A_M _B_2015_02_03_

http://www.ambmag.com.au - 105

THE HUB
FITNESS GOAL SETTING
To do the Threshold test, it is best to find a climb or un-interrupted
section of road that is of fairly consistent gradient. 20min is the ideal
length of time for this test.

The power profile test involves measuring your average power for sprint
duration up to Vo2 energy zone. It is generally better to test threshold
power in a separate test so that you are not too fatigued to produce your
best results.

Generally, durations of 5 seconds, 1min and 5min are chosen as best to
represent your sprint power, anaerobic capacity and Vo2 / aerobic power.
It is important to include full recovery periods between these efforts to
make sure fatigue doesn’t affect the results.

There are several different protocols used by coaches and institutes
depending on what components are important to the particular event the
athlete is training for.

The Power Profile Test is a great one for measuring where your strengths
and weaknesses are. As a mountain biker, it is quite important to be
reasonably strong in each energy zone. Threshold power will always have
the highest priority as you quite simply won’t be able to maintain a good
pace for any length of time without a reasonable threshold.

Athlete Name

Date

Weight

Type of Test

Time of Test

Weather Conditions

Pre-test food

Last 24hrs exercise

TEST RESULT

Time

Distance

Ave Heart rate

Max Heart rate

Average Cadence

Joe Blow

11/12/14

68kg

Threshold Hill climb test

10am

18degrees, slight tail wind

Porridge 6am, coffee 6.30am, banana 9am,

500ml sports drink during warm up

Easy ride 1.5hr day prior

18min36sec

6.8km

163BPM

180BPM

86RPM

THRESHOLD TEST

POWER PROFILE TEST

Complete a good warm up and then simply ride as hard as you can for

the full 20min. Be careful to pace a little though because 20min is a

long time when going hard!

Your functional Threshold power is actually the power you can maintain
for 1hr duration. However, it is far easier to complete a 20min test on a
semi-regular basis. 95% of your power held for a 20min time period is
quite an accurate measure of your Functional Threshold.

For example, if you averaged 360w for 20min, then your functional
threshold would be estimated at 342w.

Threshold Power has the most bearing on your performance as an
endurance athlete and therefore it is the most important component of
fitness to train. It also gives an accurate value to use in calculating your
training zones.

For those not lucky enough to have access to a power meter, there

are a number of other ways you can check on your progress. One very

basic, yet reliable form of test is to simply complete a Time Trial on

the same circuit every 6-12 weeks. A long road climb works very well

for this type of test as variables such as wind speed/direction, track

conditions etc. don’t generally alter too much.

It is worth noting down all these possible variables with each test so

when making comparisons you can take these factors into consideration.

Your fitness test results page should look something like this: