FTP Calculator (Functional Threshold Power)

How FTP Calculator Works?

FTP estimate calculator is the best choice to calculate your estimate FTP.

Formula:
FTP = 0.95 * Average power in 20 minutes

The above formula is used because most people can maintain 95% of their average power in a 20 minute test for one hour. This method isn’t as accurate as a standard one-hour test, but the amount of error isn’t too bad.

Why calculate FTP?

FTP is a measure of the physical fitness of an athlete. Athletes, especially cyclists training for events, use it to track their training results. If your FTP is steadily rising during the training period, then it means that you are on the right track. If your FTP is not increasing as expected, you are doing something wrong. You have to re-evaluate your training schedule, training method, and regular diet. A steadily rising FTP gives you satisfaction and motivation to continue working hard. A stagnant or decreasing functional threshold power is a warning and a wakeup call. It means your time and effort are being wasted. And if you continue on the same line, you are likely to fail in your goals. Training while keeping track of your progress gives you much better results than blind training.

How to calculate FTP in Cycling?

You should only start an FTP test when you are feeling fresh. Athletes in training feel fresh when they aren’t doing heavy exercises. If your body is tired due to intense training, testing your FTP has no meaning. In a fatigued state, you won’t be able to do your best, and your FTP score will be lower. To get an accurate FTP score, use the FTP estimate calculator and make sure that you are in your best possible state. Once you are both physically and mentally ready, start the ftp cycling calculator test. Follow the following steps:

Follow the following steps:

1. Warm-up

Before calculating FTP, you need to warm up your body to ensure you don’t damage it unnecessarily. In the warm-up, you start by riding the bike at a comfortable pace for 15 minutes. During the warm-up, increase your speed to the FTP test level for 10 seconds and rest for a few minutes. Repeat the process a minimum of five times. This procedure gradually acclimates your body to the FTP test speed.

2. Start the test

After the warm-up, the real test starts. In this phase, you need to ride as hard as you can for 20 minutes. Use a power meter to measure your average power output during this phase. You can perform an FTP cycling test both indoors and outdoors, according to your preferences. For an indoor test, you need a special bike and a fan to keep you from getting too hot. You need a bicycle and a power meter for the outdoor FTP test. Make sure to choose a route with no traffic. Also, make sure that the route is as flat as possible because inclines and declines can affect your estimate FTP score.

3. Warm down                                                                                                                                                                                                             

After the test, you need to warm down to prevent unnecessary damage to your body. The warm-down is much easier than the above two phases; you just have to ride at a comfortable, steady pace for 10 minutes. The whole point of this is to lower your heart rate. By the end of the warm-down, your heart rate should be back to 70% of your maximum pulse rate. If your heart rate is still higher than 70%, keep warming down for a few more minutes. Now you have the required data to calculate your estimate FTP. Enter your average power output, weight, and age in the FTP calculator given above. The FTP estimate calculator will figure out your FTP and tell you if your FTP score for cycling is less than, the same as, or more than the ideal FTP score.

What is the ideal FTP?

It is difficult to determine what your ideal FTP should be because it depends on a lot of variables. But the experts have figured out a unified formula that works for everyone. Although it doesn’t give the exact number, it is close enough. The following are the primary variables that affect your ideal FTP score.
1. Weight
2. Age
3. Gender

Let’s calculate your ideal weight based on these three parameters.

1. Weight

You can calculate your ideal weight by doubling your weight in pounds. If your weight is 65kg or 143.3 lbs, then: Ideal FTP score = weight in lbs*2 = 286.6

2. Age

Age is a crucial factor affecting your ideal FTP. Our bodily strength starts to weaken after the age of 35. So, subtract 0.5% of their ideal FTP for each year above 35. For example, if you are 40 years old, then your ideal FTP would be: Ideal FTP score = 286.6 – (0.0025*286.6) = 286.6 – 7.165 = 279.435. For this purpose, you can use ftp calculator by age for calculating ftp with your age.

3. Gender

Gender is a deciding factor in calculating FTP. You need to subtract ten percent of their ideal FTP for women riders. If your actual FTP score is lower than your ideal FTP, then it means that you are not in your best possible physical fitness. You can do better than this, so set a training goal for yourself to increase your actual FTP until it exceeds your ideal FTP score.

How to improve cycling FTP?

FTP is a measure of the physical fitness of an athlete. Improving Cycling FTP means improving your overall performance in sports such as cycling, swimming or running. A higher Cycling FTP allows you to complete or win the race much more easily.

There are two ways to improve your FTP.

1. Intensive

This training is focused on increasing your Cycling FTP score. This approach doesn’t improve your endurance; it just increases your power output. It will make you faster, but your stamina will remain the same.

2. Endurance

In this approach, you increase your TTE. TTE means Time to Exhaustion. It is a measure of how long you can ride at your current FTP. It is different from an FTP test, where you only have to maintain your Functional Threshold Power for 20 minutes. Every athlete has a different TTE; for some, it may be 30-35 minutes. For others, it may be 90 minutes. In the endurance training approach, the Goal is to increase your endurance. If your endurance is high enough, you can win a long race even if your Cycling FTP is slightly lower.

Following is an example training session for intensive training.

1. Do repeated intervals of riding at 100-110% of the estimated FTP.
2. Keep these high-intensity intervals in the range of 25 – 35 minutes a day.
3. Ride at a steady pace between two high-intensity intervals to recover your body.
4. You can do this exercise anywhere you prefer. You can do it on a hill, on a flat road or even inside your house.

You need to adjust this training plan according to your physical condition. You need to do your very best because the harder you train, the more you gain here. But you must avoid training too hard, so you can’t even complete your work sets.

Following is an example training session for endurance training.

1. Do repeated intervals of riding at 95% to 105% of your estimated FTP.
2. Keep these training intervals in the range of 35-60 minutes.
3. Set aside a rest interval after a high-intensity training interval. In rest intervals, you ride at a steady, comfortable pace.
4. You can do this training on both hills and flat roads. But these routes must be long and consistent enough. If you can’t find a proper outdoor training place, then train indoors.

In this exercise, you need to hold on for as long as possible. You are trying to extend Time To Exhaustion, so longer is better here.