Cycling & Triathlon
FTP and Cycling Power Zones Explained
Power is the most objective way to train and pace on a bike. This guide explains what FTP is, how to test it honestly, and how to turn it into a training structure that works.
Why power changed cycling training
Unlike heart rate, which lags and drifts, a power meter reports exactly how hard you are working the instant you push the pedals. That immediacy makes power the gold standard for both pacing efforts and measuring fitness, because the number cannot be fooled by heat, caffeine, or excitement.
The foundation of power-based training is a single figure: your Functional Threshold Power, or FTP.
What FTP actually is
FTP is the highest average power you can sustain for about an hour, measured in watts. It marks the rough boundary between efforts you can hold for a long time and efforts that force a rapid build-up of fatigue.
FTP marks the boundary between efforts you can hold for a long time and efforts that force a rapid build-up of fatigue.
Because a true one-hour maximal test is so demanding, most riders estimate FTP from a 20-minute all-out effort and multiply by 0.95. The 20-minute power sits slightly above one-hour power, and the 0.95 factor brings it back to a realistic sustainable figure.
Testing FTP honestly
An FTP test is only useful if you pace it well and give a genuine effort. Warm up thoroughly, then ride the 20 minutes as evenly as you can manage at the hardest pace you can hold to the end, not a sprint that fades. Going out too hard and crawling home produces a misleadingly low number.
Retest every four to eight weeks during focused training. More often than that mostly measures fatigue, and a stale FTP makes every workout slightly wrong.
The seven power zones
FTP anchors the Coggan zones. Active Recovery (under 55% of FTP) is for spinning easy. Endurance (56-75%) builds aerobic base on long rides. Tempo (76-90%) is a steady, productive effort. Threshold (91-105%) raises your sustainable power. VO2 Max (106-120%) develops top-end aerobic capacity in intervals. Anaerobic (121-150%) and Neuromuscular (above 150%) train short, sharp power and sprints.
Structured plans target specific zones for specific adaptations rather than riding every session at a vague moderate effort.
Power-to-weight and the bigger picture
Raw FTP matters on the flat, but on climbs what counts is power-to-weight, your watts per kilogram. A rider with a lower absolute FTP but a higher W/kg will often climb faster. Improving either your sustainable power or your power-to-weight, ideally by raising power rather than crash dieting, is the route to going faster.
Use FTP to set your zones, W/kg to gauge climbing, and consistent training in the right zones to move both in the right direction.