FTP Test

I did a 20 minute time trial FTP test yesterday on the trainer and was absolutely wiped out! My wattage is up 27 watts from February 1 due to the intense month of training. I had a good rest week but probably put in too much time on the bike. I am pleased with the increase in wattage, and hope to keep up the trend for next month. The secret? One word:

Intervals!

Try this for the next month: make one of your weekly workouts an interval session. If you don't have a power meter, ride at 8-9 on the RPE scale (on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the hardest) during the interval part of your session. The rest period will be 50% of the length of the interval. For example:

Warm up for 5 minutes RPE 4.

3 minutes RPE 8
1:30 active recovery RPE 4

3 minutes RPE 8
1:30 active recovery RPE 4

3 minutes RPE 8
1:30 active recovery RPE 4

Cool down for 5 minutes RPE 4.

The abbreviations for this workout would be Warm, 3x3min @ RPE 8, Cool. 1:30 (RBI) Rest Between Intervals.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!