I’m 10 weeks into Build Me Up. I noticed at the beginning there was a ramp test, then you compare at end of the programme with an FTP test - why? My understanding is ramp test and traditional FTP test can give very different results, so how does this accurately reflect your progress (or lack of) with 2 different benchmarking tests?
I actually ignored the ramp test and did an FTP test at the beginning for this reason, rightly or wrongly.
i don’t think any of the training plans on zwift are particularly well thought out. personally i would recommend trusting your instinct and using the same test you began it with
My guess is they designed it this way because the 20 min test is harder to pace for someone who is new to power based training, while the ramp test is much easier to pace (just keep going until you fail). They are just trying to get in the right ballpark to start off the course so you’re getting the right type of workouts out of it from the start. By the end of build me up most folks who were relatively new to power based training would then have a much better sense of about where their setpoint is for a 20 min sustained effort I would imagine.
But yea, it does seem the consensus is the 20 min test is more accurate than the ramp test, and it would be nice to have an apples to apples comparison at the end of the program… So if you feel good about your ability to pace an all-out 20 min effort that’s a totally reasonable thing to do at the start of BMU.
I can understand that point, I wasn’t confident to do an ftp test until I’d done a few ramp tests and training off the back of that, but then this programme is apparently for intermediates.
Perhaps the Zwift programme should be amended give you the option of ftp test depending on your confidence, and/or allow you to do a ramp test at the beginning AND at the end for a true comparison
BTW, there’s nothing stopping you doing an FTP Ramp Test at the end of your training programme. Simply select it from the list of Zwift workouts.
I think you are all ascribing to Zwift a bit more thought than actually there is. I think it’s for the simple reason that the Build Me Up training plan existed before the Ramp Test Workout Existed in Zwift, and they haven’t bothered to update the plan since.
BMU has a ramp test at the start of the plan as per the OP’s initial description.