How Low Is Dan’s FTP? | Dan’s Journey Back To Cycling Ep. 3

What’s your current FTP—and when was the last time you tested it? 👇

I'm hoping to complete an Everest attempt on 21st June. Realising it's 10 weeks away watching this video 🫠

Thanks Dan for documenting your progress and making us feel human again. Knowing exactly with how much power to start but falling for the type 2 muscle fibers at the beginning – who cannot relate to this? I love the oldschool black socks and shoes.

Yeh I’m thinking new ftp 290 based on his weight.

260 is massive idk what u complaining abt

Dan my guy, what is up with that green wallpaper?

Good luck Dan!

Good luck Dan… by the way, your lowly starting FTP is already higher than mine :-/

@12:25. Dan: “No no no…it’s not a race”. Lol

Great to watch. I’ve been putting off doing an ftp but I need to stop procrastinating. Only thing is I thought Zwift specified that you had to stay seated throughout an ftp test

co to za popierdółka zrób 20 minutowy test FTP a nie kombinujesz żeby wyszło więcej

It's fake, you cannot be that low. This was done only to have room for easy improvement 😁

Some thoughts:

An FTP of 290 for an ex-racer is pretty low. So there's some work to do.

If you want to raise FTP with motivation, just race on Zwift every day. I do. This is the Ryan Condon rule. https://www.youtube.com/@RyanCondon

This means no recovery, but pretty fast progress. And it is wonderful for motivation. I look forward to these sessions every day, mixing it up with the (mostly) boys. Once you're out there racing, you can't just give up. Your prestige is committed. Zwift races typically last 25-55 minutes, so it's not a complete workout on a 6 hour / week schedule, but it's pretty close. I will usually run those races 50%+ of the time in VO2 Max and above zones.

I often supplement the races with a pacer workout (Zone 2-3) for an additional 15-25 minutes to bring the whole workout to about an hour. So that will give you a pretty good level of base fitness, provide plenty of motivation, and of course, we'd love to see you do some Zwift races.

Speaking of that, why not schedule some races with the boys?

Ryan Condon https://www.youtube.com/@RyanCondon (race scheduler in chief)
Erik Lee https://www.youtube.com/@DontGetDroppedCycling
Gerben https://www.youtube.com/@RideWithGerben
AJ https://www.youtube.com/@RoadtoA
Bradford Redpath https://www.youtube.com/@BradfordRedpath

You could probably hang with Erik, AJ and Brad. I would highlight Brad's work, as it shows what multimedia around Zwift can do. Both interesting for you personally, I think, and also potentially interesting to GCN in terms of conceptual approach. I'd like to see you do a race with Brad and his cronies.

I would note that Zwift emphasizes power and a kind of carnal fitness, not on-road endurance. It's not only power that matters. On a long ride, so do your wrists, your neck and your rear end. In your place, I would schedule the following rides outside: 2 x 3 hour rides, 1 x 4 hour ride, and 1 x 6 hour ride. And I'd do it on the bike, wheels and tires you intend to ride in the event. Also, if you're riding gravel, train gravel.

That's my two cents worth, as they say.

Watching this while riding Zwift is trippy. Don’t recommend.😂

I’m 6 months into enjoying cycling after losing 4 stone along the way it’s absolutely obliterated my power. I’m 12stone 11 now and my ftp is 210. I’ve got a long way ahead of me building strength but it’s exciting now I’m not dangerously overweight

Setting off on the test like a former pro! "this is easy, too easy, I know how to do this!" followed by "I knew how to do this, I still remember, but now I'm cooked – that's surprising…"

Are those frames going spare

Is the zwift bike really that loud??

Came here to see Dann trying to get it up

How will he get used to being on a bike for 5 hrs or more if he is not putting the miles in?

Another great film from Dan. But no matter how good he is, he'll never be a Si Richardson 😉

I'm just saying that in the hope of getting my comment read out! These are genuinely great videos and I'm looking forward to watching the next one.

Oh great, another Dan video! 👏🏻

Hello from Michigan over here in the US. I broke my clavicle and a few ribs on 4/12 in a gravel race. Had ORIF surgery for the clavicle on 4/22 and am now on the road to recovery. Been enjoying this type on content to get myself back into shape and maybe race again in the later half of this season. Thank you!

I have heard nonstop that most of your rides should be easy zone 2 , however this is clearly different to what Dan has been prescribed by this elite-level coach. I wonder if this disparity is because the 80% Z2 applies to pros who are able to train for hours each day, so of course they will do most their rides easy but still have plenty of intensity just through the sheer volume of riding over the course of the week. For us normal people with less time, say if we have 4 rides a week, it would be silly to do 3 of them Z2 and just 1 high intensity per week.

Thanks!