I have had a few breakthroughs recently which has increased my FTP. These breakthroughs occurred on steep climbs lasting about 7 minutes which I ride at 300W. This has resulted in my FTP being 268W however in the last Xert workout I did I was struggling to hold 240W for 20 minutes. Last night I did a 10 mile TT averaging 240W for 25 minutes and that was incredibly tough. I wonder whether Xert has set my FTP too high or I am misunderstanding something?
Hi Adrian, is your fitness signature PP representative of your true PP? An underestimation of PP (and HIE) can sometimes result in the overestimation of TP.
Hi Scott, to be honest I don’t know what my PP is. PP is based on what time period?
I believe PP is instantaneous, so effectively zero time. Realistically, I think it’s around 3 seconds, since that’s what the power readings average at. I think it’s the max power you can hit in an all out effort, but not hold.
Correct Ken. The next time you’re out on the road, try a few PP sprints. Look to put out as much power as possible for ~10 seconds or so a few times. This will help the system give accurate PP and HIE values (they’re likely higher than your account shows), which will adjust TP downwards to compensate. This may make workouts more doable for you.
Thanks, I’ll do a few 5-10s sprints on my way home tonight…
Did a few sprints & my PP increased by 143W to 936W. Does Xert recalculate my FTP or do I have to do that in my account details screen?
Check the activity details, you should’ve received a notification of your breakthrough effort, and how your fitness signature parameters changed.
I tried using your new PP to extract a different TP from that activity, and it came back with the same result. Being able to perform optimally with your signature requires you to be fresh…how were you feeling before that workout and before your time trial?
Thanks Scott. I can’t remember how I felt before the workout but I felt ok for the TT. Not super fresh but ok.