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What is an average FTP?

Author

Emily Ross

Published Jan 17, 2026

This data is smoother because the peaks caused by the round numbers in reported FTP and weight smooth each other out. 48.6% of people have an FTP below 3.4W/kg. 42.1% of people have an FTP of 3.6W/kg or more. 9.3% of people have an FTP between 3.4W/kg and 3.6W/kg.

What is a healthy FTP?

Average recreational cyclists would be about 2.5-3.0 Watts/Kg for FTP. People who race regularly may be 3.0-3.75. You get above 3.75-4.25 and those are local elite racers. Anything over 4.25 is domestic pro and it goes up from there.

Is 200 watts good cycling?

No exact watt number is appropriate for all riders. Generally speaking, a beginner cyclist may average around 75–100 watts in a 1-hour workout. A fit participant will average more than 100 watts, and pro cyclists can reach 400 watts per hour.

What's a good FTP on Zwift?

A good FTP on Zwift is above 250 Watts for men and above 180 Watts for women. The higher the FTP the stronger you are.

What is a good 20 minute FTP?

The 95 per cent is a number based off averages, but for many amateurs, the power drop-off between 20 and 60 minutes can be much greater than five per cent, so those athletes might be better off using 92 or even 90 per cent.

24 related questions found

What is a good FTP peloton?

What is a good peloton FTP improvement? As a whole, a good peloton improvement is any number that will be higher than your previous score. If your previous FTP score was around 100 output, and your current one shows 105, that's good progress.

What is Matt Wilpers FTP?

“FTP” stands for “Functional Threshold Power” and is typically described as the power or output one could sustain for around one hour.

How do I improve FTP?

How to Increase FTP

  1. Increase the duration of your weekend group rides. You need to go over 4 hours to really stress your cardiovascular and muscular system. ...
  2. During the week you should do 3 days of solid FTP intervals (91-105% of your FTP). ...
  3. Try to be rested between sessions in order to maximize the benefits of FTP work.

Why is Zwift so hard?

“The racing is short and particularly intense,” he explained. “It is 45-90 minutes of racing instead of three to six hours. The consequence for the riders is that there is no opportunity to save energy like they have in road races, so they have to make prolonged, all-out efforts that push them to their physical limit.”

How many watts is Peter Sagan?

The data confirmed what Vila said. Sagan, during an 18-second period of the Tour of Suisse's stage 5, produced an average of 1,220 watts. Over that time, he reached 76.2 kilometers an hour and peaked at 1,417 watts — enough to power a small space heater or an espresso machine.

How long does it take to increase FTP?

In many cases, I recommend adding 2-3 recovery weeks spaced throughout this time. So for most athletes coming off a period of reduced or less focused training, it takes around 10 weeks to begin to see FTP gains.

Does Zwift automatically update FTP?

Zwift will automatically calculate your FTP on every ride, using the maximum 20-minute average power you record on each ride, but will only notify you if it detects an increase over your current score.

Is 4 watts per kg good?

And so is 4W/kg if you consider that 6W/kg on the major climbs of grand tours is about the benchmark for being in the first half of the field. However, 4W/kg is still better than most club level cyclists, and is literally lapping everyone on the couch. So it's a great goal to target.

Should you train at FTP?

Training sessions that focus on interval efforts around your FTP – or even harder than your FTP – can be done two or three times per week. Be careful though, as this is the maximum limit at which your body will benefit and turn these efforts into performance gains.

Can strength training improve FTP?

IMPROVE CYCLING ECONOMY/TIME TO EXHAUSTION

Cycling economy and Time to Exhaustion are the two primary reasons weight lifting helps make cyclists faster without actually improving FTP or VO2 max. The Neuromuscular strain you can dose by lifting at your MAX WEIGHT can only happen in the weight room.

How much does FTP fluctuate?

Normal Daily Fluctuation

Your FTP just like your body weight actually varies every day, every week, every month according to multiple internal and external factors. It is not unusual for body weight to fluctuate as much as 2–3% per day!

Which Peloton instructor is leaving?

Peloton instructor Chase Tucker is leaving, and class ratings may indicate why. Late last week, Peloton instructor Chase Tucker announced on Instagram that he was leaving Peloton to pursue other opportunities.

What does my FTP score mean?

Simply put, FTP is the average number of watts that a rider can sustain in an hour, and acts as a current measure of fitness. Ideally, it refers to a steady effort, not the up-and-down levels you might see looking at your power from a hilly ride or cyclocross race.

What does kJ mean on Peloton?

Total Output, measured in KJ (kilojoules), is how much work you've done over the whole ride. This is calculated by taking the average output times the number of seconds in the ride divided by 1,000. For instance, if you average 100 Watts in a 2,700-second ride (45 minutes), your total output will be 270 KJ.

Is Strava watts accurate?

According to Strava's algorithms I averaged 343 watts for this three hour ride. From many years worth of rides in the legs, I can confirm that Strava's estimated power data ranges from “somewhat accurate” to “wildly ridiculous” (and everything in between).

How do I get FTP for cycling?

Cycling. Functional Threshold Power (FTP): You can estimate FTP with your best recent 20-minute power value (either from a dedicated 20-minute test or a sufficiently hard 20-minute effort from a race or workout). Multiply that value by 95% to get your FTP.

How hard is FTP test on Zwift?

The 20 Minute Test is as simple as it sounds - you ride for 20 minutes. It is a full-on 20 minute effort, at the end of which your average power will be put into an algorithm which will calculate your Zwift FTP. FTP is usually a few percent lower than your 20 minute power average.

How accurate is an FTP ramp test?

You'll find a full ramp test to be fairly accurate. Either up 5 watts per minute or 25 watts every four minutes. They take a lot longer obviously, which is why they are more accurate.