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F
unctional
P
ower
T
hreshold
Power/Watts – What is it?
It has been said that from a coaching perspective the Watt is the measurement of truth: why is this?
Because you either can perform at a set wattage at a given time or you can’t, the response is instant. For the coach and athlete
this is very useful as it provides unequivocal feedback of what has been performed in terms of intensity, duration and total
workload. This adds a level of precision to workouts not otherwise possible with other metrics such as heart rate or RPE. Power
provides an objective measure of progress and is an excellent indication of fitness.
Functional Threshold Power (FTP)
Functional Threshold Power is one of the key factors of your power cycling armory but what is it?
It's generally agreed that FTP is the maximal power output that can be
sustained
for the duration of one hour, the classic time
trial.
This is why FTP is important. We know that the exercise intensity at which lactate begins to accumulate - the lactate threshold
(LT) - is a powerful predictor of endurance ability, this is because although cardiovascular fitness, i.e., maximal oxygen uptake
(VO2max) sets the upper limit to the rate of aerobic energy production, it is the metabolic fitness indicated, LT, that determines
the percentage of VO2max that can be utilized for a given period of time. Consequently, LT - especially when expressed as a
power output, is the single most important physiological determinant of performance. This therefore provides a physiologically
sound basis around which to design power meter-based training programs.
How do we Measure FTP?
There are a number of ways to test riders FTP but the two most commonly employed by riders is the 20-minute test and the
other being much shorter at 5 minutes. Each of these has a high correlation to the 60-minute test but were developed for
practical reasons of time and ability of the majority of individuals.
20-minute Functional Threshold Power protocol*
20 minutes easy warm-up
3 x 1-minute speed bursts with a minute rest between (100 RPM pedal cadence)
5 minutes easy
5 minutes all out (hard at first, but not so hard that you can’t complete the effort)
10 minutes easy
20-minute steady max effort (this is the test – like the previous 5-minute all-out effort, keep in control, hard but steady,
you don’t want to burn too many matches and get toasted in the end)
10 to 15-minute cooldown
5-minute Functional Threshold Power protocol
20 minutes easy warm-up
3 x 1-minute speed bursts with a minute rest between (100 RPM pedal cadence)
5 minutes easy
5 minutes all out (this is the test so go hard at first, but not so hard that you can’t complete the effort)
10 to 15-minute cool-down
* Training and Racing with a Power Meter: Allen and Coggan, 2
nd
Ed 2010.
FTP and Zones
Zones, be it in Heart rate or describing energy systems, can mislead people in to thinking that the levels are compartmentalized
into set and discrete physiological responses. It has to be emphasized that there is a sliding continuum that blends across one
level to the next. There is no physiological ‘switch’ from one level to the next but a sliding scale of effort across the identified
training outcomes. The reason we use zones is that it offers coaches a framework for understanding, to develop a structure for
sustained improvement.
A simple way to remember it in relation to time is: “the harder you do it, the less time you can do it for".
