Failed to find FTP
I managed to figure out a great way to do the guided FTP test with my 945, log my miles on ZWIFT, and use erg mode for the whole thing. It worked spectacularly well, except for the fact that my legs weren't up for the challenge and as a result, no FTP was found.
My set up was as follows:
Laptop with ANT+ stick running ZWIFT
Android phone with ANT+
Indoor Cycling Workout Android app
Garmin 945
Tacx Vortex smart trainer
Daughter
My Samsung Galaxy S8 has native ANT+ support, which is awesome, though now that everything seems to be moving to dual BLE/ANT+ support, it's been less important in general. However, this would not have been possible without having an Android device with ANT+ capability.
The ICW app is what is driving the Android experience. It has the ability to connect to the trainer in FE-C, which means that it can control the trainer. It is a super simple interface, and while you can build workouts in the app, I chose for free-form mode since I did not know the power zones the guided FTP test was going to throw at me. I turned on the trainer, turned on the app, make sure everything is paired, and the trainer automatically adjusts to the power indicated on the app. There's are buttons to adjust the target power for the erg in the app, so if I want to go harder I just tap the + a few times and I'm golden.
Having that set up is great, but I also wanted to get my ZWIFT drop-points (drip-points?), or whatever they are calling them these days. This was a lot easier than I expected. When doing the sensor setup in ZWIFT, I simply disconnected the trainer as a controllable trainer and selected it only has the power source. That way there wouldn't be any conflicts between the ICW app and ZWIFT trying to send commands to my trainer. I would still ride around in ZWIFT based on my power output, but the terrain would have no impact on the resistance, which is exactly what I wanted.
Now that I was up and running, or cycling I guess, I got the 945 started in the guided FTP test. It started off with a 10-20 minute warm up at your own pace. Just push the lap button when you're feeling good. The first step in the protocol is a range of power, I can't remember what that range was exactly, so I'm just going to go with what shows in the Workout Target in Garmin Connect:
Step 1: Warm up 10-20 minutes
Step 2: 4 min @265 watts
Step 3 4 min @295 watts
Step 4: 4 min @320 watts
Step 5: 4 min @350 watts
Step 6: 3 min @375 watts
Step 7: 2 min cool down
I made it through Step 4 and then immediately bailed once it got up to 350 watts. I barely made it through the 320 watts. I'm not sure where these numbers came from - they seem pretty high, though I suspect it's based on the 293 number I manually entered, which is in turn based on what ZWIFT told me.
The 945 beeped at me a few times to inform me that I was outside of the target zone, but it, like me, eventually gave up. At the end of the guided FTP workout, it told me that it failed to find a new FTP for me. So uhm, thanks for that. I'm not sure what the key is for it to make the calculation. In looking at my heart rate date, I topped out at 165, which is nowhere near my max of 184. My muscle oxygenation data show me tanking, but as I have no algorithm to analyze that data with, I have no clue if I hit the magic inflection point that would indicate my lactate threshold (which I get is like comparing plums to pluots).
I ended up biking for another 30 minutes or so, just so I could have a decent workout, but it looks like I'll have to get ready for some more pain if I want to get this test to work.
My set up was as follows:
Laptop with ANT+ stick running ZWIFT
Android phone with ANT+
Indoor Cycling Workout Android app
Garmin 945
Tacx Vortex smart trainer
Daughter
My Samsung Galaxy S8 has native ANT+ support, which is awesome, though now that everything seems to be moving to dual BLE/ANT+ support, it's been less important in general. However, this would not have been possible without having an Android device with ANT+ capability.
The ICW app is what is driving the Android experience. It has the ability to connect to the trainer in FE-C, which means that it can control the trainer. It is a super simple interface, and while you can build workouts in the app, I chose for free-form mode since I did not know the power zones the guided FTP test was going to throw at me. I turned on the trainer, turned on the app, make sure everything is paired, and the trainer automatically adjusts to the power indicated on the app. There's are buttons to adjust the target power for the erg in the app, so if I want to go harder I just tap the + a few times and I'm golden.
Having that set up is great, but I also wanted to get my ZWIFT drop-points (drip-points?), or whatever they are calling them these days. This was a lot easier than I expected. When doing the sensor setup in ZWIFT, I simply disconnected the trainer as a controllable trainer and selected it only has the power source. That way there wouldn't be any conflicts between the ICW app and ZWIFT trying to send commands to my trainer. I would still ride around in ZWIFT based on my power output, but the terrain would have no impact on the resistance, which is exactly what I wanted.
Now that I was up and running, or cycling I guess, I got the 945 started in the guided FTP test. It started off with a 10-20 minute warm up at your own pace. Just push the lap button when you're feeling good. The first step in the protocol is a range of power, I can't remember what that range was exactly, so I'm just going to go with what shows in the Workout Target in Garmin Connect:
Step 1: Warm up 10-20 minutes
Step 2: 4 min @265 watts
Step 3 4 min @295 watts
Step 4: 4 min @320 watts
Step 5: 4 min @350 watts
Step 6: 3 min @375 watts
Step 7: 2 min cool down
I made it through Step 4 and then immediately bailed once it got up to 350 watts. I barely made it through the 320 watts. I'm not sure where these numbers came from - they seem pretty high, though I suspect it's based on the 293 number I manually entered, which is in turn based on what ZWIFT told me.
The 945 beeped at me a few times to inform me that I was outside of the target zone, but it, like me, eventually gave up. At the end of the guided FTP workout, it told me that it failed to find a new FTP for me. So uhm, thanks for that. I'm not sure what the key is for it to make the calculation. In looking at my heart rate date, I topped out at 165, which is nowhere near my max of 184. My muscle oxygenation data show me tanking, but as I have no algorithm to analyze that data with, I have no clue if I hit the magic inflection point that would indicate my lactate threshold (which I get is like comparing plums to pluots).
I ended up biking for another 30 minutes or so, just so I could have a decent workout, but it looks like I'll have to get ready for some more pain if I want to get this test to work.
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