Since Zwift workout intervals are generally based on percentages of your FTP, it is important to have your FTP set correctly so your workouts will have the proper level of difficulty.
Set your FTP too high, and your workout will be too tough. Set it too low, and it will be too easy!
There are actually several ways to change your FTP in Zwift. Here’s how each method works.
Method 1: Setting Your FTP via a Test (Preferred)
Testing is the most accurate way to determine your current FTP. But be warned: FTP tests require a maximal effort, which is always a challenge!
Zwift’s FTP tests can be found under Workouts>FTP Tests. You can get to the workouts screen by clicking “Training” from the startup screen, or hitting the “E” key on your keyboard in game.
There are three tests available. The first two (“FTP Test” and FTP Test shorter”) are “traditional” FTP tests in which you will put out a maximal 20-minute effort after warming up.
The third (“Ramp Test”) is a shorter effort which starts easy then ramps up in 20-watt increments every minute. The challenging portion of this test is typically 4-8 minutes long. Learn more about taking a ramp test >
Whatever test you choose, the game will prompt you to save your newly-tested FTP value once the test is complete.
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Method 2: Manually Setting Your FTP
You can easily change your FTP to any number you’d like. This can be done in two different places, both only available from within the Zwift game.
The first place you can adjust your FTP is under your profile. To get there, click “Menu” while in game, then click the edit icon next to your profile info at the top-right. Adjust your FTP, then click to save.
The other place your FTP can be adjusted is from the workout picker. Select any workout, then change the FTP number at the bottom-left. As soon as you change the number, your new FTP value will be saved.
Method 3: Setting Your FTP via Zwift’s Auto-Detection
Zwift automatically tests your FTP on every ride, prompting you if an increase is detected. Your FTP value is calculated at the end of your ride as 95% of your highest 20-minute average power.
Example: if your FTP is set to 270 watts, and you averaged 307 watts for 20 minutes in a Zwift race, the game would prompt you with the screen below when you finished your ride:
Just hit “Oh Yeah” to save your new FTP. And of course, hit F10 to take a screenshot so you can share your new FTP on Zwift Riders Facebook and other social media. 😃
Eric, my FTP when entering to Zwift was auto-calculated in 151. Then got to 163, then 175, and in the Tour of London stage #1 where I went full gas, got to 191. Well, I never got any message from Zwif at end of races to tell me that FTP was updated. I always found out in my profile when it was updated. Why I don’t get any auto-message?
Not sure–that’s typically a message you see when you’re saving the ride. What platform are you running Zwift on?
I run on MacOS.
Yes, i see it should appear during saving the ride, but never happened, even if the FTP was updated at least 3 times (that’s when i noticed it in my profile, but may have been updated other times in the middle) from the 151w of the first days.
I continually update my FTP on the Apple TV app for Zwift but it never sticks. I cannot update it on my.zwift.com. Why is this not working for me?
No idea–I’ve never heard of this as a bug. Have you tried using Zwift Companion app to set it?
Hey Eric!
Just curious as to why it takes 95% of your best 20 min. effort and not the entire average when it auto-calculates from a ride? (Awesome work with the website, by the way! I’m constantly on it checking route details and other things.)
-Addison
95% of 20 minutes is kind of an accepted standard. People rarely go all-out for a full ride, so keeping it there assures that it’s a better picture of an all-out effort.
Zwift COULD have set it up to compute using best 30 minute, 40 minutes, etc as well. But they just set it up with the one metric, at least for now.
I’m now realizing I may have misspoke or worded my question incorrectly… I meant why do they take 95% of the highest 20 min. average period and not the full 100% of that highest 20 min. period?
I’m just curious because I had an effort up the Innsbruck KOM yesterday and I finished in 20 minutes and 17 seconds. I thought for sure my estimated FTP would increase when I went to save the ride, but it never did. I went to read the Power Curve on Strava under the analytics of the ride, and the 20 min. average was higher than my current FTP. Very slightly, but it still was higher.
Because FTP is the highest power you can hold at threshold… which is different than the highest power you can hold at 20 minutes. So knocking it down to 95% gets you pretty close to an accurate measurement.
Many people say FTP is what you can average for an hour. That’s not actually true, but it’s close. Most people can hold their FTP for 35-55 minutes… some even more than that. But 20 minutes is too short.
Gotcha… thanks for the help.
Hi Eric, you know if this is still the case, that Zwift only uses your best 20min effort during a ride to recalculate your FTP? I just finished the Bologna TT race in 17mins and then soft pedaled down the hill afterwards. So although my total ride was longer than 20mins, I definitely didn’t go full out the entire 20mins, those last 3mins I coasted and still got an FTP increase. It seems highly unlikely that they used a 20min effort to recalculate my FTP in this case. Maybe they used a 5min effort? That would make more sense because I only gave full out effort for around 8-10mins on the hillclimb..
