I would advise you to do the FTP ramp test on Zwift. This test is much better for rookie cyclists since you don't have to estimate what power to hold for 20 minutes straight. Also, this works much better with ERG mode. A nice training plan to start with, if you are looking for one, is the FTP Builder, I increased my FTP from 195 to 250 in 6 weeks. Good luck!
very entertaining and refreshing to see an average person riding and not some high wattage rider that barely breaks a sweat blowing everyone away. Cheers to you and good luck with your fitness journey. It won't get easier, but you will get better/faster.
Great video, man, and a great effort! Glad you figured out your actual FTP at the end. The number you first mentioned is just the average for that entire activity. Zwift shows that after every ride. You don't use a heart rate monitor? Defo grab one of those, if you haven't already got one. And you probably already know this from your running, but zone 2 rides are pure fat burning goodness. Really good for weight loss. The downside is that you have to do long rides, like a minimum of 60-90 minutes (depending who you ask). They can be a bit boring, but i guess that's what UA-cam is for! The good thing is they're really easy, effort-wise. Oh, and subbed!
Thank you sir! Appreciate the feedback aswell. I now have a HRM, that was no 1 on the list of buys. I'm learning about Zwift all the time. I'm a complete cycling novice so it's exciting to be starting like this completely fresh again. Ive got a long ride planned for Monday and the 3rd Crit race for Saturday 👍 Thanks for the sub my friend. My first race vid is coming this Sat 😉
@Ryan Condon Have a look at a video explaining ZwiftPower. Well worth knowing about and using if you're racing. Plenty of good videos about it on here. Best of luck for the race on Saturday. I've done stage 3 twice now, and both times it's been flat out most of the way. So, just dig in and hang on to the front group (or any group) for as long as you can. Oh, forgot to mention before, grab yourself a fan, for sure. They're just completely essential. I have a cheapo one from Screwfix (£20) and I have a WiFi plug that the fan plugs into (a Tapo one, £8 from Argos). Let's you turn the fan on and off with your phone. Look forward to seeing how you do!
Really enjoy your positivity brother! On behalf of “Everyman” it’s nice to see someone challenging himself in the same way I am. It’s a real community of sorts. I’m in Canada and some of the folks I routinely see are South Aficaans…where else could I have that experience? I too suffered from trying to keep costs down when doing my initial set up and like you I upgraded out of frustration after my computer locked up at the fifth turn from the end of Alpe du Zwift.
Thanks for the comment 🙌 I'm pleased you liked it. You've gotta have the right tools for the job especially if you use it and get alot out of it. I agree, Zwift is a real community that I'm starting to appreciate. Good luck and keep going 💪🏻
Awesome content! TY for sharing your journey. I only ride outdoors as of now (summer) but plan on getting a smart trainer this fall. I’ll keep watching as you keep teaching.
Love the video Ryan. You are selling yourself short buddy - your FTP is the average watts for the 20 minute effort, not the entire session. The rest of the session is just warming you up for the 20 minute effort. I think it flashed up 179 watts FTP immediately after the 20 minute effort (12 minutes 46 seconds on the video). That running cardio standing you in good stead.
Are you ever planning to ride outdoors? I recommend not using erg mode all of the time (or at all). First of all it makes the power very consistent which is unrealistic to the outside world. Secondly it doesn’t allow any flexibility based on how you are feeling. Such as feeling good you can push the zone a bit, riding indoors you may not feel as strong so ride more at the lower end. Third during burst and full gas efforts tends to hold you back. it’s good to train yourself to be able to push, shift gears and not be a drone. With that said power is power. So you’ll still get a good and proper adaptation to the training. It can be a personal preference. Also, are you fueling for these sessions? Unless it's something really simple, you should fuel properly in your training sessions. I use about 30-60 grams of table sugar, and something for flavor in water, becuase it's cheap, and most people have it at home.
Thanks for watching and for the advice Louie. I'm not planning on cycling in the real world, I dont even own a bike tbh. I bought the smart bike to help my fitness and #weightloss for my running. And it seems to be working. I only use the gears now, I'm happy doing that.
Its not so much the rubbing, just the weight of a big bloke sitting on these torture devices they call "seats". Wattbike even advertise the seat I have as the "comfort" one. 😆 Two padded shorts are a great shout for long distance rides and I regularly do this.
