All of your training will be done in your own personal power or heart rate zone. To better understand this, read this blog post about cycling threshold. If you do not know your zones, you can follow this article to determine your zones.
For the FTP Test, we recommend that a heart rate monitor so you know what your average heart rate is during the 20 mins test. If you have a power meter, you can record your average power as well, but it’s not required. For best results, we suggest you deduct 10% from your average heart rate for your Threshold Heart Rate value. If you are using Training Peaks, you can add this to your settings (Settings > Zones > Heart Rate).
Understanding your Zones
A little more about zones. Here are the definitions and the “feel”. If there are two names, the first is the lower part of the zone, the second the higher part of the zone.
Z1 = Recovery - 1-2 effort, very easy
Z2 = Endurance/Steady State - 2-3 effort, conversational – could ride “forever” at this pace
Z3 = Medium/Tempo - 4-6 effort working- could hold for 90 mins-2 hours – conversational but working
Z4 = Threshold - 7-8 effort - could do this for 30 to 40 mins with VERY FOCUSED effort. Can talk, but it’s not a conversation
Z5 = AT (above Threshold) - 8 –9 effort Save this for working really hard hills or last sprint through a tough section
Z6= VO2 max – 10 effort. Not something you’ll want to be doing for more than a minute)