Accreditation for creation of the FTP test protocol: Richard Stern & CycleCoach.com
Functional Threshold Power (FTP) is the highest average power you can sustain for about an hour, measured in watts. The classic way to estimate it is to take 95% of your average power over a 20-minute all-out effort.
An accurate, current FTP lets you train at the right intensity, and it helps ROUVY set the targets of every workout for you. If you don't know yours, take one of the FTP tests in the ROUVY app: Ramp Test, Ramp Test Lite, or a 20-minute FTP test with a 5- or 10-minute warm-up.
You'll find all of them in the ROUVY app: click Workouts in the left-hand menu, then open the FTP tab.
Ramp Test
The Ramp Test gets a little harder every minute, and your goal is to stay on the target power for as long as you can.
- The target power goes up by 20 W every minute.
- The whole test takes around 40 minutes, including the warm-up and cool-down. You can skip the warm-up and cool-down, but not any part of the test itself.
- To choose a route for your test or edit your current FTP, click the settings icon on the yellow button, then Change.
- Click Start Workout to begin, and follow the prompts at the top of the screen.
The test ends on its own when you can no longer hold the target power.
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How your Ramp Test FTP is calculated Your FTP is 75% of the last full 1-minute step you completed. For example, if the last step you finished was 380 W, your FTP is 285 W. A step you started but didn't finish doesn't count. |
When the test is done, the summary shows your new FTP, and you can update it in your profile right away.
Ramp Test Lite
The Ramp Test Lite works like the Ramp Test, with gentler steps: the target power goes up by 10 W every minute. Use it if you're working on getting fit or doing your first ramp test.
It starts with a 5-minute warm-up, gets slightly harder every minute until you can no longer hold the target, and ends with a cool-down. You can choose the route the same way as for the Ramp Test. Come with well-rested legs to get the best result.
20-minute FTP tests
There are two 20-minute tests: one with a 5-minute warm-up and one with a 10-minute warm-up. For these, you enter your target FTP yourself. We add 5% to that value, and it becomes your target power for the test.
After the warm-up, stay as close to your target as you can for the whole 20 minutes. Even though the test is only 20 minutes long, the result is the power you should be able to sustain for about an hour.
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Not sure what target to enter? Start with 200 W. If it feels too hard or too easy, rest, restart the test, and adjust the value. You can also make a rough estimate with the calculation below. |
- To change your target FTP or choose a route, click the settings icon on the yellow button.
- During the test, keep to your target. The test profile at the bottom of the screen shows where you are.
- You can raise, lower, or reset the resistance with the buttons on the right.
When you finish, you'll see your new FTP.
Estimating your FTP without a test
If you've never taken an FTP test, you can make a rough estimate:
- Rate your fitness on a scale from 1 (elite) to 5 (untrained).
- Find the value for your level and sex in the table below.
- Multiply it by your weight in kg. The result is your rough FTP.
For example, a man weighing 80 kg (176 lb) who rates himself a 3 takes 2.8 from the table: 2.8 × 80 = 224, so he enters 224 W as his target FTP.
For more help, please feel free to contact us. If it's about a specific test, tell us its date and which test you rode.