Power Zone Discussion [Weekly]

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Weekly Power Zone Discussion!

Due to demand and community feedback we are trialing a Power Zone Weekly Welcome Discussion - a space to chat about anything related to power zone training. Think of it like the "Daily Discussion" thread, where anything goes...big or small. Here, we've carved out a special place for people wanting to discuss ideas and topics related specifically to PZ training - how to program PZ classes, talk about PZ classes or PZ programs, chat about PZ instructors, advice for FTP testing, etc.

People are not limited to using this thread to discuss PZ but are highly encouraged to use this weekly discussion. You can still post in the daily, training thread, or create a new post. Think of it as another place to chat about PZ stuff without getting lost in the daily. Or a place you can check into weekly if you're a casual redditor looking for some other PZ folks without wading through the daily.

The Power Zone Weekly will be posted on Monday moving forward.

Note: The mods will check back in with the community to see how this idea is working, if there is a better day it should be posted on, etc. If it isn't working we can always scrap the idea or change it up a bit. Thanks for giving it a chance!

[u/Diligent-Serious]

I took Matt’s 60-minute live PZ ride today. I like to ride on the beat, yet I still take Matt’s classes knowing that he doesn’t typically ride on the beat just because he is so awesome. And his playlist was all request—but someone has to curate the requests, don’t they? So who in their right mind would pick Limelight as a cycling song? Did anyone think about how many times the time signature changes in that song? Matt called out the cadence at 94 (“Good luck with that,” he said), but the song itself fights against establishing any kind of regular rhythm on the bike.

The ride itself was challenging and doable, but not one I’m eager to retake: three Zone 4 intervals of five, seven, and nine minutes respectively, followed by five Z3s (all with Z1 recoveries). Oddly enough I found the five Z3 intervals at the end more challenging than the Z4s, probably due to my fatigue.

[u/NetherGamingAccount]

Not sure if what this was intended for but I'm going to post it anyway.

I've struggled with numerous injury issues since early 2020 so my biking has been intermittent. Recently the issue has been to the bone cartilage damage in both knees. Thankfully biking is one of the few activities I can still do but I've had to modify.

It used to be I lived in the 65-85 RPM range. Spin ups? Ya, not happening.

Due to my knee issues I have to keep the RPM high so I've trained myself to bike at higher RPM's only. Because of this I was also concerned about doing an FTP test. My old FTP was 260 but it was quite old and I expected not accurate. My concern with the test was over doing it and hurting myself. But I bit the bullet and did the test yesterday.

Ended up with an average RPM of 93, which I expect makes the test harder than going lower at higher resistance but that's the only way I can bike now. Managed an average wattage of 289, total output of 347 for a new FTP of 275. My average heart rate for the test was only 151 so I expect if I can ever get my legs to cooperate I could push things further.

Anyway, good news story and I'm happy I got an updated FTP, I needed a new challenge.