You cannot train well without knowing where you start. Testing gives you your zones, shows your strengths and weaknesses, and tells you if the training is working.
What to test
5 to 15 second power. Your sprint and explosive power.
1 minute power. Anaerobic capacity, for attacks and short climbs.
5 minute power. Your aerobic ceiling. A good estimate of VO2max and pVO2max.
20 minute or threshold power. The basis for FTP and your training zones.
How to test
Warm up well, around 15 to 20 minutes. Test on a steady climb, a quiet flat road or the turbo, and always in the same place and conditions so the results compare.
Sprints: two or three all-out efforts of 6 to 10 seconds with full recovery.
1 and 5 minutes: one all-out effort each, well recovered in between.
20 minutes: a hard, evenly paced effort. FTP is roughly 95% of your average.
Critical Power: three or four maximal efforts between 3 and 20 minutes on separate days give a fuller picture than FTP alone.
Put your numbers into our power calculator for FTP, Critical Power, VO2max, zones and a power profile.
Using the results
Set your training zones from the result.
Compare your profile: a sprinter, a climber or a diesel. Train the weakness, race the strength.
Retest every 6 to 8 weeks, usually at the start of a new block. See how to structure your season.
Going further
Power tests tell you what you can do. A lactate test tells you why, showing where your thresholds really sit. If you have your own analyser, our lactate protocols tool finds LT1 and LT2 from your data.
Building your power profile
Put your best 5-second, 1-minute, 5-minute and 20-minute numbers side by side, in watts per kilo. Compare them and you get a picture of what kind of rider you are.
Sprinter: high 5-second and 1-minute numbers relative to the rest.
Pursuiter: strong 1 to 5 minutes.
Time triallist or climber: 20-minute power stands out.
All-rounder: fairly even across the board.
Our power calculator plots your profile so you can see it at a glance.
Testing indoors vs outdoors
Indoor numbers are often a little lower than outdoor ones, mainly because of heat and the lack of momentum. Neither is wrong. Just compare like with like. A big fan indoors makes a real difference.
Getting a good test
Test fresh, after an easy day or two.
Eat as you would before a hard session.
Same warm-up, same place, same time of day.
Pace long efforts evenly. Starting too hard is the most common mistake.
Write down the conditions so you can compare next time.
Make it yours
Every rider is different. Testing is only useful if it changes your training. Grab a free 30-minute consultation and we will talk it through, or see the coaching options.
Where next
Saddle up.
