Originally Posted by
datlas
^^ Thanks for the tip. I had thought that if I want to increase my FTP I need to do some work well above it, not at it...not so??
Of course I don't have a PM but I can go by HR from a "field test."
Working well above your FTP is painful and will take longer to recover from so you won't want(or be able) to do it as frequently.
Short 1-2 min intervals are useful for building your anaerobic work capacity which will slightly improve your FTP but are more useful for short hard efforts. If you're frequently getting dropped due to hard accelerations that might come in handy but whatever gains you'll get in short term power come (and go) quite quickly.
If you're wanting to finish strong after 3-4 hrs you're better off improving your FTP and that will come with more type spent training in that vicinity. Personally, I have had very good results with the ZCI intervals mentioned by SpongeDad and use those along with basic 2x20 intervals for threshold improvement.
I would use speed or RPE on the trainer rather than HR as HR tends to vary too much for reasons other than power output.