What Is FTP and How Can It Improve Your Workout

When it comes to building a killer exercise that truly works you out, it can be quite difficult to determine how hard you really need to go. This is because our body is shaped by individual lifestyle choices and adapts to the physical activity (and inactivity) that we exert upon it. That means simply choosing between an easy, intermediate, and hard workout can be a lot tougher to decide when everyone’s body fitness is built so differently. That’s where Functional Threshold Power (FTP) comes in!

How FTP works

FTP is traditionally used in competitive sports to determine the theoretical maximum power a rider can sustain for one hour; this is useful in predicting the precise pedal power a rider has down to the wattage. The results can then be used to ramp up training effectiveness and intensity in a highly personalized manner.

FTP is such an effective measuring stick for training intensity that it has rapidly become the must-have smart feature among exercise bikes on the market today—and one of the reasons why our recently released smart bike comes with FTP assessment technologically baked in!

The RENPHO AI Smart Bike uses FTP to evaluate an individual’s fitness level and then personalize courses and challenges that align to the tolerance threshold of each rider. The core purpose is to push people to their limits without breaking their will to succeed; this feature can be found by accessing Cycling Power Test in the AI Gym app.

How do I prepare for an FTP test like the one found in RENPHO AI Smart Bike?

It may sound like a daunting task, but FTP is nothing to fear. Just know that you’re guaranteed break a sweat, so it’s best to dress in comfy clothes and warm-up in preparation for an intense session.

The FTP test will last 10 to 15 minutes and the difficulty will increase every minute until you can no longer pedal any more. Various courses in the RENPHO AI Smart Bike AI Gym app are then automatically calibrated to your FTP result, so it is recommended to cycle as long as possible in order for each training course to be calibrated correctly to your fitness level.

What if I get too tired to pedal for 10 to 15 minutes?

The FTP test ends when the rider can no longer pedal anymore. The test is designed to push the fitness of each rider by increasing the pedal resistance each minute until the rider can no longer continue. This is intended to stress the body and assess how effective it is at withstanding fatigue by adapting to dramatic leaps in weight resistance.

We use FTP to accurately understand a person’s fitness threshold so that the AI courses can learn and adjust to your upper limit without ever pushing you beyond what cannot be achieved. Our belief is that the most effective workout regime is not the one that breaks you and leaves you tired for days. Instead, the aim is to provide a reasonable challenge that allows your body to recover faster from fatigue and adapt to a new threshold of strength that is much higher than before.

Should I take multiple FTP tests to get an accurate reading?

One FTP test is enough to calibrate the courses found within the AI Gym app. We do however recommend performing a new FTP test every 4-6 weeks to check your power increase and benchmark the leaps in improvement made after attempting several AI personalized courses.

Is an FTP personalized workout suitable for me?

The RENPHO AI Smart Bike embraces the philosophy of scientific fitness which is why it uses FTP to customize the difficulty of training courses to each rider’s physical performance. This differs from traditional exercise bikes on the market which provide a variety of training resistance difficulty levels without taking the individual rider’s fitness into consideration. Therefore, FTP personalized workouts are effective and suitable for those above the age of 14 and should be an option to consider when looking for an active cardio workout from home.