Race Shape › Answers › What are cycling power zones?
AnswersWhat are cycling power zones?
Cycling power zones divide effort into bands set as percentages of your FTP, most commonly using Andrew Coggan's model. Endurance riding sits at about 56–75% of FTP, sweet spot at 88–94%, threshold at 95–105%, and VO₂max efforts at 106–120%. Training by zone keeps easy rides easy and hard efforts hard enough to work.
The zones, as Race Shape uses them
| Zone · % of FTP | What it feels like |
|---|---|
| Recovery · 0–55% | Easy enough to be slightly boring. That is the point. |
| Endurance · 56–75% | All-day pace. Conversational, and most of your riding. |
| Tempo · 76–87% | Working, but you could hold it for an hour or more. |
| Sweet spot · 88–94% | Most of the threshold benefit for much less fatigue. The workhorse. |
| Threshold · 95–105% | About what you could hold for an hour, flat out. |
| VO₂max · 106–120% | Three to five minutes at a time and no more. Deeply unpleasant. |
| Anaerobic · 121–150% | Thirty seconds to two minutes. Rarely what an endurance rider needs. |
The same zones at three fitness levels
| Zone | FTP 180 W | FTP 240 W | FTP 300 W |
|---|---|---|---|
| Endurance | 101–135 W | 134–180 W | 168–225 W |
| Sweet spot | 158–169 W | 211–226 W | 264–282 W |
| Threshold | 171–189 W | 228–252 W | 285–315 W |
| VO₂max | 191–216 W | 254–288 W | 318–360 W |
Sweet spot deserves its reputation as the workhorse: most of the benefit of threshold riding for noticeably less fatigue, which makes it repeatable across a week. VO₂max work is powerful but expensive, and belongs in small doses in the build and peak phases.
Common questions
What is sweet spot?
About 88–94% of FTP. Hard enough to raise threshold, easy enough to repeat in the same week.
Why are my zones different on another app?
Models differ slightly at the edges. What matters is using one consistent model anchored on a current FTP.
No power meter?
Heart-rate zones off your threshold heart rate do the same job with more lag. Race Shape uses them automatically.
Sources
- Allen, H. & Coggan, A. Training and Racing with a Power Meter.