I have access to an outdorr track and thought this might be useful as a fairly constant environment to test and track my FTP.
I have seen on the forum (i'm working my way through it slowly looking for info!) that while 0.95x 20min power may be the most popular method (i guess convenience and ability to repeat regularly being the reasons) it may not be the best method to test ftp.
I had thought of trying the 20 minute test as a kind of pursuit in orderto get a bit more 'race motivation' what is the consensus on using a protocol like this on an outdoor track for regular testing? would the ave power of 2x20m with 5min recovery be a better approximation of ftp than 0.95x 20min power?
i would like to get as accurate ans reproducible figure as possible without doing a 1hour tt, especially for use in the off season.
It's good to have a course where you can do constant power rides of any duration, so a track is a great performance testing environment. You might want to consider doing three tests and use the CP curve. This testing protocol will give you an estimate of your MP at a wide range of durations (including 60min) and will allow you to track your performance at three key durations (AC, VO2MAX and FTP). I use 3, 8 and 30mins and I ride them to max duration (rather than attempting to guess my MP and riding a fixed duration). Here's the link to the CP curve if you need it velo-fit.comcritical power.pdfOpen ↗.
I agree wwith RD here,, as I dont think that 2x20 will necessarily give you a better indication of your FTP. I personally find that I can do 2x20(with 5 rec) at ~104% FTP to give you an indication of what you can do with 2x20 intervals.
Other than the CP curve, ride the track for an hour; if you're going to do 2x20 + 5 rec, it's only 15 more minutes.
It's good to have a course where you can do constant power rides of any duration, so a track is a great performance testing environment. You might want to consider doing three tests and use the CP curve. This testing protocol will give you an estimate of your MP at a wide range of durations (including 60min) and will allow you to track your performance at three key durations (AC, VO2MAX and FTP). I use 3, 8 and 30mins and I ride them to max duration (rather than attempting to guess my MP and riding a fixed duration). Here's the link to the CP curve if you need it velo-fit.comcritical power.pdf.Open ↗
RD - do you find the result is consistent/reliable with variable duration method? Presume you use monod model to predict what power level to choose for the 3, 8, 30min efforts and depending on how good you are on the day you either do more or less.
RD - do you find the result is consistent/reliable with variable duration method? Presume you use monod model to predict what power level to choose for the 3, 8, 30min efforts and depending on how good you are on the day you either do more or less.
Yes, I can predict (with the Monod model and based on prior efforts) with pretty good accuracy what power I can hold for a given duration. Then, I input the actual durations (in seconds) in the model. I don't necessarily try to hold the power until I fall off the bike, I just hold it until it's really difficult to hold. Toward the end of the effort, I find that my power will drop below my target for a few seconds but that I will be able to push it back up to my target with extra effort. When my power drops below my target for ~15 seconds, I stop the effort. I love getting into the last minute of an effort because I basically know I can tough it out to the end, in 15sec segments. The biggest issue is whether to do all three durations on the same day. I usually do all three on the same day, from long to short (30, 8, then 3) on the basis that I want to get the long one off the table when I am fresh. I'm sure the shorter ones are compromised a bit, but hopefully not too much since they are mostly anaerobic.
Yes, I can predict (with the Monod model and based on prior efforts) with pretty good accuracy what power I can hold for a given duration. Then, I input the actual durations (in seconds) in the model. I don't necessarily try to hold the power until I fall off the bike, I just hold it until it's really difficult to hold. Toward the end of the effort, I find that my power will drop below my target for a few seconds but that I will be able to push it back up to my target with extra effort. When my power drops below my target for ~15 seconds, I stop the effort. I love getting into the last minute of an effort because I basically know I can tough it out to the end, in 15sec segments. The biggest issue is whether to do all three durations on the same day. I usually do all three on the same day, from long to short (30, 8, then 3) on the basis that I want to get the long one off the table when I am fresh. I'm sure the shorter ones are compromised a bit, but hopefully not too much since they are mostly anaerobic.
OK thanks, makes sense to me. It makes for a pretty decent training session anyway!
I suspect the shorter efforts (3-8 min) are still largely aerobic in nature, although heavily influenced by AWC. I'd guess it would be efforts < 1min that would have a large component of anaerobic power contribution.
I have an athlete for whom, given his circumstances, using monod CP makes most sense as a test protocol (I've used a few different ones on myself) and I've had my own internal debate about the finer details of the CP process.
I have an athlete for whom, given his circumstances, using monod CP makes most sense as a test protocol (I've used a few different ones on myself) and I've had my own internal debate about the finer details of the CP process.
The durations and test protocol matter. It helps to develop some good data points and then test another duration based on the CP model predicted power. What appeals to me about using it is that I get the necessary data for both match analysis and variable power TT pacing plans with no further testing. It is central to my models for both.
