FTP stands for Functional Threshold Power, which is commonly defined as the highest average power you can sustain for an hour, measured in watts. FTP is often used to determine training zones when using a power meter and to measure improvement.
Training programs like TrainerRoad, The Sufferfest and Zwift (with the Workout option) use FTP to calibrate workout intensities. For example, the programs may call for three-minute intervals at 120% of your FTP, with two-minute recoveries in between.
Coaches use FTP in the same way — to measure progress and to personalize specific training intensities — whether working with Team Sky riders or age-group amateurs.
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Dr. Andrew Coggan, co-author of Training and Racing with a Power Meter, created the FTP standard as a more practical approach than the previous standard of lactate threshold, which involved measuring blood lactate every few minutes while ramping up intensity on a trainer. In functionality, training to lactate threshold and FTP are very, very similar.
“FTP has become the gold standard,” says Scott Moninger, a Peaks Coaching Group master coach who raced as a professional for 17 years. “Whereas a few years ago you had to go into a lab, now you can get that number with a power meter and a 20-minute field test.”
How to find your FTP: 20min test
What to do with your FTP
Learn what effort levels are sustainable for different durations
Measure improvement
Calibrate your training zones
How to improve your FTP
- 4 x 15min between 84 and 97% of FTP. 10min easy pedaling between efforts
- 2 x 20min between 84 and 97% of FTP. 5min easy pedaling between efforts
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