↓ Does a Good FTP Actually Matter?
↓ How to Increase Your Cycling FTP
↓ What About Me?

Functional Threshold Power (FTP) is almost like a badge of honor these days. When cyclists are in casual discussion you often hear things like “Their FTP is xyz watts!” or “This training plan increased my FTP by 20 watts this past winter.”

Why has FTP become such a buzzword since the advent of power meters? Is it actually that important, or is it overhyped? More importantly, if it is really that important, what do you need to do to increase yours?

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Does a Good FTP Actually Matter?

Short answer: Yes! While there is a heck of a lot more to bike racing than someone’s FTP, it is certainly one of the most important predictors of your performance.

First off, what actually is FTP for cycling? First coined by Dr. Andrew Coggan, FTP is defined as:

“The highest average power (measured in watts) a cyclist can sustain for approximately one hour in a quasi-steady-state without fatiguing. It represents the balance point between the energy a rider can generate aerobically and the fatigue caused by anaerobic energy systems.”

*Side Note: If you want to understand more the physiology behind cycling, you can read my complete guide to cycling physiology here.

You often hear lactate threshold (LT) and FTP used interchangeably. LT can only be determined through lab testing, so FTP is effectively the real-world application of lactate threshold for cyclists. However, they are likely going to be very close to the same number all things being equal.

So now that we know the definition, how does it actually help you in a bike race or bike ride? It’s easy to see how a good FTP is important for climbing and time trialing– a higher FTP means you will go faster, but what about a road race or criterium where the power is much more explosive and unpredictable? Here are a few general principles in which FTP applies to a dynamic bike race:

First, your FTP must exceed the Normalized Power (NP) required to ride in the pack and be able to stay with the lead group in the race.

For example, let’s say a rider has a 250 watt FTP and they hop in a flat Cat 5 criterium. To sit in the pack might require a NP of 230 watts. This rider should be able to hang with the group (provided he has adequate bike handling and anaerobic capabilities) and potentially even contest the sprint at the end.

But, let’s take the same Cat 5 rider and put him in the P/1/2 crit later that day. It might require 300+ watts NP to hang with the pack in a strong P/1/2 field. While this rider could hang with the peloton for a few laps, he would eventually get bogged down in lactate and be unable to stay with the group forever.

** P.S. This rider increased his FTP to 350 watts after a few years of training and is now winning P/1/2 criteriums!

Thus, FTP is not only a measure of your ability to ride at a steady pace as you would in a time trial, but also your ability to repeat and recover from hard efforts in any kind of bike race.

*San Dimas Road Race in 2019 – this one hurt! Even for a punchy RR, FTP is crucial*

This leads me to the second point about FTP: It is also a measure of your ability to clear lactate.

This is extremely important for bike racing. In a criterium or road race, every time you ride above FTP (sprinting out of a corner, following an attack, punching it up a hill) your body will produce lactate. You must then clear that lactate as quickly as possible (for example on a downhill or sitting in the wheels) to repeat that effort.

The better your ability to clear lactate, the more easily you will be able to repeat hard efforts in a bike race. This means you’ll have more in the tank to get in position at the end of the race and contest for the win.

In a long road race, having a higher FTP can also help you preserve muscle glycogen for the end of the race. If you have a higher FTP, you can rely on fat as a fuel source to a greater extent by utilizing less of your carb-burning anaerobic pathways– leaving you with more energy at the end of a race.

Put simply, a high FTP is never a bad thing in any sort of bike race! Of course, too much time spent training one’s FTP could come at the cost of your sprint or anaerobic capacity, but if FTP can be increased while still being a well-rounded bike rider, you will most certainly perform better on all terrains.

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How to Increase Your Cycling FTP

So, you want to increase your cycling FTP– but how do you actually go about doing this? There is no one-size-fits-all approach because everyone is different. What is right for a new cyclist might be different than what the seasoned masters racer needs. However, there are a few general principles that everyone must abide by in order to increase their FTP.

CONSISTENCY
When I started cycling at age 14, I don’t think I truly knew what I was getting myself into, or how much work it actually takes to fully realize your potential in cycling. It wasn’t until I got a Strava account one year into my cycling journey and saw just how much pro cyclists rode that I realized I needed to ride a lot more to get stronger.

The first thing I did to take my cycling to the next level was simply ride my bike almost every day. Instead of my usual 2-3 days per week of club rides, I made it a point to ride 6 days per week.

Hardly anyone had power meters back then, so I don’t know exactly how much power I gained simply from riding every day, but I’m pretty sure I increased my FTP by a good 30-40 watts in a matter of months just by consistently getting on the bike.

