Just finished my first three weeks of Short Power build and am now in the dreaded rest week.
When I started the program I did the old school 20min FTP test instead of the ramp purely because I’d done it this way previously and just wanted a comparison.
I’m interested to see if there is much variation between the ramp and 20min test so was thinking of putting one in the Saturday of the rest week. I have had a play with the week to alter as follows-
Monday- off
Tuesday- 90min endurance
Wednesday- Petit
Thursday-off
Friday- 60min endurance with openers
Saturday-ramp rest
Sunday-2hrs endurance
Just wondering if anyone has experimented with this and if doing the ramp test cooked them for the next block? I figure I’m still getting 5 easy days in and overall TSS is also the same.
Thanks in advance.
I would schedule a full day of rest in front of any test protocol. I always weigh my options when I feel the need to retest - what’s more important to you that week? What do you gain from retesting 3 weeks into a plan? How valuable is that endurance ride scheduled before your test?
And to add to the idea, because I don’t know: what’s truly the best way to compare a ramp test to another format? Same week? Different week?
Hold up here. If you just finished the first part of SPB (I assume mid volume) and you are not looking forward to a recovery week (you call it “dreaded”), coupled with you wanting to perform a FTP test early in said recovery week, than your FTP was too low. SPB should have really challenged you and you should be looking forward to your recovery week.
I changed the week around to put the workout in prior to the ramp because I usually have Friday off and planned the ramp test Saturday. I find if I had 5 easy days then did the ramp I often feel sluggish on the first hard session back so wanted to open the legs prior to make it more accurate.
As far as testing after 3 weeks I’m not sure of the theory but it is in the program for the first workout of week 4
Yeah it was mid-volume SPB and I definitely found the hard workouts challenging but was able to hit numbers on most, it did take me a while to get used to erg mode as well.
I’m looking forward to a few easy days now to freshen up but in general I get a bit bored by about day 3 and find I have to really force myself not to do too much. I think having just started TR and getting hooked on the different workouts means my motivation has been high.
I wasn’t sure how to set FTP after my 20min test. I got 352 and found that easy but 360 felt about right in workouts. I have done higher 20min powers than I did in the ftp test but it was on climbs in Zwift so didn’t know if it was applicable.
I’ve got a 3week old and 17month old so I’m not racing at the moment except for on Zwift(I substitute this for my Saturday TR ride). I’ve previously done quite a bit of racing and have been able to fit in higher volume training weeks as well.
Hopefully that gives a bit more context. I guess my aim behind the ramp test is just to experiment and find what works for me testing wise.
I’ve done FTP test in Recovery week before. It’s fine. I don’t think your results will be any higher or lower doing it Saturday of recovery week vs the following Tuesday. In fact you get the bonus of if you don’t like the result or youre off that day, you can repeat it again in a few days.
Cheers for the advice. It’s more that I’m not training for anything specifically at the moment and am interested in comparing the two under relatively similar circumstances.