Far as I know, they still calculate FTP and suggest FTP upgrades when your 20 minute effort x .95 is greater than your current FTP setting.
I think I’ve just fallen foul of this. My FTP is 151, and I just did a 42 minute ride, with an overall average of 159 – nothing changed. 95% of 159 is 151.05, so I thought it might have updated my http://FTP…?
I did the FTP test on Zwift and got a 199. After a few training rides, I did a race and got a new 222 FTP. I think that is more than my real fitness level and it pushed me from a D group to the bottom of the C group range. I didn’t even finish in the middle of the D group yet and would have been last in the C group in the last race. I think my FTP is too high that could affect the zones I should be in for the Zwift training programs. Should I manually change the FTP to something between the 199 and 222?
You should set it to what your FTP actually is. 🙂
My wife’s FTP is set at zero (she doesn’t know what it is) and although she’s ridden 200+ miles on Zwift it has never automatically set it. Any ideas why?
Hi, I just recently joined Zwift. I took the FTP test today and during the warm-up, while in erg mode the resistance would periodically fall off for a few seconds. For example, if the watts were set at 150, the resistance would suddenly drop to 120 for a few seconds and jump back to 150. During the actual FTP test, resistance also changed significantly. Resistance would randomly increase and decrease requiring me to drastically ramp up or down my cadence. My wattage also varied significantly as the resistance and my cadence changed. Is this the way the FTP test is supposed to work or do I have an issue with my set-up? I am using a Kicker Core.
ERG mode should not be on for the 20 min test portion of the FTP. Even if you DO have it on the app should disable it for the actual test. Maybe redo it
Thanks for that. Have just done the FTP test in ergo mode and couldnt get the power up during this period. I dodnt know the but you can easily turn it on amd off im Companion app.
Did you get answer on your question? I have similar question as you, also recently purchased wahoo kicker smart trainer. thanks
Hue, I had the same issue when I did the long FTP test yesterday. I don’t think my FTP score would have been any different but it was annoying
I’m here because I thought TP Custom Workouts overrode Zwift with target Watts. Not so! Now I’m making sure I know how to reset my FTP in Zwift so I have a “just right” interval ride, at the power level prescribed by my coach.
Hi Eric, just a question on how Zwift calculates FTP during a race. Do you know if its using 95% of the best 20 min average or is it using the Normalised Power for those 20 mins? Reason I ask is that I see a discrepancy between auto-calcs from Zwift vs Training Peaks where Zwift is taking 95% of the NP shown in TP while TP is using the non-NP average as per standard method. I see merit for using the NP figure during racing as this ‘smooths’ out typical highs and lows. Thanks and keep up the great work.
I’m actually not sure, Claude! I may just need to test that.
Tested this. Zwift bases its FTP calculations on you best 20-minute average power, not NP.
Hi Eric, just checked my numbers from a race I did on Tuesday where I received a auto FTP upgrade to 281 which seems contradict your test. Looking at TP results (imported from Zwift) my 20 min best was 293 watts and NP was 296 watts. The new FTP of 281 happens to be 95pct of 296np. Seems strange to me but I do think using np For ftp in a racing situation is probably closer reflection.
Pics attached
Probably the difference is Zwift having slightly different numbers than TP. I’ve had this happen before, although I’m not sure how it happens – almost like they begin calculating before you cross the start line, while TP starts later? Not sure.
I just know my tests showed it’s definitely NOT based on NP!
For the FTP short test is the 20 minute interval suppose to be a free ride? My power was not set (like in ERG), but my cadence seemed to be set around 90 RPMs. I trained to have my cadence around 100 RPMs. So, at 100 RPMs I was 50 watts over my target (I had predetermined the correct gear for my desired cadence and wattage from previous Zwift “free rides”.) Dropping to lower gears did not help (still forced me to 90 RPMs). Needless to say, I did not have an optimal ride. I was still able to increase my FTP from 182 to 211, but I think I could of achieved at least 10 more watts if I had been able to ride as planned. Is this something Zwift implements? Will I have to create my own FTP test?
Would the 20 minute watts listed at ZwiftPower be appropriate for setting FTP. I did a test in Zwift a while ago, but I think the ZwiftPower result would be more appropriate, based on a number of rides/races, etc.
