Watt Bike Test, (take 2)

Watt bike (test 2).

Improving an already good test.

After I wrote my last blog on the Watt Bike SubMaximal Ramp test I was contacted directly by one of the guys at Watt Bike. I only thought my Mum read my blogs, but I was wrong. The guy who emailed me was Eddie Fletcher, he is their Sports Consultant and Exercise Physiologist. He has a big history in Rowing, Cycling, Triathlon, Rugby and a number of other sports. You could say his a bit of an all rounder! So you can guess I was keen to hear what he thought of my test, how to improve it and diagnosing the number with more of a scientific eye on it. As you know I am a lover of numbers in my sports.

The first thing Eddie told me was that the steps should be lower than the 25 watt jumps I had done. So for most people 15 or 20 watt jumps. For me 20 watts was ideal. The next improvement he suggested was to stop the test earlier. This was referring to the “Borg” scale. This is the perceived exertion scale, so you are aiming to stop the test at 7/10 perceived exertion. I had previously gone to almost failure. I have a bit of trouble trying to assess what 7 out of 10 is in effort.... So to help, Eddie said my heart rate for 7/10 should be around 85% of your Max Heart Rate (MHR). This time I went off that target of heart rate.

I asked him about the predictions of my FTP in regards to the Ramp test, So the figures you get at the end of the test, one of them is your estimated Max Minute Power (MMP). Eddie suggested 70% of this MMP would be around your FTP. We looked at the last test and these numbers matched pretty well if I had stopped the test at 7 out of 10 perceived effort or 85% of my MHR.

This time round I have taken on board all the suggestions and the test went as below.

I started the test at 160 Watts as suggested, and set the steps to 20 Watts. From the start power all the way to 300 was pretty simple, only on that 7th or 8th minute do you feel anything resembling discomfort in the legs. I was still very comfortable and chatting to one of the guys who works at Athlete Service as he had appeared mid way through the test. He was also interested in the test as he had been to the Watt bike show a few weeks earlier.

One of the 2 important screens to look at post test.

So the 340 watts step was a bit sticky in the legs but cardio still fine, then the 360 step and my heart rate was creeping very close to the point of stopping 164 bpm. I started the step of 380 and 25 seconds in my heart rate hit the magic number and I stopped the test at the end of that minute, and that was that. You hit the escape “esc” button and immediately you are greeted with the data screens. Below are the 2 most relevant screens. The training zones and the Watts/Kilo, VO2 max predictor etc etc.

The second very useful screen, showing your training zones from only a 12 minute ramp test.

This time having done the test the way that it should be done the numbers are even more accurate, it is super clever algorithms to get this accurate to my numbers. The threshold number is pretty much spot on.... and this time by stopping the test at the designed time my MMP is also dam close to what I have on the data I have gathered over the last 3 years!

I will certainly be using this test regularly and I would advice you to do the same if you haev one at your local gym. Here at Athlete Service we can help you do these tests, and talk you through the data. The guys here are always keen to help.

Thanks for reading.