If you train with a power meter, you need to know your zones. Not the three-zone model (easy / moderate / hard) - the seven-zone Coggan system that every cyclist from Cat 5 to WorldTour uses. Here's exactly what each zone is for, how it feels, and how much time you should spend there.
The 7 zones at a glance
| Zone | Name | % FTP | Feels like | Use for | |---|---|---|---|---| | Z1 | Active Recovery | <55% | Barely pedalling | Recovery rides, warm-up, cool-down | | Z2 | Endurance | 56–75% | Conversational | Base miles, fat adaptation, volume | | Z3 | Tempo | 76–90% | "Comfortably hard" | Sweet-spot, long intervals, group rides | | Z4 | Threshold | 91–105% | "I can hold this for an hour" | FTP intervals (2×20min), race pace | | Z5 | VO₂max | 106–120% | "This hurts but I can finish" | 3–8 minute intervals | | Z6 | Anaerobic | 121–150% | "Everything burns" | 30s–3min intervals, attacks | | Z7 | Neuromuscular | >150% | Sprinting | 5–30s sprints, starts, kicks |
How to find your FTP
Before zones mean anything, you need your FTP. Here are three ways:
- 20-minute test: warm up thoroughly, go as hard as you can for 20 minutes, multiply average power by 0.95. This is the gold standard.
- Ramp test: increase power in steps until failure, multiply peak power by 0.75. Easier to execute but slightly less accurate.
- Critical power model: your best 3-minute and 12-minute power from recent rides. CP12min ≈ FTP.
Use the Baseline FTP calculator for quick estimation.
What the research says about distribution
The single most replicated finding in endurance training science: polarised training works.
About 80% of your training time should be in Z1–Z2 (easy). About 20% should be in Z4+, with very little in Z3 - the "grey zone" that's too hard to be recovery and too easy to be a stimulus.
Baseline tracks your actual time in each zone automatically and shows you over weeks and months whether your distribution is effective. Most amateur cyclists spend 40–50% in Z3 without realising it. The fix is simple: ride easier on easy days, ride harder on hard days.
The sweet-spot debate
Sweet-spot training (88–94% FTP, roughly high Z3/low Z4) has become popular because it feels productive - hard but not brutal. You can do 2–3 sweet-spot sessions per week and accumulate a lot of time at a meaningful intensity.
The tradeoff: sweet-spot is fatiguing enough to reduce the quality of your truly hard sessions (Z5+) but not hard enough to be maximally effective on its own. For time-crunched cyclists (4–6 hours/week), sweet-spot is a reasonable compromise. For cyclists training 10+ hours/week, true polarised distribution (80% easy, 20% hard) produces better results.
How Baseline helps
Connect your power data through Strava or Garmin. Baseline automatically computes your FTP from best efforts, tracks your zone distribution over time, and shows whether you're training polarised or falling into the grey zone. The AI insights card flags when your distribution drifts - so you can fix it before it becomes a habit.