The single most useful number in power training. The full 20-minute test, the 0.95 coefficient, all seven zones, and when the test misses.
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FTP — Functional Threshold Power — is the average watts you can hold on the bike for one hour, right at the edge of what is sustainable. It is the single most useful number a coach pins on you and a clean way to track form across a season.
Why measure it: training zones are derived from FTP. Without that number, any structured plan is guesswork — one rider's zone 2 is another's zone 4.
The standard reference protocol — straightforward, repeatable, fits in a Tuesday evening.
FTP = 20-minute average power × 0.95.
FTP calculator
Test with 0.95 coefficient (Allen & Coggan)
Allen & Coggan, Training and Racing with a Power Meter, 3rd ed.
Categories shown are male reference; female thresholds ~0.5 W/kg lower. Individual results may vary.
Twenty minutes is not an hour. Most riders can hold roughly 5% more power for 20 minutes than for 60 because the anaerobic system contributes meaningfully at that duration. Multiplying by 0.95 strips that contribution back out, giving an approximation of the one-hour effort that defines threshold.
Once FTP is set, every zone follows. Coggan defined seven, from Z1 (recovery) to Z7 (neuromuscular sprints):
Training zones
Light recovery 30–60 min after a hard ride.
Aerobic base, 2–6 hours. Conversational pace.
Steady sub-threshold work, 30–90 min. Short sentences only.
Intervals 8–30 min at lactate threshold. Hard but controlled.
3–8 min intervals at maximal oxygen uptake.
Short efforts 30 sec – 3 min, lactate accumulation.
All-out sprints up to 15 sec.
Coggan 7-zone power model · Karvonen HR formula (1957).
These are general recommendations. Measured max HR is more accurate than formula-based.
Zone 2 is the base. 70–80% of an advanced amateur's training volume should live here — easy 1.5–3 hour rides, conversational HR, you can speak full sentences. It is boring and exactly why riders who do it get faster six months later.
Zone 4 is threshold work. Classic 3×10 or 2×20 intervals sit here. Per minute of effort, these produce the biggest fitness gain — and accumulate fatigue fastest.
Every 4–6 weeks during structured training. Every 8 weeks in the off-season. More often and you cannot see the signal through the noise — the body needs time to adapt before another data point is worth taking.
Never compare FTP figures across protocols — they measure slightly different things. Pick one, stick with it for the season.
With FTP known, the next investment is the tool. Direct-drive trainers deliver the cleanest indoor power numbers — see the ThinkRider trainers in our catalog. A crank- or pedal-based power meter is the second step once the trainer pays for itself.
Source: Allen, H. & Coggan, A. (2019). Training and Racing with a Power Meter, 3rd ed. VeloPress. Plus Hunter Allen's Performance Manager Chart work at TrainingPeaks.
