Just curious to see some numbers from people.
I live in Florida and am able to ride all year long so not too much really. My FTP in December was 275 and having just gotten done with a big block of training for Florida 70.3 in three weeks is sitting at its high of 285. I test about once every other month. I would guess that northerners might fluctuate more or they are killing it on the trainer all winter!
15 watts
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Quite a bit - around 50 watts approximately. In winter my FTP drops to around 300~310, to get to a peak of 350~360 during the season.
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+1
5% would be ideal, but i’ve burned out in the past and fdnt want to chance things. Turns out i got overly cartied away with resting; that, coupled with some dessert indulging, saw me go from 4.65 to 4.10.
I’m about 5% down right now and would be happy to hit 97-98% for my first stage race in four weeks. The hope is to get to 4.8 toward the latter parts of the season
Quite a bit - around 50 watts approximately. In winter my FTP drops to around 300~310, to get to a peak of 350~360 during the season.
This is similar to me I think, I’m just lower. I test the same way every time. 5 mins all out, 15 minutes soft pedaling, 20 minutes max. FTP peaked in the summer at 335-340 watts (358 watts for 20 min) when I was riding a lot and did a test in February for fun and did about 310 (323 watts for 20 mins) and was gassed.
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I experience very little change throughout the year. It hovers around 285-300 the whole year, but this is by plan. In my 20s I could lay off the bike and whip it back into shape rapidly, but at age 40 I know that my rebound is much longer. It is easier to sustain the edge than to try to regain it.
I’m not sure where I was at my lowest since I just got a power meter in Jan. But I’ve increased my FTP by about 3% so far. I crossed the 4 w/kg mark, so there’s some sort of bragging rights…since we’re doing that. I hope to get to maybe 4.2 W/kg before I start to taper for my IM in Sept.
I probably expect to lose maybe 10% this fall.
Mine decreases at least 15% when I’m not actively working on, and just maintaining general bike fitness.
Since getting power 18 months ago I have only gone up, but it started pretty low.
Around 5-7% I think. Peak is around 370-375 and it never drops down below 350. I don’t take time off the bike or have an “off season”. I miss days because life happens, but don’t take two weeks of or anything crazy like that.
For me, once the time changes in the fall I’m on the trainer banging out my trainer workouts 5 days a week. Max intensity goes down. I don’t do FTP or VO2 max type of intervals. Hours go down, but average quality goes up so my fitness stays pretty high. I just don’t have the ability to do real short hard efforts until DST comes back and I get back outside.
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Mine has gone from 250W-260W (last summers and the previous summers FTP) to ~325W during this winter (Nov13->). Now I´m at 4,2W/kg and aiming to reach 4,5W/kg before the racing starts.
This has happened by changing the training regime totally. I have quit collecting hours and “trash miles” on bike and have done 80% of all bike training 85-95% FTP.
Lots of 2 or 3x20min@88-93%FTP and other long intervals. Almost exclusively on rollers (Elite E-motion). This method seems to suit me well.
I have done less running though and mostly with easy pace.
I’m old school so I back off intensity in the winter letting old injuries heal for a while. I think periodization is the best method to train. I jump about 10% from the beginning of the season to the end.
Hey if you’re ever interested in putting in some work and getting that FTP up, give me a call and maybe we can start a pro team.
To answer the question presented: Normally I’m in the low 400s (405, 410 at BEST) and during the off season when I take some time off and most of my work is on the trainer, it dips as low as 380. So maybe an 8% drop?
During winter I keep some bike fitness but I drop the FTP/VO2 work outs as well.
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I just got back on the bike last week after almost 6months off. It looks like I am down approximately 15%. It usually takes 4-6 weeks to get back to form.
I tried this last year and actually came back stronger after a long break. I still maintain swimming and running when not cycling.
End of last year’s season I was riding about 8-10hr/wk, with a crit every week and a race or two per month. During the winter I went to riding 2hr/wk in a sufferfest class… Tested FTP a few weeks ago, dropped from 298 to 273. Expected it to be more than that honestly, but not thrilled regardless 
Mine drops a lot because over the winter I ride 3x 1hr per week in the garage. Baseline is around 240W. Middle of the season just shy of 300W. This year I will do my best to get that to low 300s. The numbers come back pretty quickly. A matter of weeks or a month in the spring of riding long with hard intervals thrown in, and I’m there.
Also I’m getting older and recovery takes forever. A 6 month season takes its tool and I feel beat up by October. Need an easy winter to recover. Especially for running.
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I really hope I am not racing any you guys with FTPs in the high 300’s / low 400s. The only people I know that put out that kind of power are heavier riders, elites or pros.
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During tri season my FTP is around 340 watts - this past season I averaged between 6-12 hrs on the bike each week. This winter I’ve only been doing around 5-6 trainer rides per month (around 120-150 miles each month on the trainer), but all the rides are pretty intense. I just did a 10 min power test last night on the trainer and got 373 watts, so I’d ‘guestimate’ that my FTP is currently in the 325 range. After 4-6 weeks of solid riding I hope I’d be close to where I ended last season. My outdoor power is also a bit higher than riding inside.