Not necessarily… your FTP might be understated due to time spent drafting. Flat TTs probably a better guide, but best to do a proper test (ramp test avoids the pacing issue). If you are training in zones around FTP you want a reliable and consistent number.
Great tips! Thank you
I prefer to calculate FTP on my Elite Training App.
I’m using the Zwift 6 week FTP builder course.
So if I update the FTP manually, will it update the training details as well?
(At the moment Zwift is taking my 20 min average)
Thanks!
Yep!
I recently did a ramp test. No result was displayed but the number 193 was present, not sure if that was an average or FTP. When I started my 4 week FTP program it placed me at 245. Being a newbie on Zwift, I thought can’t be but I’ll ride it. Needless to say, I crapped out at 40 mins. Afterward my Garmin 830 placed me at 203, about where I would have predicted. I’ve manual updated my profile, still why wasn’t my result updated correctly?
I just started using Zwift. I made a manual change to my FTP (probably shouldn’t have). Does this mean Zwift will no longer make auto changes? I had a strength workout today that was asking me to hammer as hard as I could and I more than doubled the wattage it wanted me to stay at, and my FTP didn’t change.
Hi Eric, great website and articles, I really enjoy them. I have a query regarding: FTP on Zwift, I run a small unofficial league and some members have increased their FTP according to the 95% of their best 20min power average on an hour ride. However they held a higher average power for the 60mins than the 95% of 20mins! This seems strange as firstly you would imagine the overall 60min average result would over ride the 95% of 20mins (although clearly Zwift doesn’t do this) but also you would imagine that if their 60min average was higher then there must’ve been a 20minute section within that ride where their average power was even higher therefore 95% of that may equate with the 60min average power? I hope this makes sence, it did to me until I read it back through! Be interested in your thoughts Cheers, Reggie
Well, if they can hold higher wattage for an hour than 95% of their 20 minute critical power… take the hour average instead, as that’s probably a more accurate view of their FTP anyway.
I still can’t find my FTP result after doing a test. I’m new to Zwift ! My screen appears different than yours. Hope you can help.
I prefer the 3rd method mostly because it feels like an achievement.
6 weeks off the bike due to a crash and I had to lower the FTP to be able to FTP workouts in ERG mode.
Hi, I get my FTP records every time when i am takeing part in a double draft event. If I afterwards do a workout with the new FTP, it is always to hard. Could it be, that in the calculation the double draft and the inputed watts were miscalculated?
Otherwise I am just over motivated and highly focused 🙂
I did a ramp FTP test yesterday and it lowered my FTP from 227 to 197 I wanted to raise a couple of questions A, there is no advice on the best way to take this test E.G gearing, do you need to keep pushing in zones or can you spin it up to the end of the zone
B. I like to push a big gear but due to my new FTL I am losing races and good positions because I drop out of the group on climbs because I seem to be spinning and going nowhere.
Am I missing something here new Zwifter of 3 months
The rate of perceived exertion at the same wattage is vastly different when just riding or using the pace feature. When I select certain workouts the wattage feels literally doubled at the same rate. Something is broken. I had to exit out of one of the ineos work out due to almost complete inability to move the pedals.
Hello, is there a graft somewhere to see my evolution in my ftp test results ? Thanks
Not in Zwift, no. Other platforms have better sort of fitness history graphs built into them… like Strava or XERT or TrainingPeaks or intervals.icu.
Does the Trainer Difficulty setting impact the FTP Ramp Test at all? I didn’t know but my difficulty setting has been set at the default 50%
It does not, since the ramp test runs in ERG mode (so gradients aren’t simulated by your trainer during the test.)
I had a spike on one of my rides where I pushed 1574 watts which is completely impossible for me to do, this has moved my FTP up as well as my category for racing. I have enquired how I can get it back to normal and was told I must find the activity that spiked it and delete – how do I find that activity – please advise?
Whoever gave you that advice doesn’t know how Zwift works. There’s no way to delete your Zwift activities from your Zwift account.
Adjusting your FTP is easy – just go into the game and change it (on the same profile screen where you change your name).
You could contact Zwift support and ask them to fix the Category Enforcement issue. Not sure they will/can.
This is incredibly frustrating? Why am I spending 15min looking for the freaking test result and can’t find it guys?
Test result pops up at the end of the test.
Hi All. I am completely new to cycling. I have set up the new Zwift Ride with Kickr core but cant find any workouts that calculate my FTP. the menus are different to all the screen shots I can find on line which show FTP workouts. My FTP is currently at 0 which means that any workout is too easy. Given that you need this to work out, its a poor set-up by Zwift that this functionality isnt easier to find.
Problem updating FTP in profil
Problem with FTP adjustment in profile.