What is FTP?

Functional Threshold Power (FTP): is your maximal average power output over an hour cycling on a flat road. I.E if you can cycle at an average of 250 watts during a 60 minutes workout your FTP is 250.

As a key metric in performance training, FTP is one of the most important fitness attributes on any user profile at Spivi. FTP changes frequently, depending on one's fitness and can be used to track and identify performance trends. Increasing FTP value over time reflects improvement of your fitness level and vice versa. It is highly recommended to perform FTP test every few weeks to track your fitness level and improve it over time.

Determining FTP: The best way to estimate one’s FTP is by conducting FTP test. There are multiple standard versions of an FTP test. Each version is defined by a different period (3 Minutes, 5 Minutes, 20 Minutes etc) and by a different factor. The period defines the test duration, and when a test is completed, the average power is multiplied by the different factor to compute the final FTP value. Spivi offers multiple versions of FTP test covering any type of participants from beginners to professional athletes. For beginners, we recommend using the 3 or 5 minutes FTP test. During that test, everyone should work at their highest possible power output. Spivi will compute the average watts during the test and will take %80 of it as the computed FTP. For example, if your average power during this test will be 200 watts then Spivi will set your FTP value to 160. FTP can also be manually updated on a Spivi user profile interface.

Training with FTP: Training using %FTP targets is a key element in any power-based cycling training program. You can think about it as the equivalent method of heart rate based training where the goals are defined in %MaxHR units and not in BPM units. The reason is that each individual has different Max Heart Rate value. When training with power the instructor should set the power goals for the class in %FTP units instead of watt units for the same reason, each one has a different FTP value. Using this method allows members to work at class according to their own fitness abilities. For efficient and accurate power based workout the FTP value should be updated on each user profile either by conducting an FTP test during a class with the Spivi system or by manually updating it on the user profile level.

Power View: One of the most efficient ways to guide the class to work in a specific training zone is to use the color-coded views. When training with Power it will be the Power View which is based on FTP zones. The Power View on a Spivi System displays the power output of each trainee in %FTP units. For example, if a trainee produces 220 watts and his FTP is 200, then the displayed %FTP will be 110% which is simply 220 / 200.

FTP Zones: Studio's Administrators can customize the FTP zones of their Spivi system. The range and color of each zone can be fully configured by studio administrators on the My Studio dashboard at the Set Fitness zones link.