Fitness Test - What Training?
WisePranker
Posts: 823
I'm going to be doing a fitness test for work in mid-December and need to get fit for it. The test consists of the following:
Achieve a constant 80% of max heart rate over a 10th minute period.
A static bike is power loaded to increase demand from the rider to maintain a constant speed and power wattage output. You are expected to cover more than 4.5km.
Race a 2.5km Sprint to a maximum of 80% of max heart rate. This test is timed and you have to complete the distance within 5 minutes.
Any suggestions as to what training I should be doing?
I've currently got a reasonable basic fitness level but nothing great :-(
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Achieve a constant 80% of max heart rate over a 10th minute period.
A static bike is power loaded to increase demand from the rider to maintain a constant speed and power wattage output. You are expected to cover more than 4.5km.
Race a 2.5km Sprint to a maximum of 80% of max heart rate. This test is timed and you have to complete the distance within 5 minutes.
Any suggestions as to what training I should be doing?
I've currently got a reasonable basic fitness level but nothing great :-(
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Comments
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You stated in the C2 thread that you can row a 1 mile in 6 and a half mins. Based on this, I would expect that this should be a walk in the park.
Which of the activities is worrying you? (and have you tried a trial run?)Simon0 -
Im slightly confused by what they're asking, but as You know the test, do that! Ideally on a turbo or a flat route, just beast yourself for the 10 minutes, trying to ensure you can do 4.5km, then recover and do 2.5km flat out (if I have interpreted the test right).
A static bike tends to be faster than the road and 4.5k in 10 minutes is only 27kph, which should be easily doable.0 -
All the tests are done on a static bike and as far as I'm aware there is a 5 minute recovery between each test.
I'm going to try the test next time I'm I'm the gym this weekend and see how's I get on. I want sure how my times on the C2 compared to anything else hence me being concerned!0 -
WisePranker wrote:All the tests are done on a static bike and as far as I'm aware there is a 5 minute recovery between each test.
I'm going to try the test next time I'm I'm the gym this weekend and see how's I get on. I want sure how my times on the C2 compared to anything else hence me being concerned!
80% HR is pretty low (if max HR is 180, then 80% is only 145).. you should be able to keep that up for hours.
I do some training on the indoor bike, and 5k/10min is not that fast a pace. To give you an idea, on my longer indoor (static) bike sessions, I usually do 45mins at that pace (closely followed by another 45 mins on the C2)
The test just looks like a pretty basic level of fitness TBH - so don't worry!Simon0 -
Well 27kmh on a static bike, on the flat, with no wind, for 10 minutes is not too much of an ask, sure you'll be fine!0
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springtide9 wrote:WisePranker wrote:All the tests are done on a static bike and as far as I'm aware there is a 5 minute recovery between each test.
I'm going to try the test next time I'm I'm the gym this weekend and see how's I get on. I want sure how my times on the C2 compared to anything else hence me being concerned!
80% HR is pretty low (if max HR is 180, then 80% is only 145).. you should be able to keep that up for hours.
I do some training on the indoor bike, and 5k/10min is not that fast a pace. To give you an idea, on my longer indoor (static) bike sessions, I usually do 45mins at that pace (closely followed by another 45 mins on the C2)
The test just looks like a pretty basic level of fitness TBH - so don't worry!
Excellent, that's what I like to hear :-)0 -
njee20 wrote:Well 27kmh on a static bike, on the flat, with no wind, for 10 minutes is not too much of an ask, sure you'll be fine!
Agreed.
?Based upon your rowing speeds i'd expectyou to be able to cycle at35kph continuously without too much trouble.
I do 1hour at 35-36kph.Salsa Spearfish 29er
http://superdukeforum.forumatic.com/index.php0 -
what are these tests for exactly?London2Brighton Challange 100k!
http://www.justgiving.com/broxbourne-runners0 -
blablablacksheep wrote:what are these tests for exactly?
They are the fitness tests that I need to pass to get into our Cycle Response Unit at work
There's some other tests like a road riding assessment, a bike handling assessment and a basic bike mechanics assessment. I'll be fine with the mechanical assessment and most probably the handling one as well. I need to get some practice in for the road riding as I don't do much of it but the fitness test is a bit of an unknown for me.0 -
WisePranker wrote:blablablacksheep wrote:what are these tests for exactly?
They are the fitness tests that I need to pass to get into our Cycle Response Unit at work
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lol sorry to laugh but what is a Cycle Response unit ?
"call in the cycle response team asap, we have a emergency"
London2Brighton Challange 100k!
http://www.justgiving.com/broxbourne-runners0 -
blablablacksheep wrote:WisePranker wrote:blablablacksheep wrote:what are these tests for exactly?
They are the fitness tests that I need to pass to get into our Cycle Response Unit at work
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lol sorry to laugh but what is a Cycle Response unit ?
"call in the cycle response team asap, we have a emergency"
One of these:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... for-nhs.do0 -
Good job they have a fitness test. It would be embarrassing to arrrive at the scene & then keel over with a heart attack.0
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Go for it- looks a great job to have and a bloody good service to be providing!
