Nine Hammers today punished severely my ambitions. I was able to make it fine on the first three Hammers and nearly died on the 4th. I have reduced the FTP target by 5% and I was able to make it until the end. I will stick to this figure then and I will report back on the thread for reference.

Once I reduced it, the effort started landing on the lower end of the HR range which was good. I will see how it progresses over the next weeks.

Hi, I was thinking about this yesterday. I did my 4DP only about 10 days ago, but did Revolver and FTP Builds: 8 x 2 in the last couple of days and already feel they weren’t pushing me hard enough. I only adjusted up about 2 or 3% though, through all my 4 areas (FTP, AC, NM, MAP). 10% seems a HUGE increase to me?

My belief is I should (hopefully) be able to increase by a couple of % each week to keep pushing myself. I plan to Half Monty each month and Full Monty maybe every 3 months(if I’m brave enough to attempt again!)

Definitely interested to hear how you get on with things.

Hi, @AndyCr15 thanks for the reply.

In my case, I am focusing more on FTP building since I am happy with my NM and AC numbers for now. So I just bumped up the FTP figure. After doing Nine Hammers I felt that 10% was a bit too much, but also it could be that Nine Hammers is a very intense workout. 5% would be reasonable for Nine Hammers which kinda feels okay to me.

I have other big ones coming like Butter / Defender / Blender / Fight Club / Team Scream that will prove these numbers rightfully. If I manage to lie within 5-8% for my next Full Frontal (6w for now) I will be happy with the result.

I just started to get the feeling that riding by HR Zones is more meaningful than fixed FTP scores since it is natural that your body ‘gets used’ to bigger/longer effort and becomes more efficient as time passes.

I believe riding to power is better in the long run… but yes, you need to have accurate figures set :+1: