I noticed today that my FTP threshold has been significantly reduced by the system (from 168W to 149W). (I didn’t accept)
However, I am still training at high intensities, including intervals like 4x4 at 220W (today), and I don’t feel overly fatigued. My question is why the system has adjusted my FTP so drastically.
I am currently testing Athletica AI and not following the suggest training so far, but use it just to track my progress. I am following a training plan from Xert, which adapts my FTP dynamically based on peak efforts, and I’ve consistently been around 190W according to their calculations. I also upload my training data to Athletica 1:1, so all my workouts are included.
Could the discrepancy be due to differences in how the two systems estimate FTP, or is there something I should adjust in my settings or training for more accurate estimates in Athletica? Any advice would be appreciated.
If it’s really so far off, it’s not a programm I can consider after the testing period.
Athletica does not compute the FTP, you are referring to your critical cycling power (CP)?
I just checked the profile, and the fit seems to be robust and suggesting a CP of ~149 W. Some of your peak values adopted in the estimation might be:
4’ → 222 W
8’ → 190 W
12’ → 177 W
These are quite nicely lying on a CP curve that leads to a CP of 149 W. I do not know enough about other platforms to make a comparison but to me, in this specific case, Athletica is doing its job in estimating CP from your data.
Also, I can see that your 20’ best effort is settling down around 168 W, so how can that be the FTP if FTP is computed from the 95% of 20’ max?
Hey Andrea
Thank you for your answer.
I got this message today: "New bike threshold. Our Smart Coach detected a significant decrease. We suggest updating from 168W to 149W. "
Isn’t that FTP?
In Athletica, the “threshold” refers to CP, which marks the transition from Z3 to Z4. You manually entered CP=195 W, and that might be fine, it’s just that Athletica does not have the data to support this number.
On a side note, I noticed that you’re doing 4-minute intervals at 220 W, which is currently above your MAP (the boundary between Z5 and Z6 in Athletica). However, with the CP set to 195 W manually, the 220 W intervals appear to be correctly done in Z5. If you leave Athletica power profiling determine the thresholds, it seems like your power profile may not include maximal efforts in the 30"-5’ range, which could be causing Athletica to under-estimate your MAP a bit. (this is mainly why the first week of testing is usually prescribed at the beginning of the training plans). I’d expect your true MAP to be higher than currently detected from power profile, meaning those 4-minute intervals would likely fall into Z5. In Athletica, 30" intervals are typically prescribed in Z6.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.
You can find additional details about how Athletica is setting and using zones at:
Hey @rekre89
would love you to join us on Velocity!
We do weekly key sessions with a group, and you can do those Critical Power tests from Athletica’s test week on Saturdays as Replays! Highly recommend doing those tests to get your power zones correctly calibrated. As @Andrea says, if you are not doing those short hard efforts, your CP is underestimated. Let’s fix that with Velocity group rides!
Here’s schedule:
Tuesdays 8:30 am CT Strength Endurance 5:30 pm CT
Thursday 8:30am CT Vo2max short intervals (30s HARD 30s easy) and 5:30pm CT long 4x4 intervals
Saturdays REPLAY FPT AND CP tests and morning longer race pace or over/under sets.
PLUS: every session you learn something new as The Prof joins us and gives some super-geeky stuff to think about
Here’s a join link: Velocity
