CTL and TSB when improving

Nicolai Foss

I got my PT in february around april my FTP was 268 (20 minutes test of 292) with a CTL of 45, now my CTL is 70 and my FTP is 305 (60 min test). When I started using cyclingpeaks my TSB correlated well with how I felt on a given day, but as my CTL increased I find I am often wasted despite having a TSB>0 - does anybody have similar experiences?

Alex Simmons

Gains get harder the higher you go.

How does training with a CTL of 70 compare to previous seasons? (I know you didn't have a PM before but in terms of how long / hard / consistently you trained before?)

If you haven't trained at that level of cumulative fatigue before, you may find it hard at times. Typically you want to look at raising your CTL ceiling as a season by season thing.

Having said that, a CTL of 70 is not sky high by any means so I would expect most well trained cyclists to be able to manage such a load.

If your PE is regularly out of whack with TSB, then maybe (assuming FTP set correctly) you are ready for an easing back for a while before another build phase.

__________________
http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/
http://www.cyclecoach.com/

Nicolai Foss

Hi Alex. As you can see I´ve confirmed my PB from the club TT that we discussed earlier (It seems to be a combo of my best form yet and motivation). I´ve only owned a bike for three years (never done aerobic training before at age 36:rolleyes and have been gradually buildding from year to year. I´ve propably never before in my life been in such a form - the previous years I´ve usually had my forms interrupted by weeks of the bike, but this year I´ve been consistent on it for the last four months.

Do you think I should let my CTL trail off tpwards fall or continue building aerobic fitness through the fall and winter (My goal is now set at a ftp of 330:cool.

NomadVW

In my n=1 experience, just being "positive" TSB is not an indicator of form for me. If I do a hard ride on Sundaywhile negative TSB, and because I take a day off on Monday I am positive TSB on Tuesday, that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to be "on form" that day.

If I instead ride hard on Sunday, and ride two easy days letting TSB gradually come into the positive, I feel a whole heck of a lot more "on form."

Two examples are here in 3 day windows:
TSS, ATL, CTL, TSB


Second example set some personal bests in a race this last weekend. First example was a miserable workout on the third day, even though I was higher TSB. With this,
I haven't noticed a difference in TSB required to be "on form" based on where I am in building CTL, but TSB is a lot more than just "positive" and "negative" (as much as CTL doesn't just equal FTP improvement).

__________________
Cycling in Iwakuni Blog