😂 torture devices, you’re not wrong if you get one that doesn’t suit you! You can measure your sit bones to find what size saddle will fit you better. Personally I find really soft saddles much more uncomfortable I dread to think how many saddle I experimented with to find what works for me
For my 20 mins on the test ,,I try to go hard for first 12 mins or so ,and c how long after the 12 mins I can hold for. ,I'm at 200 at present 55yrs ,,so decent ,,but would love to get to 250 and above
Top tip ,,,,,maybe go into a 12 week programme building aerobic base ,,,,then in spring u can start hitting vo2 max session ,, on a stronger base,,,,,ive got ex scottish national cyclist giving me advice ,,,do some research maybe
Enjoying your journey.
New sub 400th! Keep it up.
Thanks Mark. Good time to sub. Appreciate the comment 😀
I would advise you to do the FTP ramp test on Zwift. This test is much better for rookie cyclists since you don't have to estimate what power to hold for 20 minutes straight. Also, this works much better with ERG mode. A nice training plan to start with, if you are looking for one, is the FTP Builder, I increased my FTP from 195 to 250 in 6 weeks. Good luck!
Thanks for the watch and the recommendation. Appreciate it 👍
very entertaining and refreshing to see an average person riding and not some high wattage rider that barely breaks a sweat blowing everyone away. Cheers to you and good luck with your fitness journey. It won't get easier, but you will get better/faster.
Thanks Anthony. I appreciate that comment. Enjoying it alot. Got my first race vid on the way this week 👍
This video had me crying with laughter when you stood up and bashed your knee…absolute gold!
@@AnthonyUrch-j6g Entertainment is always my end goal. Im pleased it made you laugh. 😅🙏
Great video, man, and a great effort! Glad you figured out your actual FTP at the end. The number you first mentioned is just the average for that entire activity. Zwift shows that after every ride.
You don't use a heart rate monitor? Defo grab one of those, if you haven't already got one. And you probably already know this from your running, but zone 2 rides are pure fat burning goodness. Really good for weight loss. The downside is that you have to do long rides, like a minimum of 60-90 minutes (depending who you ask). They can be a bit boring, but i guess that's what UA-cam is for! The good thing is they're really easy, effort-wise.
Oh, and subbed!
Thank you sir! Appreciate the feedback aswell. I now have a HRM, that was no 1 on the list of buys.
I'm learning about Zwift all the time. I'm a complete cycling novice so it's exciting to be starting like this completely fresh again.
Ive got a long ride planned for Monday and the 3rd Crit race for Saturday 👍
Thanks for the sub my friend. My first race vid is coming this Sat 😉
@Ryan Condon Have a look at a video explaining ZwiftPower. Well worth knowing about and using if you're racing. Plenty of good videos about it on here.
Best of luck for the race on Saturday. I've done stage 3 twice now, and both times it's been flat out most of the way. So, just dig in and hang on to the front group (or any group) for as long as you can.
Oh, forgot to mention before, grab yourself a fan, for sure. They're just completely essential. I have a cheapo one from Screwfix (£20) and I have a WiFi plug that the fan plugs into (a Tapo one, £8 from Argos). Let's you turn the fan on and off with your phone.
Look forward to seeing how you do!
Really enjoy your positivity brother! On behalf of “Everyman” it’s nice to see someone challenging himself in the same way I am.
It’s a real community of sorts. I’m in Canada and some of the folks I routinely see are South Aficaans…where else could I have that experience? I too suffered from trying to keep costs down when doing my initial set up and like you I upgraded out of frustration after my computer locked up at the fifth turn from the end of Alpe du Zwift.
Thanks for the comment 🙌
I'm pleased you liked it. You've gotta have the right tools for the job especially if you use it and get alot out of it.
I agree, Zwift is a real community that I'm starting to appreciate.
Good luck and keep going 💪🏻
Yeah, the ramp test is the way to go for beginners. Good effort!
Thanks Patrik 👍
Another great video Ryan! Don't worry about the sore arse, that gets less painful with time but the padded shorts will definitely help 😂
Thanks Dooksa... I do hope so 🙏
Loving your videos mate! I’m binging through the whole series. Cheers, keeping going! 🎉
Thanks Jay! Appreciate the comment and the binge 💪🏻
love the Zwift videos.
