I am one of the rare people that like a lower FTP. Training always feels a little easier then!!
I have just signed up as a trial user so have imported the last 3 months of data. Within this time there have been a few max efforts, so I believe the data set should be good.
The Zwift Ramp test has given me an FTP of 338 watts. This is somewhere close to my 8/9 minute PB. From feel and shorter time trials I estimate my FTP to be 305-310 watts. Inetrvals.icu calculated 308 Watts and Zwift calculated 313 (Based on last minute of 417w)
During the Ramp test I did set a new 5 minute power best, averaging 380 watts over the last 5 minutes.
The 6 minute and Peak power looks spot on, on my signature.
Any ideas on the best way to proceed to enable an achievable plan?
You can flag that activity to remove the signature calculation while retaining the strain score.
Xertâs method of determining TP and your calculated power curve does not rely on MMP values or traditional methods of estimating FTP. That is one of the paradigm shifts in Xertâs approach.
Check out these threads for details â Search results for ââRAMP testââ - Xert Community Forum
TL;DR You can manipulate your signature if certain tests and activities result in values you donât feel are viable. Xert provides tools to do that.
Xert will estimate all three of your signature values to establish your entire power duration relationship. Ideally, the relationship between all three can be established from your historical data (usually requires a few breakthrough rides to provide the algorithm information on this relationship). If you just go with a single ramp test, that relationship isnât established unfortunately since itâs a test protocol and not a natural expression of fatigue, recovery and attempts at different intensities that youâd see during a race, for example.
The signature could very well be right, but if your PP is good, you might want to examine the HIE value which is quite low for an athlete with TP over 300. Raising this value, will lower your TP to identify the single breakthrough at the end of the ramp test. Simple clicking the Extract button might work, or you might want to lower TP and increase HIE before clicking that button. If youâre stuck, reach out to support who can help with this.
Really interested here. I see people posting ramp tests where the MPA drop to meet the power almost at exactly the failure point⌠is this expected, ie. that in a ramp test you would normally get to the Xert breakthrough point?
I ask because I did a ramp test the other day and I stopped 130 watts below my falling MPA⌠I did give up early, but does this indicate I could have gone much longer⌠bearing in mind my TP is set to 20 watts lower than what Xert has estimated based on some 8 min efforts (which I flagged).
In an ramp test, should I be aiming to also get an Xert breakthrough?
Ideally perhaps, but many factors may prevent that including TL status, freshness, or simply not up for completing a RAMP challenge today (âI did give up earlyâ).
If your goal is a BT â or near BT to confirm your signature is in the right ballpark â you are better off testing the Xert way. I.e. a Xert âfitness testâ or any activity that emulates the same types of efforts. Traditional 20 minute or RAMP tests need not apply.
As quoted from this foundational article â Xert works best when youâre able to fatigue naturally instead of various tests which feature âunnaturalâ fatigue. We call it unnatural since there are hardly any instances in normal riding where you increase your power output minute by minute until you canât. The other type of unnatural fatigue is during an 8 min or 20 minute test, where you push yourself until the testing period is over, where most athletes will typically immediately stop pedaling. The abrupt stop does not permit Xertâs extraction algorithm look at the way you fatigue. Instead, Xert is looking to see natural fatigue in your power data, which typically manifests in your power slowly diminishing as MPA decreases and continues to limit your ability to produce power. Thus, with Xert, the last minute or two of the fitness tests â when youâre under the most fatigue â tells more about your fitness than the rest of the test.
I was specifically asking about the ramp test because I have just gotten a VO2 test device, for which they use ramp tests⌠I was therefore looking at my ramp test results in Xert (xert activity chart) and saw that if I extend the falling MPA line, and the increasing ramp test power line⌠they would intersect at a point where it would result in a +10w FTP result. This would have me acheiving ramp test failure of 340w, rather than the 320w where I just stopped⌠this +10w in FTP/TP result would then agree exactly with what Xert currently has as my TP based on free ride analysis⌠meaning that Xert is possibly more accurate than formal tests.
Iâm wondering if VO2 results woudl increase the same as TP value when you go harder/longer in the test? Iâve never done VO2 testing before⌠I kinda like to predict the results because I hate formal testing, I always throw in the towel early. Hence I love Xert, and this testing here seems to agree with Xert⌠after so many years with Xert I shouldnât be surprised that Xert is âon my the moneyâ
