lab test, what to expect?

walsht1105

Going to be doing a lab test soon and I was wondering what to expect, what exercises will I be doing, how do they test your lactate levels (pin prick the finger?), is it a rampp test for VO2 max? how hard is it?

Jus after a bit of info from people that have already done one so I have a good idea of what I walking in to.

ut_och_cykla

Done the whole thing - on 2 seperate occaisions - a ramp test with lactate and VO2 max test. Finger pinpricks for lactate and fullface mask. MAsk was yukky - you can't wipe nose or deal with dribble and it all runs out ... urk!
But the worst bit is as you enter your final ramp pretty certain you will fail on it. First time my legs literally felt like they were filling with agony from the feet upwards, second time legs felt ok but breathing just couldn't keep up (or so it felt).
And of course after you stop you think you could have given it just a little more.
But good luck. Make sure your well rested in a repeatable way and well fed but with an empty stomach :shock:

keef66

They'll put you in a plastic crate with 9 other rats and squirt shampoo in your eye.

Surfr

All my ramp tests have been done with only a mouthpiece and nose clip. Usually the bike will start at zero resistance and smoothly increase in resistance until you can no longer pedal. This takes 10-20 minutes for most people. Just make sure you use every ounce of wattage in your legs. You'll feel like you hit a wall at the end.

I'm due in at 8AM tomorrow morning for a 4 hour session. Today I am eating a fixed menu, then ensuring I have nothing after midnight and ensure I drink a pint of water at 6AM. Then..

8AM arrive at Sport Science dept, weigh self naked then insert a rectal thermometer 6 inches up in the privacy of the loos. Drink 1 Litre of prepared drink containing either placebo or amino acids. Sit for 1 hour whilst core temp is measured and the environmental chamber is brought up to temperature 30 degrees Celsius)
Hop on the bike and work at a fixed power output for 1 hour. Around 75% effort.
Hop off bike and do 3 short hand compressions then hold for 1 minute.
Back on the bike, for a max effort. This time the bike is configured to do a set workload in Joules, but the more effort I put in, the faster it is completed. It approximately simulates a 10 mile timetrial. Once this is done, back off the bike for more hand compressions and a blood sample from the vein. Finally get to remove the bloody thermometer and have a shower before heading firmly to the pub for an active recovery and rugby matches!

My home tomorrow morning:

Garry H

Surfr wrote:

All my ramp tests have been done with only a mouthpiece and nose clip. Usually the bike will start at zero resistance and smoothly increase in resistance until you can no longer pedal. This takes 10-20 minutes for most people. Just make sure you use every ounce of wattage in your legs. You'll feel like you hit a wall at the end.

I'm due in at 8AM tomorrow morning for a 4 hour session. Today I am eating a fixed menu, then ensuring I have nothing after midnight and ensure I drink a pint of water at 6AM. Then..

8AM arrive at Sport Science dept, weigh self naked then insert a rectal thermometer 6 inches up in the privacy of the loos. Drink 1 Litre of prepared drink containing either placebo or amino acids. Sit for 1 hour whilst core temp is measured and the environmental chamber is brought up to temperature 30 degrees Celsius)
Hop on the bike and work at a fixed power output for 1 hour. Around 75% effort.
Hop off bike and do 3 short hand compressions then hold for 1 minute.
Back on the bike, for a max effort. This time the bike is configured to do a set workload in Joules, but the more effort I put in, the faster it is completed. It approximately simulates a 10 mile timetrial. Once this is done, back off the bike for more hand compressions and a blood sample from the vein. Finally get to remove the bloody thermometer and have a shower before heading firmly to the pub for an active recovery and rugby matches!

My home tomorrow morning:

Sounds a bit like my day, apart from the whole testing and rectal thing

shmo

Dear god. Tell me you don't do all that by choice.

Surfr

All in the name of science, and a free ramp test I'm afraid. It's good training and I find it interesting. This is the first set of tests which have required a thermometer though.

keef66

I bet the thermometer's not really neccessary; they are placing side bets on how much abuse they can subject you to before you start to question it.

shockedsoshocked

Protocols for ramp and lactate threshold tests vary.