Awesome content! TY for sharing your journey. I only ride outdoors as of now (summer) but plan on getting a smart trainer this fall. I’ll keep watching as you keep teaching.
Cheers for watching. 🙌
Love the video Ryan. You are selling yourself short buddy - your FTP is the average watts for the 20 minute effort, not the entire session. The rest of the session is just warming you up for the 20 minute effort. I think it flashed up 179 watts FTP immediately after the 20 minute effort (12 minutes 46 seconds on the video). That running cardio standing you in good stead.
Yes you are correct. Had my first race yesterday and my FTP has gone up again. Thanks for the comment 🙏
Hope your knee gets better 🫢
Thanks Scarlett
When the ftp 20 min test begin erg mode is disabled so will have to use your gears to control power /cadence hopes this helps
Thanks Schlam. I deactivate ERG mode now, not a fan. Prefer to be the one responsible for my own mistakes with gears instead of blaming the software 😅
I’ve lost it… what did I stand up for😂😂
Are you ever planning to ride outdoors? I recommend not using erg mode all of the time (or at all). First of all it makes the power very consistent which is unrealistic to the outside world. Secondly it doesn’t allow any flexibility based on how you are feeling. Such as feeling good you can push the zone a bit, riding indoors you may not feel as strong so ride more at the lower end. Third during burst and full gas efforts tends to hold you back. it’s good to train yourself to be able to push, shift gears and not be a drone.
With that said power is power. So you’ll still get a good and proper adaptation to the training. It can be a personal preference.
Also, are you fueling for these sessions? Unless it's something really simple, you should fuel properly in your training sessions. I use about 30-60 grams of table sugar, and something for flavor in water, becuase it's cheap, and most people have it at home.
Thanks for watching and for the advice Louie. I'm not planning on cycling in the real world, I dont even own a bike tbh. I bought the smart bike to help my fitness and #weightloss for my running. And it seems to be working.
I only use the gears now, I'm happy doing that.
I wear 2 pairs of shorts all year round also chamois cream works wonders if you suffer from a sore backside
Its not so much the rubbing, just the weight of a big bloke sitting on these torture devices they call "seats". Wattbike even advertise the seat I have as the "comfort" one. 😆
Two padded shorts are a great shout for long distance rides and I regularly do this.
😂 torture devices, you’re not wrong if you get one that doesn’t suit you! You can measure your sit bones to find what size saddle will fit you better. Personally I find really soft saddles much more uncomfortable I dread to think how many saddle I experimented with to find what works for me
You don't stand during test ,it's got to be sat down
Thanks 😊
Been there done that, trial and error I burnt a lot of time not following others advice do ramp test with erg mode then try ftp builder 6 week
Burnt alot of time but got fitter I bet. Nothing wrong with trial and error. I will do another ramp test but enjoying racing atm.
Good point, I haven’t even tried a race and just watched your first race and am getter fired up to have a go
@@Frank-g7s5l you should! Let me know how you get on 💪
For my 20 mins on the test ,,I try to go hard for first 12 mins or so ,and c how long after the 12 mins I can hold for. ,I'm at 200 at present 55yrs ,,so decent ,,but would love to get to 250 and above
You'll get there if you keep going hard. 😉
Walking like John Wayne😂😂
You are faster on the shorter route. Ie, 10miles, and 25miles. 😊 i now i am.
There's knobs on the bike to change tension ,,,,a higher gear can make it easier to get better watts ,did me anyway. Higher gear less cadence
Thanks for the tips
The resistance changes with the terrain even in erg mode. Try for even terrain. Tempus Fugit in WATOPIA for flat, or Road to Sky for constant climb.
Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a go 👍
180 is a decent effort ,,set your sites on 250 that's pretty decent ,,then dream to 300 ,,that's really good
Moment looking dodgy the vo2 max sessions r hard
Do u find vo2 sessions hard ?what's your ftp
Make sure you are seated properly on the bike. There are lots of bike fitting videos on UA-cam with tips to do it yourself.
I do still need to do this, I dont think I'm setup right. Cheers for the pointer.
There's a more comfortable seat u can buy I think
Top tip ,,,,,maybe go into a 12 week programme building aerobic base ,,,,then in spring u can start hitting vo2 max session ,, on a stronger base,,,,,ive got ex scottish national cyclist giving me advice ,,,do some research maybe