Plus you get a set of baggies with MEDIC written on them!Wheeze..... Gasp..... Ruddy hills.......0 -
Right. I've had a crack at the assessments today as best I can at the gym and the cycling isn't an issue, I'm just struggling to keep my MHR below 80% - 150bpm. I seem to be running in about the 155-160bpm range which is no good for me.
What would be the best way of reducing my MHR while riding, is it all just down to my aerobic fitness?
What training should I be looking at doing to help improve before the assessments which are seven weeks away?
I'm looking at 2 or 3 sessions a week in the gym and 2-3 sessions out on my bike depending on my shifts and the weather. Should i be looking more towards interval training in the gym or more towards longer slower paced exercises?0 -
WisePranker wrote:What would be the best way of reducing my MHR while riding?
Go slower.0 -
I'd try and sort out what they actually want, and make sure your terminology is the same.
Your MHR is the max you can get - as is 'feel like you are about to die' at the end of a ramp test.
If they are using some silly '220 minus age formula' then you are stuck and need to get some of pretty high intensity stuff in (on the turbo i should think as it's a cycling test). 80% MHR is not very hard work normally - it's the sort of effort that you can easily do for an hour or more.
If you are using your own MHR then make sure it is really your max - the higher the MHR, the higher your HR can be in the test at 80%!
I'm a bit vague on the test details really; 27kph or a 'distance' on a turbo can mean many things depending on what the set up is - are you testing on the same gear that will be used for the assessment?
Anyway - good luck.0 -
The MHR thing is a bit of a red herring IMO and if they really use that as a criteria then it may be problematic, but they're daft.
They may be doing it as a range, rather than true percentage of MHR, so 80% of MHR-resting HR.
Not really consolation, but I can ride at >90% MHR for 2 hours +, and have never been a big fan of deriving zones based on MHR, so like I say, it's a really crap way to measure fitness.0 -
I've spoke to someone today who organises the tests and found out the following.
The MHR is calculated with the 220 minus your age formula.
I've no idea what gear they're using so I'm just using the static bikes in my local gym!
The first part, 80% MHR for 10 minutes seems straightforward enough, the second part I don't really know how they're doing it! The third part, the 2.5km sprint in 5 minutes up to 80% MHR seems straightforward too.
Basically I think I just need to do as much as I can over the next 7 weeks to improve my aerobic fitness and get plenty of time in on the bike!0 -
I've spoke to someone today who organises the tests and found out the following.
The MHR is calculated with the 220 minus your age formula.
I've no idea what gear they're using so I'm just using the static bikes in my local gym!
The first part, 80% MHR for 10 minutes seems straightforward enough, the second part I don't really know how they're doing it! The third part, the 2.5km sprint in 5 minutes up to 80% MHR seems straightforward too.
Basically I think I just need to do as much as I can over the next 7 weeks to improve my aerobic fitness and get plenty of time in on the bike!0 -
They're idiots then sadly, 220 - age is very inaccurate, hopefully they'll factor in perceived exertion too, as one person may be out of breath and unable to talk at 70% whilst someone else may be chatting at 85%!
There's not all that much you can do, other than what you've said, you're not going to change your MHR in that time, so just get good at riding at low HR.0 -
Right, so far I'm a week or so into my training for this and it seems to be going ok.
I've been doing interval work at the gym on a static bike 2-3 times a week. I'm starting at level 8 then doing a minute at level 10 at 90rpm+ then back to level 8 for a minute at around 75rpm then up to level 11 for a minute then back down to 8 and so on. Once I get to my maximum I work back down in reverse to the starting level.
Hopefully this will help improve my aerobic fitness.
I'm also riding at least a couple of times a week off-road, usually 12-15 miles each time.
Any suggestions for improving this training?0 -
Have you actually been replicating the test? That's what I'd be doing, you know the final goal, so at least once a week see how you're getting on.
How hard are you going on the static bike sessions? You want to be just about destroying yourself by the end! Minute on/minute off is also quite a bit of recovery at the lower end, I'd try longer intervals or shorter recovery if you can.0 -
I've only tried replicating the test once so far but the problem is that I'm not sure exactly what they're doing with three second part so I'm replacing that with a 5 minute session on the rower.
I've found that with the intervals I'm absolutely done by the time I reach the highest point and struggle with the intervals when working my way back down again!
According to the HRM on the bike, I'm working at over 100% MHR when doing the highest interval which kinda disproves the 220 minus your age method they're using in the tests!0 -
Therein being the problem with 220 - age, so you either need to hope they do perceived exertion, or just show them they're idiots by casually holding a conversation at 80% of the MHR they've calculated, or exceeding the MHR significantly.
I hope for your sake they don't actually use that as a deciding criteria!0 -
Just my opinion.. haven't done the tests, but just looking at what they expect....
The tests don't look that hard (just that the person has a decent level of fitness), so the MHR approx of 220 - Age IMO is probably good enough.
Not knocking your training as I'm sure it's about doing your best, make sure you definitely don't fail, as well as there is a competitive element between the people doing the tests! Simon0
