The Power Meter Handbook: A User’s Guide for Cyclists and Triathletes

FTP. In fact, a high FTP can make up for a relatively low VO 2 max. So if your FTP is higher, you can perform well even if others have genetics on their side. Pure and simple, training is largely about FTP.
YOUR PERSONAL POWER ZONES
    In this section, we will set up your power zones based on FTP. If you haven’t been able to do any testing or a race, then simply use an estimate as described above. If you already know your FTP, then you’re ready to go.
    Training with power zones is much like training with heart rate zones—only better. Heart rate is slow to respond to increases in intensity. Your power meter will show change almost immediately. This is important when you are doing intervals, and the shorter the intervals, the more important this becomes. At the start of an interval, if you are relying on heart rate to gauge intensity, there may be a 2-minute wait as your heart begins to beat faster. During this time, you are forced to guess how hard to work. Most athletes guess too high and find they have to slow down when heart rate finally catches up. Others decide that the interval doesn’t even start until heart rate reaches the prescribed level. So a 3-minute interval becomes 5 minutes. None of this happens with a power meter. Within three pedal strokes, you know if you are at the level you wanted.
    Once your power zones are set, you’re ready to start training—and reaping the benefits of having a power meter.
How to Set Your Power Zones
    Just as you have probably done with heart rate zones, you’ll set power zones using fixed percentages. For power zones, they are based on your FTP. If you know your FTP, use Table 4.1 to determine your zones usingthe percentages in the “% of FTP” column. The “RPE” column relates power zones to a rating of perceived exertion scale of 0 (low) to 10 (high) plus “maximal.” The “Description” column describes what to expect from each zone as far as sensations of fatigue, workout type, and most common race categories.
Zone 3
    I have already offered the opinion that your most important training objective during the season is to raise your FTP to as high a level as possible. I have found it to be the best marker of changes in fitness short of going to an exercise physiology lab for extensive—and expensive—testing throughout the season. It works.
    If your most important training objective is to raise FTP, how do you go about doing so? Put another way, what zone is best for raising FTP?
    As far as improving FTP, the greatest return on investment comes from riding in zone 4, especially at or around FTP. However, the “cost”—mental stress, time to recover, and risk of injury—of training frequently at such high intensity is too great for most riders. It’s so great, in fact, that riders generally need two or more days of recovery after such a training session before zone 4 training can be repeated. With less recovery time between zone 4 interval sessions, fatigue accumulates rapidly and motivation wanes.
    So while it’s generally a good idea to do some zone 4 training, especially in preparation for an event in which zone 4 is race effort, a steady regimen of FTP-intensity workouts is not recommended. Instead, I frequently use zone 3 in training athletes. I have found this to be quite effective in producing FTP gains. Zone 3 workouts can be done much more frequently and with longer workout durations than zone 4 sessions. The risk associated with such workouts is also low.

    This flies in the face of the commonly offered training advice of avoiding moderate-effort workouts. Don’t let that bother you. I used to think that way until I tried these workouts. I learned that zone 3, especially the upper range, is quite effective for improving FTP. You’ll see it used extensively in the next section and in the Appendix A workouts. There is no reason to avoid zone 3. You should use it frequently, especially in the base period when general fitness is the focus and in the build period for maintenance of FTP while race-specific fitness is being developed.
Workouts and Power Zones
    In order to increase your FTP, the primary focus of your training should be on producing aerobically active muscle. That is, you want to pursue training that improves your muscles’ oxygen-using capabilities. Muscle, not your heart, must be the focus of your training if you are to raise your FTP. Physiologically speaking, the aerobic adaptations we are seeking in and around the muscles