This new What’s My FTP? training app for Garmin GPS devices from Baron Biosystems aims to make working with a power meter even easier than before. We’ve already seen some work from Baron on the Xert training platform that adapts to your live power data to create smart training plans, and the Xert app that brings those live updated figures to your Garmin. But now they have gone right to the sources and are providing an easier way to get current FTP without cumbersome on the road tests…
For riders working to hone their fitness and form, determining accurate Functional Threshold Power (FTP) is the most core building block for developing a training plan.
But, traditional FTP testing requires a full all-out hour effort on the bike, and most cyclists don’t actually have the time, or the actual reliable & uninterrupted course/track to put in an hour effort, or in many cases the will to suffer for that key performance metric. Shorter 20min or 30min efforts have been fairly reliable for approximating FTP, but even these are cumbersome enough that most cyclists do not recalculate their FTP accurately as they progress through a season’s training plan.
The same algorithmic methodology that made the Xert smart training work, has be adapted to just FTP now. So now What’s My FTP? constantly pulls in your power output data, and with a simple color-coded circular gauge it helps cyclists identify their current level of effort, and when you hit the point of exhaustion where you just can’t go any harder, the power figure shown in the middle will be your new FTP.
The core of the new app is the ability to work out your training plans from a base number that is accurate to your current capabilities. Dr. Stephen Cheung, the Chief Sport Scientist for Baron told us, “using this new app, a cyclist just needs to do a hard ride and get their FTP value, without worrying about the exact length or nature of the course… it demonstrates the incredible capabilities available in [our] Xert algorithms.”
Reset the app anytime to go out, put in a max-level hard effort, and it will update your FTP. Baron sees great potential for cyclists to adapt and update their training plans, but almost just as important is for coaches (& riders alike) to be able to look at how longer races or time off the bike affect an athlete’s FTP output.
What’s My FTP? is a Garmin Connect IQ Datafield, which means anyone using a powermeter and a Edge 520, 820, 1000, or some Fenix & Forerunner watches can download the app directly from Garmin Connect and simply add it as a new page on their device.
The Garmin Connect app is free to download (as is the Xert app), while the full Xert smart training requires a subscription service.