Put simply, Step 1 to increasing your FTP is increasing your frequency of riding and being consistent with year round training.
VOLUME
Once you’ve increased your frequency of riding to the optimal 5-6 days per week, you then will want to look at increasing your volume of riding. If you ride 7 hours per week, see if you can fit in 10 hours during the week. Perhaps you’ve been riding at 10 hours per week for a few years, you can see massive gains from increasing to 13-15 hours per week.

It’s important to note that everyone has an upper limit to how much they can ride, and so it’s crucial to find a volume target that is sustainable with all the other things you have going on in life. It’s usually better to ride 10 hours per week and be happy and unstressed than to try to ride 13 hours per week and have anxiety because you are struggling to balance training with other areas of life.

Also, make sure to increase your volume in a stepwise manner. Even if you have the time, it might not be optimal to start piling on 15-hour weeks as a newer cyclist. This is something that you need to work up to over a matter of months/years. Start by increasing your weekly volume by 1-3 hours over your normal training load, see how the body adapts, and then go from there.
ZONE 2 TRAINING
Could the lack of Zone 2 be why your FTP is not increasing? It gets a lot of hype, but it’s well deserved, everyone (and I mean everyone) must have Zone 2 training in their program to succeed in cycling. You can’t make pizza without pizza dough… you can’t get faster without Zone 2!

Cycling is a mainly aerobic sport, and Zone 2 training will create the structural changes in your body that will create that massive aerobic engine. What is a Zone 2 ride, and how do you do one? You can read more about that in our blog here.
INTENSITY
Yes, Zone 2 is the pizza dough, but intensity is the toppings. Without intensity, you’ll end up with a pretty bland pizza. What kind of intensity is best for increasing your FTP? This is not a simple answer, and depending on the rider and time of year, you definitely will want to select aerobic intervals to raise your FTP. Here are some examples of the most popular styles of intervals to raise FTP:

Over/Under Workouts - As the name implies, these intervals consist of going over and under your FTP repeatedly. These intervals will commonly range from 8-20 minutes and there are a million different variations. The thing I like about Over/Under Workouts is that they are easily customizable. In early base, you can do less advanced variations and gradually make them more challenging as your fitness progresses. You can also make them mimic your race demands, the “Overs” could be more explosive if you are training for a road race, or you could have more sustained efforts if you’re training for gravel racing or long climbs.

Read our blog on Over/Unders to learn more and improve FTP!

*One of my favorite over/under workouts!*

VO2Max/Supra-Threshold - These are the most simple workout variation, but also quite effective. The Seiler 4 x 8 workout has gained a lot of popularity as the best way to increase FTP. For this workout, you will ride at around 105% of FTP for 8 minutes, and repeat that several times. By sustaining a power above your current FTP, you will increase your ceiling, and eventually your FTP. The other classic is a 5 x 5 at 110-115% of FTP. This one will have you in the hurt box, but it’s great for raising both your FTP and VO2max.

Read our VO2Max blog to learn more and improve FTP!

Torque/Low Cadence Training - These intervals are a staple during base season and will make the legs like iron. They consist of doing sustained intervals at a lower-than-normal cadence. A general range for these intervals would be 50-60 rpm around tempo or sweet spot power. We have a whole blog on this topic, but the TLDR is that low cadence training will improve your muscles ability to sustain high power outputs and also make them more aerobically adapted.

Read our Torque Training blog to learn more!

*AVOID* Too Much Anaerobic Training - This is entirely dependent on your goals, but if your number one priority is to increase your FTP, you will want to avoid doing too much anaerobic training (< 2 minute intervals). If you’re training exclusively for FTP gains, I would avoid them altogether. The reason for this is because training your anaerobic system can counteract aerobic gains.

What About Threshold Intervals? - Before the popularization of the polarized training model, it was once thought that long steady-state intervals were the best way to increase FTP (echoes of the classic 2x20 Threshold workout come to mind). While these can increase FTP, they are not the most effective way for most riders. Long FTP intervals are great for training your muscular endurance and ability to sustain your current FTP, but to improve your FTP you need to increase your ceiling by riding above your FTP limit.

What About Me?

It can be a bit overwhelming when you start training seriously to know where to begin. There are so many moving pieces, and every single rider is unique in what they need. We at EVOQ strive to provide cyclists with all the tools they need to become the best version of themselves through our blog, podcast, YouTube channel, and training plans.

If you’re really serious about getting to the next level, consider working with one of our professional coaches in our one-on-one coaching program and catalyze your FTP improvement rate even further. We’d be happy to start a conversation about how we can help you unlock your full potential in cycling. Contact us.

Email the Author: Landry@evoq.bike

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