On New Year’s Day, my FTP was down to 240 after a few months of rest after the race season. I just did a tempo ride at 275w for 1 hour 40 mins, and was actually in zone 3 HR. I owe it all to Sweet Spot training! I haven’t done a single VO2 interval and have just been focusing on building CTL during the lockdown, but am winning the small group ride sprints against guys who had their first peaks planned for late April!
Sweet Spot at a higher rpm, upwards of 95 to 105 is incredibly effective for racing, Sweet Spot will not likely increase your FTP unless you're a new rider, but it will give you the ability to ride very close to threshold for a lot longer, it's the ultimate endurance training and professionals do a lot of it.
Training Sweet Spot at a lower rpm (< 85) is incredibly effective for decreasing VLamax, which has a great effect on your FTP. Racing is a different story, but I’ve seen great gains and actually had my VLamax measured before and after sweet spot training.
@@ProfessorSteez I agree with you 100%, I did my hour and 30 min workout the other day with a 90rpm at every interval, it wasn't really hard and it wasn't easy either, but it almost like I could keep flushing the lactate out, I felt like I could go all day as long as I had sugar in me. I tend to start off intervals with a too high cadance and burn myself out, keeping a high cadence for a long time seems extremely difficult and almost not human to be able to do that, i guess thats why im not a pro.
Darin Steele Absolutely it is, a high cadence taxes the aerobic system more (higher RPM= less force, more muscle contractions and more contractions relies on the aerobic system). It’s really good to have an average RPM from 90-100. With training, I was doing most of my sweet spot around 80-85 rpm. Over the 12 weeks, I decreased my VLamax by 29%, which yielded a 26 watt gain in my 20 minute power...without ever riding above threshold! It’s mind-boggling.
@@ProfessorSteez That's great, when I do my ramp test at the end of the month I'll make sure to stay in the 85 too 100 rpm range, I have a habit of spinning too fast and it burns me out.
Is it fair to say it is during sweet spot that your ftp as gleaned from a ramp test is most accurate too, as opposed to say VO2 efforts which might vary more from tested ftp on an individual basis?
1:00 I suspect this happens especially in the week or two before the next FTP test. Would it be reasonable and perhaps advisable to aim for the upper end of the sweet spot range to account for the gains in strength made between tests?
On New Year’s Day, my FTP was down to 240 after a few months of rest after the race season. I just did a tempo ride at 275w for 1 hour 40 mins, and was actually in zone 3 HR. I owe it all to Sweet Spot training!
I haven’t done a single VO2 interval and have just been focusing on building CTL during the lockdown, but am winning the small group ride sprints against guys who had their first peaks planned for late April!
Right on!! Those are some massive gains!
Sweet Spot at a higher rpm, upwards of 95 to 105 is incredibly effective for racing, Sweet Spot will not likely increase your FTP unless you're a new rider, but it will give you the ability to ride very close to threshold for a lot longer, it's the ultimate endurance training and professionals do a lot of it.
Training Sweet Spot at a lower rpm (< 85) is incredibly effective for decreasing VLamax, which has a great effect on your FTP.
Racing is a different story, but I’ve seen great gains and actually had my VLamax measured before and after sweet spot training.
@@ProfessorSteez I agree with you 100%, I did my hour and 30 min workout the other day with a 90rpm at every interval, it wasn't really hard and it wasn't easy either, but it almost like I could keep flushing the lactate out, I felt like I could go all day as long as I had sugar in me. I tend to start off intervals with a too high cadance and burn myself out, keeping a high cadence for a long time seems extremely difficult and almost not human to be able to do that, i guess thats why im not a pro.
Darin Steele Absolutely it is, a high cadence taxes the aerobic system more (higher RPM= less force, more muscle contractions and more contractions relies on the aerobic system). It’s really good to have an average RPM from 90-100.
With training, I was doing most of my sweet spot around 80-85 rpm. Over the 12 weeks, I decreased my VLamax by 29%, which yielded a 26 watt gain in my 20 minute power...without ever riding above threshold! It’s mind-boggling.
@@ProfessorSteez That's great, when I do my ramp test at the end of the month I'll make sure to stay in the 85 too 100 rpm range, I have a habit of spinning too fast and it burns me out.
Excellent video explained in simple terms. Keep em coming 👍
We need some I :heart sweetspot merch
What's your thoughts on FTP test at ELEVATION? How do you weight for elevation (ie: Denver-Boulder)???
This is a great article that addresses that issue: www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/the-effect-of-racing-at-altitude/
Is it fair to say it is during sweet spot that your ftp as gleaned from a ramp test is most accurate too, as opposed to say VO2 efforts which might vary more from tested ftp on an individual basis?
Sweet Spot for me just sucks, definitely need to improve my base!
1:00 I suspect this happens especially in the week or two before the next FTP test. Would it be reasonable and perhaps advisable to aim for the upper end of the sweet spot range to account for the gains in strength made between tests?
Great edit... excellent work on mic delay....
Thanks!!
What about reversed peroration? I do specialists phase first.
You both need a haircut😂