How much FTP do you lose in transition "off" season?
 

I just completed my transition phase. I took one week off the bike after my "A" race (and needed it) and I took about a month in easy rides. Now the problem . . . I lost 21% of my FTP. I haven't been this weak since coming back from an injury 18 months ago. Is it possible to lose this much fitness without some kind of illness? Is this normal?

I plan to make an appointment with my doctor this week. Blood work says everything is fine, but he wants to check for illness as a possible cause. Has anyone here seen similar drop-offs in power after a transition phase?

Depends on how "easy" you rode for that month I guess. I had two weeks off the bike after a crash, started back riding with 3 weeks until time trial event. First week I did just moderate rides before getting back to structured training. My average power for the ITT was down about 25 watts from where my FTP had been. That's just under 10% drop.

Assuming you're not sick or anything it should come back pretty quickly, though.

I don't think I've lost 10% in the winter so 20% seems like a lot. What did your volume go down to after your race? Maybe you just need to remember how to suffer?

I lost about 15% in my off season last year,but it came back in a month when I started training hard again.

(edit, corrected %)

I think it depends on how fit are to start with and what your training load looks like throughout the year. My CTL hovers in the 55-70 range throughout the year and don't really lose anything if I take a week or two off occasionally (which I do rarely BTW.) For me I find it mostly mentally tough to push myself hard during intervals when I've had some time off. If you go from riding 10-15 hours per week in the spring/summer to 5 hours in the "off season" for 3-4 months at a time I would expect much larger swings.

Absolutely.

Yes.

I posted data from four weeks off followed by six at lower volume in http://www.bikeforums.net/training-n...l#post18182474.

Heart rates are essentially the same or higher, so it's not failing to try as hard.

Historically power around threshold increased at the same rate with one or two hard days a week, with or without tempo rides so the increases aren't limited by too little effort. OTOH, more hours below my aerobic threshold lift that a lot more.

People are different and your mileage may vary. Aerobic fitness goes faster than anaerobic so the size of the drop probably depends on how much you depend on your oxidative versus glycolytic energy systems.

Thanks for the replies -- especially your detailed information, Drew.

I took one full week off, then (looking back) about six weeks of reduced duration and intensity. 13 to 16 hour weeks became 7 to 10 hour weeks. FTP dropped from 282 to 223 (within two beats of same average heart rate during testing). Efficiency Factor at Aerobic Threshold dropped from 1.6 to 1.34. With your help, I think we've found my problem. It's incredibly discouraging to lose that much fitness. You can be sure that I won't intentionally take this much easy time ever again.

You lose it fast but you also get it back quickly if put the effort in. You can't expect to JRA in Z1/Z2 for 6 weeks without losing FTP. Good thing about Southern California is I can ride all year. I feel bad for the guys who take the winter off and have to do the whole build phase every spring.

I live in Tennessee but, to race well in the big Spring gravel races, HAVE to train all year. My peak training weeks (by hours) tend to be in the harshest Winter weather.

How do we convince Trans Iowa, Dirty Kanza, et al. to switch to a Fall schedule?

In late July I was making about 20% more power at VT2 (FTP) and 10% more at VT1 than I currently make.

I did Paris Brest Paris in the middle of August and injured my rotator cuff subsequently. I cut back on training

My non-brevet weekly volume went from 300-400 miles to 120-150 miles with a bit less intervals due to pain.

Although my data is not from an off season, I am nonetheless shell shocked at how much power I have lost.

Hi,
resurrecting this old thread to share my similar experience and to ask how you did recover from it.

In May 2017 I had a crash and had to be off the bike for 5 weeks. After that, I took 6 weeks of easy riding (would not risk to force my freshly recovered knee).

I went from FTP 280 W (which I was really happy about, weighing only 60 kg) to about 220.
I went from 80 CTL to 40.

In September and October I worked on my base, so I rode only Z2 and Z3. FTP might have gone up to 230, but I didn't bother to test it. I had rebuilt my CTL again into the low 80s.

In November and December I rode very little (avg around 3 hours a week because I was moving to a new country, changing jobs, etc.

