Increasing FT During Winter

jonathanburris

My current FT is 214 watts (3.25 watts/kg). I currently weigh 65.9 kg (145 lbs). My V02Max is 80.8 and I am 29 years old. My avg cadence is 97-100 RPM. I have had both of my knees completely reconstructed and I have a great muscular deficiency because of that. This has been my first full season of training with power and my first full year since recovering from my last knee surgery. I have been cycling for two years.

I really want to increase my FT. I find myself breathing easy when others are gasping for air, but my legs are often screaming when I get dropped. I hear that buidling muscle mass doesn't necessarily help increase muscular endurance. Can someone provide any advice that will help me increase my FT over the winter?

As always, thanks for your help.

JB

tonyzackery

Jonathan, I think the reason no one has responded to your query thus far is due to the fact your question is so basic that you could easily due a "search" yourself for "Increasing FTP" within this category and find a plethora of information to get you started.

No one wants to sound harsh, but just a little effort on your part will go a long way towards you finding your own answers...Good luck with your workouts...

NomadVW

The easy answer is to build FT, you need to do workouts that will increase it. Workouts that will increase it involve working at/near it.

2x20's @ 95-105% of threshold
Sweet spot training, one of my favorites 60-90+ minutes @ 90-95% threshold
3x20's @ 91% is a common goal.

There are dozens of workouts geared to increasing it. You can get Training/Racing with a Power Meter and pull some of the L4 workouts for that. You can hunt down the web for "threshold training" and find quite a bit.

Lots of recipes to come up with what works for you. And then mix it up a little from time to time to keep your interest.

__________________
Cycling in Iwakuni Blog

acoggan

Runner-turned-cyclist? If so, I think the answer to your query is "ride lots" (especially since you live somewhere warm enough to do so all winter long).

peterpen

I'd also recommend just riding your bike as much as possible, especially since you've only been on it for 2 years and given your history of knee problems. Given your weight and VO2max, you obviously have the potential to do quite well at cycling, but don't be in a rush to do th same workouts people with 5+ years training are attempting. Particularly in the winter.

That said, the three intervals NomadVW describes are certainly this forum's popular methods of raising FTP, particularly for people with 10-12hrs training time per week and/or those who do a lot of trainer time.

Spunout

If you doing this as part of rehab, speak with your doctor and get some personal coaching to manage the increased load/volume you will require.

Muscle mass is not the end-all of FT, but you'll need to build at least a base-level mass. Your physiotherapist can help you here.