Enter your FTP and get all seven Coggan training zones, each with its purpose, its percentage of FTP and its watt range.
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Your cycling power zones
| Zone | % FTP | Watts | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Z1 · Active Recovery | 0–55% | 0–138 W | Easy spinning that promotes recovery between hard efforts. |
| Z2 · Endurance | 56–75% | 140–188 W | Basic aerobic conditioning, the foundation of endurance fitness. |
| Z3 · Tempo | 76–90% | 190–225 W | Moderate, sustained effort that improves aerobic efficiency. |
| Z4 · Lactate Threshold | 91–105% | 228–263 W | Race-pace effort at or near FTP that raises sustainable power. |
| Z5 · VO2max | 106–120% | 265–300 W | Hard intervals that improve maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max). |
| Z6 · Anaerobic Capacity | 121–150% | 303–375 W | Short, very hard efforts that build anaerobic power. |
| Z7 · Neuromuscular Power | 151+% | 378+ W | Maximal short sprints for peak power and technique. |
Don't know your FTP yet? Estimate it first with the FTP Calculator, then enter it here for a detailed zone breakdown.
The table shows each zone as a percentage of FTP, with the watt range for a 250 W FTP as a worked reference and a plain-language description of how it feels and what it is for:
| Zone | % of FTP | 250 W FTP | How it feels | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Active Recovery | under 55% | 0–138 W | Very easy spinning; you could chat indefinitely | Recovery rides, warm-up and cool-down |
| 2. Endurance | 56–75% | 140–188 W | All-day pace; full sentences, steady breathing | Base endurance and long rides |
| 3. Tempo | 76–90% | 190–225 W | Brisk and rhythmic; conversation gets short | Sustained tempo blocks, steady group-ride pace |
| 4. Lactate Threshold | 91–105% | 228–263 W | Hard but controlled; around threshold | Threshold intervals, typically 10 to 30 minutes |
| 5. VO2max | 106–120% | 265–300 W | Breathing hard; can only hold a few minutes | VO2 max intervals, about 3 to 8 minutes |
| 6. Anaerobic Capacity | 121–150% | 303–375 W | Very hard; legs burn within seconds | Anaerobic efforts, about 30 seconds to 3 minutes |
| 7. Neuromuscular Power | over 150% | 378 W+ | All-out, short and explosive | Sprints and accelerations under roughly 30 seconds |
Enter your own FTP above to get the same table scaled to your number. Not sure of it yet? The FTP calculator estimates it from a test.
Zone boundaries for three typical thresholds, for a quick lookup:
| Zone | 200 W FTP | 250 W FTP | 300 W FTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Active Recovery | 0–110 W | 0–138 W | 0–165 W |
| 2. Endurance | 112–150 W | 140–188 W | 168–225 W |
| 3. Tempo | 152–180 W | 190–225 W | 228–270 W |
| 4. Lactate Threshold | 182–210 W | 228–263 W | 273–315 W |
| 5. VO2max | 212–240 W | 265–300 W | 318–360 W |
| 6. Anaerobic Capacity | 242–300 W | 303–375 W | 363–450 W |
| 7. Neuromuscular Power | 302 W+ | 378 W+ | 453 W+ |
The seven-level model was developed by exercise physiologist Andrew Coggan and popularised in Training and Racing with a Power Meter, which he wrote with coach Hunter Allen. Its key idea is to anchor every training intensity to one personal number, your FTP, so that an endurance ride, a threshold interval and a sprint are all defined relative to what you can actually do. That is why the model survives across riders of every level, and why most cycling platforms still offer it.
Seven zones give fine control, but many coaches simplify to three intensity bands: easy, moderate and hard, often used in polarised training where most time is easy and a little is very hard. Others single out Sweet Spot, roughly 88 to 94 percent of FTP, which straddles the top of Zone 3 and the bottom of Zone 4. None of these is more correct than the others. They are different ways of slicing the same range, so pick the scheme your plan uses and stay consistent.
A zone is a wattage, not a speed. To see what a given zone means on the road, take a power from your table and enter it into the watts calculator; it returns the speed that power holds on your route's gradient, so you know what a Zone 2 ride will look like on your usual loop. After the ride, the TSS calculator scores how much load it added. And for a second anchor built from two maximal efforts, the critical power calculator gives CP and W′.
Heart rate responds slowly and drifts with heat, hydration, fatigue and caffeine, so it is a poor guide for short, hard efforts. Power reacts instantly and ignores those factors, which is why most power-meter plans prescribe by watts. Heart rate is still useful for judging long, steady aerobic effort.
The boundaries are a convention, not a physiological cliff. Intensity is a continuum, and a rider at 90 percent of FTP is not suddenly doing different work than one at 91 percent. Two riders with the same FTP can also differ in how long they can hold a given zone. The published whole-percentage boundaries also leave a watt or two between neighbouring ranges, so treat a value in that gap as the boundary. Use the zones to structure training, and let breathing, perceived effort and repeatability guide adjustments.
