Welcome to the DUCHY 9-Week FTP Booster
This plan is built around one core goal: to improve your ability to hold threshold power for longer durations. In training terms, that’s called developing your Time to Exhaustion (TTE) – how long you can ride right at your FTP before fatiguing.
For newer cyclists, there’s often an added bonus: a bump in your absolute FTP numbers too. But remember, the primary focus here is extending your capacity at threshold.
What to Expect
Throughout this plan, the main dial we’re turning is Time in Zone (TIZ) – specifically, how much time you spend riding at or around your FTP. You’ll notice a systematic increase in TIZ week by week, as we push you a little harder in order to keep the adaptations coming (think progressive overload).
We’ve structured the plan with adaptation weeks built in. These are deliberate lower-load weeks designed to let your body recover and consolidate gains before the next build phase. Embrace these weeks – they’re not a break from training, they are the very essence of smart training.
You’ll also see key sessions repeated now and then, especially when they carry a high TSS (Training Stress Score). These sessions are tough – they hit hard enough to stimulate adaptation without always needing to be “harder than last time.”
In the final two weeks, we start changing the training stimulus – mixing in higher variety efforts to extract every last bit of fitness once your TIZ has been pushed close to its limit.
One Very Important Note:
Make sure your FTP is set accurately before starting. If you haven’t tested in the last 60 days, do so before jumping in. If you’re unsure, err on the side of caution. These sessions are challenging, and an overestimated FTP will make them feel near-impossible.