I’ll try to keep this brief. I tested positive for Covid at the end of November, at that time my FTP was around 255. I was off the bike until 23rd December and then did the Graduated Return To Play protocol for 3 to 4 weeks. I then did a TrainerRoad ramp test but not in the usual way, pre ride I set FTP to 160 and stopped the test when the live FTP said 180, I didn’t want to go too deep was the reason why I stopped, I was just looking for a rough ballpark figure to stop me diving back in too deep.
Since then I’ve upped my FTP to 190 and have been doing a TrainerRoad sweetspot base medium volume plan so there has been no intensity at all.
I grade my TSB as a percentage of my CTL and its currently at around -80%. Now, pre Covid I’d never stay below -25% for very long so the fact that my level is so low now suggests to me that in reality my FTP may be significantly higher.
My CTL did drop to around 24 so it’s not surprising I have such a large TSB deficit, I don’t feel tired at all, easily compete all the sessions so would the best thing to do be to up my FTP another 10W and carry on.
% TSB is trick with low CTL’s.
Add an absolute chart and look to keep -10 to -30 for 3(2) weeks and than go easy (50% volume) for the 4th week which will bring you back to fresh.
If you find it hard go 2x1.
Yes exactly, deep down I know my FTP is too low but have been reluctant to give a really full gas test/session a try yet. I realise it’s giving a false indication and will settle down once I’ve got a better baseline threshold. It’s just visually alarming to see the TSB line in the red for such a prolonged period.
Go to the settings page and set Form to “Absolute Values”. That’s what @Gato_Felix is trying to explain. With lower CTL values, the absolute option for Form is a better solution. You can always go back to Percent of Fitness when your CTL is up again.
That will depend on your ability to handle the training load. CTL below 100 will get the numbers faster in the red zone when using % and CTL above 100 will get you there slower.
If you experience that a TSB between -25 and -30 makes you feel really tired when CTL is at 70, change to % and reduce load to stay in the green zone. This example would scale the absolute green zone from -7 to -21.
It’s all a bit tricky because you can get similar effect by raising the “recovery days” from 7 to a higher number. In my opinion this is a better solution. You just tell the system that you need more time to recover and ATL will decrease slower. Thus TSB will raise slower and if you want to remain in the green zone, you will need to reduce load.