I’m on week 6 of the 12-week Metric Road plan based on FF results. Did the HM at week 6. Happily, MAP increased by about 5% from FF results; FTP remained the same. Now when I do workouts based on the new MAP (which is based on new HM results), the MAP interval power targets are a little higher than the AC power targets (which are still based on FF results) - which seems wonky. So, I’m manually increasing the AC targets by 5%. Any thoughts? Should I manually increase AC? or just be content to ride the workouts the way they are programmed? If it matters, FTP=258, MAP=318 (increase to 332), and AC=391.
Hi Khamby,
Congratulations on your increase in MAP. It seems as things are going well for you.
Since your new MAP (332) is not higher than your AC (391), I think you should do the workouts just the way they are prescribed. Remember that the intervals are based on specific 4dp metrics, but that does not mean you should hit that baseline. So if an interval is based on AC, it is still very likely that you should only do 70% of your AC in that specific interval. So from that perspective, it should be clear that AC-based intervals don’t always have to be harder than any MAP interval.
The only point where I would become hesitant is when “The Shovel” does not any longer appear in the supposed upwards and downwards intensities. But even then, I would not temper with the settings but schedule a new “Full Frontal.”
This is my personal approach to the issue. I’m not a coach from the Wahoo-SUF staff.
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Are you using a Smart Trainer or a manual “dumb” trainer?
Smart trainer - Kickr
I’ve noticed this too after HM. I just go with it since the new MAP targets from HM make most workouts challenging to complete.
Same here. Although my fitness decreased since my last FF, HM resulted in -1 FTP und +5% MAP.
I really, really stuggle with workouts now, especially since I did workouts in the last month before at 95%, as I’m sure (thought at least) fitness decreased.
Thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it.
There is an article on HM - some rider types do extremely well in HM and this MAP can be inflated- doesn’t mean mean they did FF wrong, just means they perform differently to a ramp than a steady 5 min effort.
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I’m likely one of this riders. My FTP, estimated based on a simple ramp test usually overestimates my FTP by 30-40 watts.
I once thought, that, with proper training, 400 could be within reach. I, yet, was always wondering why I cannot sustain that power even for 20-30 minutes.
That makes sense - for me a ramp becomes a competition against it and I sometimes try to push for just another step.
I’ve had this issue before, as well. Trying really hard to reach that next step and I occasionally overreach.
What I have found, tho, is that if I do HM and then wait a week and do FF, I can see just how close my MAP and FTP line up.
On some occasions I found that they are dead-on when I didn’t expect it. And other times I have found quite a mismatch.
Sometimes I think it depends on the training plan you’ve been working on. When I was doing lower volume training plans with lots of intensity, my MAP would go up while my FTP would tend to be overstated by HM and I couldn’t match that FTP in FF. However, when doing higher volume plans with more sustained workouts, my FTP would match-up better.
Generally speaking, I’m pretty impressed how well FF and also HM reflect my capabilities. Way better than standard ramp, 20min or 1full hours test do.
In an 1 hours test (level mode, no given structure, or competitors) e.g. I underperform compared to what I can sustain on an interesting indoor or outdoor ride or training such as Team Scream.
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Almost everyone tends to underperform on Team Scream. 
I overperform on TS. Absolutely love ist. Best workouts ever.
As ErickT noted, some rider types (Attacker, Pursuiter) get artificially high results with HM, while others (Time Trialist) may see artificially lower numbers.
Here’s the link to Coach Mac Cassin’s post about this: 4DP vs Half Monty results - #3 by Coach.Mac.C