I’m doing the six week FTP builder workout course. Certain workouts will have you pedal normally for a minute 30 then stand and pedal for 30 seconds at 65 rpm and repeat several times. I’m 44 and have been riding a bike my entire life. I cannot do the standing part at low wattage. There needs to be resistance in the pedals similar to my body weight or else i am just falling through the pedals as if i was freewheeling a gear that is way too low for the speed. I have to support myself by leaning most of my weight on the handlebars which defeats the point of standing unless this is supposed to be an upper body. For example I weigh 210 pounds and it wanted me to stand up and do 185 watts. If I was actually doing a ride I probably wouldn’t stand up until closer to 500 watts. How do you supposed to stand and pedal at such a low wattage relative to your body weight?
Is anyone else having a problem with this? I’m wondering if it’s because my FTP is so low. Coming from the world of mountain biking I can put down over 1200 W for 10 seconds by standing and pulling on the handlebars so I’m pretty good at sprinting and climbing quick steep hilsl but my FTP is only about 210 at a body weight of 95kilo
You can ignore all that standing garbage instructions, just do what is comfortable for you. The important part is hitting the power targets, not sitting vs standing.
Change gears for the standing portion
It’s in Erg mode for the workout with a specific watt target
Personally I don’t have too much trouble doing low wattage while standing, but it’s interesting the workout is asking you to stand for an effort well below your FTP, wonder what the goal is for them doing that. Does the workout explain why it wants you to stand for those efforts?
In general it’s more important to hit the wattage targets than to worry about specific stand/sit or cadence targets for most workouts unless there’s an explicit reason they suggest doing it standing…
It’s the 2nd to last workout of week one for the six week FTP builder workout plan. It’s labeled as foundation
For me it was pedal at 185 W sitting for 1:30 followed by 185 W standing for 0:30 repeat 4 or 5 times
Hmm, that’s just in a Zone 2 block at the end of the tempo session correct? I wonder if they are doing that just to help take a bit of pressure off your back? Sometimes on longer rides I stand at low power for a bit just to try a different position and give my back a bit of a rest.
I don’t imagine sitting or standing in those intervals at Zone 2 at the end of a tempo workout is going to make a difference in terms of training adaptation. I have seen some workouts suggest standing at the end of a VO2 block (as though you were going to push the last few pedal strokes at the very top of a hill), those are trying to mimic a real-life scenario you might encounter etc., so that’s a bit different.
I just corrected my post I think it was the second to last out of week one labeled as foundation
Ah, I think I see it, the one suggesting 70rpm? Looks like cadence drills going between 70rpm and 100rpm. I’m not sure if these cadence changes are to promote any type of adaptation or more just to keep people interested in an otherwise not so exciting workout 
For me personally I would be able to do my Zone 2 power at 70rpm without having to put a ton of weight on my handlebars, but I’m 77kgs, so lighter.
Yeah I think that’s the one. The fast cadence was sitting but the really slow 70 it would tell you to stand up.
So it probably doesn’t make much difference in terms of adaptations, but I would say that it is probably possible to do what it’s asking you to do by just being more balanced on the pedals. You shouldn’t be shifting your entire weight back and forth when pedaling, so if you’re well balanced I would think most folks can ‘probably’ do a Zone 2 level power at 70rpm while standing for short periods even if they are on the heavier side.
That said it probably does become more problematic the heavier you are so YMMV.
The problem is there isn’t enough resistance from the pedal so I’m falling through them instead of pushing on them when I stand up. Usually if you stand up it’s because you’re in a tough gear and your charging forward using it almost like a stair stepper. Trying to hold a steady slow speed standing is really hard to do
This thread is part of why I am terrified to ride road bikes in groups. There’s no reason this should be hard if you can balance on a bicycle.
I am probably missing something, but I don’t understand how being able to balance on a bike is connected to being able to stand up and pedal.
Try it. Standing up and balancing has nothing to do with it. Try pedal in slow motion in a super easy gear while standing at a steady speed. It doesnt work. It is only possible in a hard gear or while accelerating.
Not sure if you were replying to me specifically (my notification suggests that you were), but - exactly. I agree with you, hence why I don’t understand Craig’s comment and wonder what I’m missing.
If you’re balanced over the bottom bracket you should have zero problem pedaling at any power you choose, including just spinning at zero power when you’d otherwise be coasting.
I ride at low power while standing all the time. It shouldn’t be particularly hard if you’re balanced and in control, not throwing your body weight around.
I coach kids bike racing and it’s a thing we teach 4yo to stand up and pedal without throwing their body around.
The part you’re not understanding is that balance has nothing to do with it. I don’t have an issue with balancing lol I wrote semipro BMX and freestyle skate park so I have more balance than any of your street guys will ever have
I race & coach BMX racing. I don’t understand how you could get around a track at practice without being able to pedal under control. Just use muscles instead of throwing your weight at your front pedal. Same as climbing a low-traction surface on an MTB with enough technical you aren’t on your seat - you have to be able to control the force on the pedal and control your body. If you’re “falling through…” the pedals as you said, your weight is well forward of the bottom bracket - just move your body back. Get balanced on both pedals flat without any weight on the hands like you would for pumping.
If you can’t do that, you have likely lost some core strength and balance from when you were racing semi-pro BMX. (What do you mean by semi-pro? What class were you racing and where?)
As mentioned in the previous response. Those type of workouts help strengthening and developing the core muscles