Is FTP Dead? Is Critical Power the Cyclist's Next Great Training Metric? (#270)

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

OVERVIEW
Cody Stephenson is the Education Program Manager at TrainingPeaks, meaning he teaches coaches how to properly utilize training data to improve performance. He's the perfect sports scientist to discuss the similarities and differences between Functional Threshold Power (FTP) and Critical Power (CP), Functional Reserve Capacity (FRC) and W Prime, and how all these training metrics and methodologies relate to each other. Best of all, he and Coach Adam Pulford are pragmatists, so they explain the strengths and weaknesses of each, without bias or hidden agendas.

TOPICS COVERED

• Is FTP dead?
• What is Functional Reserve Capacity (FRC)?
• Explaining P Max
• Are Critical Power and W Prime better than FTP and FRC?
• How to choose between FTP/FRC vs. CP/W Prime
• Why is "clean data" so important?

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Guest Bio – Cody Stephenson

Cody grew up racing mountain bikes in Durango, Colorado where he developed a passion for endurance sports, science, math and technology. He switched to the road and track while racing for Fort Lewis College, where he also managed to get a couple of science degrees. Now he gets to write and talk about his favorite topics every day as Education Program Manager at TrainingPeaks. When he’s not helping coaches learn to leverage technology to reach their goals he’s trying to become as good of a mountain bike racer as he was when he was 13 years old.

Resources:

- Cody Stephenson LinkedIn
- Articles: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach-blog/how-to-coach-athletes-who-arent-racing/
- CP W’ vs FTP alone
- Analyzing FTP by Joe Friel
- Power Training with WKO:
- Why Train Submaximally? WKO Case Study - Targeting Specific PDC Improvements
- Learning More about LLM’s and AI

HOST
Adam Pulford has been a CTS Coach for nearly two decades and holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology. He's participated in and coached hundreds of athletes for endurance events all around the world.
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Chapters

1. Introduction to Training Data (00:00:00)

2. Is FTP Dead? Modern Metrics Explained (00:06:42)

3. Cody's Background in Training Science (00:11:18)

4. Understanding FTP and Its Uses (00:15:11)

5. FRC and The Band of Metrics (00:22:49)

6. Critical Power vs FTP Debate (00:27:40)

7. Data Hygiene and AI in Coaching (00:32:14)