So my 5 min max power has been within 4 watts of itself each year for the last 3 years. I thought I would have made some significant improvement this year after doing a ton of vo2 max work (the traditional 115-120% stuff) over the winter and all, but nope. Still within 2 watts of all time best last year.
Trying a new variation now in which you basically try for 100% vo2 max instead of just a percentage of ftp. For this, I pretty much target 5 min power (=127% ftp) for 3-4mins with equal rests and try to do about 10+ total minutes of efforts. It sucked. I did 3.5 mins, 3:15, then blew up after 2.5 mins on the last one (was trying for 3). Hoping it's just a case of "first time always sucks" and I can do a 4/3.5/3 min thing next time. And I hope it actually increases my 3-5 min power. Because, damn, those vo2 max intervals I did all the time messed with my head by the end and they seem to have done wonders for my 10-20+ min power but missed all the shorter stuff.
Have about 18 million crits coming up in the next two months. Need to up the game soon.