But basically you'll be very uncomfortable for the best part of an hour at the very least.

Garry H

How was the test?

walsht1105

haven't done it yet, dunno when it will be still waiting for dates to be confirmed. From reading the responses, I'm not looking forward to it....

jibberjim

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Protocols for ramp and lactate threshold tests vary.

But basically you'll be very uncomfortable for the best part of an hour at the very least.

An hour? I think that's way too long for any sort of ramp test - for a lot of unfit people simply fueling a ride that long would be a problem.

Wearing the gear is a little uncomfortable, but in effort terms it's only really going to be tough for a few minutes at the end of the ramp!

lochindaal

I have done 2 lab tests now as part as an annual testing program

The first part takes 12 minutes and is 4min @ 150, 170 and 190 Watts. This is part warmup and part benchmark.

The main ramp test starts at 150W and goes up 20W every minute. The most I have got to so far is 410W so 13.5 minutes. This should really hurt !

The final part of my test is a maximal power output. From a standing start go as hard as you can for 1 minute and sustain your max output, Again this really hurts.

I have done all the tests wearing a full face mask. You get used to it very quickly but your throat will get very dry. make sure you bring water with you, to rehydrate and also ease your throat once the mask is off.

Overall it is a good experience and has helped me train. Just don't leave any energy behind, push as hard as you can and then a bit more.

Doobz

From what I know there are many different types of tests that can be run with varying wattages, increments, rest periods, no rest periods, cadence.... The list goes on..

Saying that though. I have no idea what all the numbers mean once the tests have been run but I have done a few tests myself..

I will be getting tested throughout the year via http://www.bases.org.uk/ -

For the whole year of testing and assessment it works out at about £170. They started testing a few weeks ago as they want to see what my numbers were out of season and then see how much difference they will be in the peak of this years racing season.

First one was Vo2 Max and Lactate.

Before the testing started they did some other checks on my body like take measurements and did skin folds etc. then they took blood pressure and heart rate. Found a mask that fitted my face.

They weighed me at 62Kg's
This Vo2Max test was at 40w increments every 4 mins.
Lactate sample taken every 4 mins via pinprick on the finger.

Test terminated at 320w
Vo2max 69 (ml/kg/min)
HR = 193 BPM.
My Lactate = '9
Cadence = 120 rpm

The interesting thing is my max HR is 196 so its possible that I was slightly fatigued from doing 5 hours on the bike the day before (I didn't realise I was not meant to train for 2 days prior)

Then this Friday just gone we did a different type of test. This time everything was the same except the wattage increased 2w every second (30w a min). More of an progressive ramp then incremental steps like the last one

Test terminated at 380w
Vo2Max = 65 (ml/kg/min)
HR @ 190bpm
Cadence = 110 rpm

The problem with Fridays test was I was not feeling 100% - I thought I might be getting the early signs of Hay-fever but turns out that I was getting a cold as I have felt pretty rough the whole weekend.

I will be re-doing the last test as it would not have been an accurate assessment..

If anyone has any feedback regarding those numbers would be much appreciated..

shockedsoshocked

jibberjim wrote:

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Protocols for ramp and lactate threshold tests vary.

But basically you'll be very uncomfortable for the best part of an hour at the very least.

An hour? I think that's way too long for any sort of ramp test - for a lot of unfit people simply fueling a ride that long would be a problem.

Wearing the gear is a little uncomfortable, but in effort terms it's only really going to be tough for a few minutes at the end of the ramp!

Ramp test initially, then a rest, then a lactate threshold test with wattages increasing in 3/4 minute blocks. Like I said, Depends on protocols.

The Swedish Chef

I was tested last week for the first time on a bike.

I started at 80w and went up 40w every 180 seconds for a total test time of 23 minutes.

Came out with an arobic threashold rate of 162 bpm @ 250w for a figure of 3.35w/kg

Coming from a running background and having no cycling history I think I can get up to 280w and 3.7w/kg quite easily, and the rest is just gonna be hard work.

Anonymous

It is hard work but worth it. I got a V02 max of 61 last year which was quite pleasing and boosted my confidence greatly for the season.