CTL dropped to 40 again, and now my FTP feels like 210 (this is untested, but based on intervals at 200 W, HR and RPE).

Crazy to think that last spring I could climb at 210 W in HR Z2, and now at 210 W my HR is 178!

Anyway, now I have time again to train 8-10 hours a week, and to rebuild my CTL into the 70s and the 80s.

I plan to do 8 weeks of mostly Z2 with occasional Z3/SST on climbs (I live in a very hilly area) until I have my CTL in the mid 60s, then I would start FTP and Vo2 work.

How does that sound to you? How did your recovery work? Did you manage to return to, and maybe surpass, your previous fitness?

Thanks for your time.

I'd say 10% or so for me if staying active.

With complete time off, a little more, but after a few rides it starts coming back quickly.

Even after 7 years off it took me only 5-6 weeks to get back to 90%.

Around 10% for me too. What takes a real hit is the top end.

I'd guess ~20 % this year. But it comes back quickly.

It's not necessarily the right answer, but I don't have 20 hours a week. Or 15. Maybe 10 in-season.

I've had good results with using HIIT style plans to either raise the bar higher or regain. Then if I have time, I do some longer EM or long EM with some long/hard SS mixed in to "consolidate" my gains.

I gained about 50w in a year as a brand new rider "just riding" and doing a single road race plan. In a few months of easier riding I lost maybe 5-7w off of 255w at 20min.

I started another road race plan recently and it's shot up really well with some good intensity and volume.

I wouldn't say I've ever seen a decrease in the range of 20% though. That seems a lot. Then again, I likely won't ever reach a power level that will be so hard to maintain that I'll drop 20% when the volume drops though.

Some of you guys likely are way way up there and are at the bleeding edge of what power you can have at what volume and intensity level.

Good to hear the stories though about easily regaining it with some work. :thumb:

Does running during the off season mitigate the FTP drop-off?

My 1 month of no exercise give similar results too. Like 20-30% loss.

I felt so weak when come back to rides. My endurance got big hit but my max efforts still pretty same as before off bike for a whole full month.

However, i really felt stronger again after 1 month full of 'dragging around efforts', expected to be back on form in the next month.

Bicycling sometimes cruel like this, you lose power from not training pretty fast but its also make come back fast.

I've lost quite a bit over the winter, between stress (family member illness), my own bout with flu and a pesky thyroid condition, not being able to get in a long ride more than once a week, etc.

I'm trying to get in more overall conditioning at home, and avoiding too much riding in freezing temps. I don't mind the cold in terms of overall comfort, as long as I'm dressed appropriately. But it does seem to aggravate this respiratory bug.

On the one hand, my average speed over familiar routes is way down.

On the other hand, my top end is a bit better, especially hill climbs. I just don't have the stamina to sustain it over distance. I've set several personal bests on some climbs that had thwarted me for months. But then I need to loaf on the flats to recover.

Overall, can't really complain. It'll come back this spring.

I don't know. It would probably depend on what how long and how intense you were to run.

Probably.

Per online calculators, running always puts me above my FTP. I can't run at a low enough intensity to match an easy ride. I think this is pretty close to the truth based on my HR when I run. I've run for more than an hour, but only once, and it took a lot out of me. Your mileage will vary with your weight, but running is hard for everyone. (The first Marathoner died!)

Of course they're not exactly the same thing, so even if it'll probably give you a bigger match book, it won't carry over 100 %.

It won't preserve your "cycling legs" but it will preserve your general aerobic fitness. You'll definitely lose more fitness doing nothing than you would running.

They're so different, is why I asked. Common sense would say that at least the cardio and aerobic would carry over, but I'm not so sure of even that. Curious for personal anecdotes.

Cycling had no real crossover to running for me. I guess my off the couch pace was okay, but it took a helluva lot of running (up to 70 mpw over the course of two years) before I could actually get competitive.

Then back to cycling and running had no crossover to that, either. Lungs fine but just had no power; couldn't generate any torque it seemed. Took 5-6 months of solid on the bike training to get good at cycling again.