FTP
functional threshold power
The power in watts you can hold for roughly an hour — the reference point for every cycling zone.
FTP is to a cyclist what threshold pace is to a runner. Every cycling session in Trenaio is prescribed as a percentage of it: sweet spot is 88-94%, threshold work 95-105%, VO2max intervals 110-120%.
The most common way to find it is a 20-minute test: after a warm-up you ride 20 minutes as hard as you can hold, and take FTP as 95% of the average power. That coefficient is a convention — a conversion, not a measurement.
FTP moves through a season. Repeat the test every 6-8 weeks, because zones built on a stale number stop matching reality.
How to read the values
What to do about it
- Enter FTP in the panel under Tests and zones — only then will your cycling plan show power instead of perceived effort.
- Repeat the test every 6-8 weeks, always under the same conditions.
- Do not compare absolute numbers with others. What matters is watts per kilogram and your own trend.
A common misconception
“FTP is the power I can hold for exactly 60 minutes.”
For many riders the real time to exhaustion at FTP falls between 40 and 70 minutes. It is a reference value for setting zones, not a promise about a one-hour effort.
Related terms
See these numbers on your own data
In the app every indicator comes with an explanation of what it means in your case and what we suggest doing next.
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