# Why are workouts quoted as %FTP? **URL:** \ **Category:** SYSTM Software\ **Created:** [March 6, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/t/why-are-workouts-quoted-as-ftp/21973 "2023-03-06T13:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mattc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@mattc](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/u/mattc)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/t/why-are-workouts-quoted-as-ftp/21973/1 "2023-03-06T13:36:56Z")
Despite the focus on 4DP, then many workouts describe the steps as %FTP rather than as a % of the relevant 4DP metric. E.G. sub-threshold with starting surge says the starting surge is at 180% FTP. I would have thought this would be a % of AC - the colour of the bar suggests that it would be. ---
**Author:** ![Glen.Coutts](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/glen.coutts/32/25318_2.png) [@Glen.Coutts](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/u/Glen.Coutts)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/t/why-are-workouts-quoted-as-ftp/21973/2 "2023-03-06T14:14:32Z")
Agreed. That would add clarity since after we’ve done FF we are provided the 4 metrics. Sometimes, I’ll open a workout, just to see how high the yellow, orange or pink bars go. Then I’ll “finish” and delete and have a better sense of what I’m in for. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with a feature request to be able to mouse/hover over the workout profile to see the power targets _without_ having to fake start the workout. And, welcome to the forums @mattc ---
**Author:** ![mattc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@mattc](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/u/mattc)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/t/why-are-workouts-quoted-as-ftp/21973/3 "2023-03-06T15:45:11Z")
Thanks, my FTP is really high compared to my other metrics (or, more likely, my other metrics are really low… ), so 180% of my FTP would be 110W higher than what is actually set during that workout. It undermines the point of the 4DP approach to not simply describe accurately what the software is going actually do. Surely this is an easy thing to fix! When you ‘fake start’ is there a way of seeing what power the upcoming intervals are without moving the bar across? Once ive started a workout it’s hard to tell what I’m in for next! ---
**Author:** ![Glen.Coutts](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/glen.coutts/32/25318_2.png) [@Glen.Coutts](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/u/Glen.Coutts)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/t/why-are-workouts-quoted-as-ftp/21973/4 "2023-03-06T16:23:14Z")
By fake start I mean I do this _before_ I get on the bike. I don’t do this while _actually_ riding a vid. By then, like you, it’d be too late and I just hunker down and hope I survive 👍🏻 So what I do before getting kitted up to ride is open the vid, press play, then pause. Once paused, I move the slider to the different points in the vid that I’m curious about to check the watts required. Edit: I’ll add that in my case 180% of FTP is 183 watts higher than my FTP or 85% of my AC. So, yeh, if it’s an AC surge, then why not say it’s X% of your AC? 🤷🏼‍♂️ Edit 2: I looked at the workout you mentioned and it’s a No Vid. Those descriptions were written so you could do them outdoors. And this was before they offered the export to headunit outdoor ride option. So, in that context, it makes sense to describe these as relative to FTP cuz headunits typically don’t have workouts created using anything but FTP. ---
**Author:** ![Dan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/dan/32/9396_2.png) [@Dan](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/u/Dan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 5:06am UTC](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/t/why-are-workouts-quoted-as-ftp/21973/5 "2023-03-07T05:06:55Z")
To add to your edit 2, I can’t think of any other platform that offers NM, AC and MAP numbers. As such, when in the past taking a written down workout to outside, it was easy enough to scribble down a number relative to FTP as it was offered as a %. ---
**Author:** ![arokhin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/arokhin/32/6851_2.png) [@arokhin](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/u/arokhin)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/t/why-are-workouts-quoted-as-ftp/21973/6 "2023-03-09T17:30:41Z")
There is a trick that can be used in some browsers. You need to open Developer tools (F12 in Edge, Chrome, Firefox), switch to Elements (or Inspector for FF) tab, then click the button I marked with red and click the bar on the workout graph. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/thesufferfest/original/2X/7/7d41d26cbeae5c8257b33851265700af781be0fc.png) You’ll see a _rect_ element in the code with _height_ attribute. The value of height is the target watts. The _width_ means duration in seconds. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/thesufferfest/original/2X/e/ee1ebde278d9d837f167ad3b709a9a2036e2130c.png) ---
**Author:** ![Glen.Coutts](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/glen.coutts/32/25318_2.png) [@Glen.Coutts](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/u/Glen.Coutts)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://wahoox.forum.wahoofitness.com/t/why-are-workouts-quoted-as-ftp/21973/7 "2023-03-09T17:44:28Z")
That’s cool! But looks like more work than just previewing the vid. Edit: fiddled around with it. Pretty cool! Thanks for the suggestion!