Everyone wants a higher FTP. It is the number most riders check first, and for good reason. Raise your threshold and everything gets easier: the club run, the climb, the last hour of a sportive.What is FTP?Functional Threshold Power is roughly the highest power you can hold for about an hour. Most riders estimate it from a test: 95% of a hard 20-minute effort, a ramp test, or Critical Power from a few maximal efforts. Our FTP and Critical Power calculator works yours out and sets your zones.Above FTP, fatigue builds fast. Below it, you can keep going. The higher it sits, the faster you ride before the clock starts ticking.How to increase your FTP1. Ride more, mostly easy. The biggest driver of FTP is consistent aerobic volume. Long, steady rides in zone 2 build the engine that threshold sits on. Boring. Brilliant.2. Train at threshold. Once or twice a week, spend time close to FTP. A classic progression: 3 10 minutes at 95 to 100% of FTP with 5 minutes easy between, building to 2 20 minutes. Sweet spot work at 88 to 94% does a similar job with less fatigue.3. Raise the ceiling. Threshold can only climb so far under your VO2max. Blocks of VO2max intervals, such as 5 4 minutes at 106 to 120% of FTP, lift the roof so threshold has room to rise.4. Recover properly. Fitness arrives during recovery. Sleep, easy days that are actually easy, and a lighter week every three or four weeks.5. Fuel the work. Hard sessions on an empty tank feel awful and adapt less. Eat before, and take carbohydrate on longer rides.6. Get strong. Two short gym sessions a week improve force, efficiency and resilience. Our strength builder puts a session together for you.What holds FTP back?Riding every session at the same moderately hard pace, so nothing is easy enough to recover from or hard enough to adapt to.No recovery weeks, so fatigue hides the fitness.Under-fuelling, especially on long or hard days.Testing too often. Every 6 to 8 weeks is plenty.Want a plan built around it?Raising FTP takes a plan that fits your life and adapts as you go. Monthly coaching builds it into your week, with a weekly 1:1 call, from 140 a month. Not sure where to start? Book a free 30-minute consultation.Keep readingSweet spot training: what it is and when to use itCycling intervals: types, zones and why we use themHow to sprint faster on the bikeHow many carbs per hour when cycling?Saddle up.