Fitness test - please explain

Pfcb0y
Pfcb0y Posts: 27
edited April 2016 in Training, fitness and health
Hi

I had a freebie session and I'm not sure what it all means?:-


FTP 263w


00:20:00 POWER
276w
MAX
475w CADENCE
93
MAX
111 SPEED
36.56
MAX
43.38 DISTANCE
12.19
CALORIES
403

What/why benefits does it give me?

Cheers for any input

Darren

Comments

  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    What are your goals?
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • Pfcb0y
    Pfcb0y Posts: 27
    SloppySchleckonds wrote:
    What are your goals?


    Training for the Ride London and increasing my distances accordingly not bothered by races but like sportives.
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    You have a starting point for good time trial training.
    Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • maryka
    maryka Posts: 748
    Those numbers in isolation don't mean much. What's your weight? Do you have a powermeter on your bike?
    http://www.twitter.com/smaryka
  • Pfcb0y
    Pfcb0y Posts: 27
    maryka wrote:
    Those numbers in isolation don't mean much. What's your weight? Do you have a powermeter on your bike?

    No power meter 85kg :oops:
  • maryka
    maryka Posts: 748
    So they don't mean much then! Unless you're planning to go back for a retest every few months? Basically you can get as much or more out of setting up your turbo to do a 20 min test (use speed/distance to measure improvement) or an outdoor loop near you that you can ride consistently.

    Though if the numbers are right, you have a lot of gains to be made by either losing weight or gaining power, or both. You're at just over 3w/kg, you can probably get that closer to 4w/kg with some focussed training. But you don't need a test to see how that's going, just get a bathroom scale and pick some hills to ride up and see how better you get when you weigh less...
    http://www.twitter.com/smaryka
  • Pfcb0y
    Pfcb0y Posts: 27
    maryka wrote:
    So they don't mean much then! Unless you're planning to go back for a retest every few months? Basically you can get as much or more out of setting up your turbo to do a 20 min test (use speed/distance to measure improvement) or an outdoor loop near you that you can ride consistently.

    Though if the numbers are right, you have a lot of gains to be made by either losing weight or gaining power, or both. You're at just over 3w/kg, you can probably get that closer to 4w/kg with some focussed training. But you don't need a test to see how that's going, just get a bathroom scale and pick some hills to ride up and see how better you get when you weigh less...

    Weigh less, struggling to lose more now as I'm 6'3" and don't want to look like a skeleton!
  • maryka
    maryka Posts: 748
    Ok, well then work at adding power.

    My point is, you asked what benefit knowing those numbers is, I am saying it means you are not very strong in the w/kg department and could improve. But you probably didn't need a 20 min test to know that. However you want to improve is up to you. One test in isolation is fairly meaningless, as are most of the metrics you listed as the test result (cadence, max speed, calories, etc). Your fitness test result as you listed it is actually pretty bare-bones and tells you next to nothing except the watts you can do for 20 min in a test.
    http://www.twitter.com/smaryka
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    Aah. If you don't have a power meter, ignore my comment about having the basis (an FTP) for good time trial training.
    Instead the test told you nowt useful.
    Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • Pfcb0y
    Pfcb0y Posts: 27
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Aah. If you don't have a power meter, ignore my comment about having the basis (an FTP) for good time trial training.
    Instead the test told you nowt useful.

    How does that work?
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    Your FTP is based on what you'd do for an hour e.g. A 25m TT (thereabouts) It's a good figure to use as a basis for training zones to get fitter. Especially useful for TTing.
    However you don't have a Powermeter. So it isn't.
    Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • Pfcb0y
    Pfcb0y Posts: 27
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Your FTP is based on what you'd do for an hour e.g. A 25m TT (thereabouts) It's a good figure to use as a basis for training zones to get fitter. Especially useful for TTing.
    However you don't have a Powermeter. So it isn't.

    Ok but for a base fitness ?
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    That's 3.1w/kg FTP which is pretty decent.

    20min @ 3.25w/kg puts you in Cat 3 racing territory
    http://i0.wp.com/blog.bikeridr.com/wp-c ... rkg1lx.jpg

    *And before the flaming starts there's more to racing than your FTP alone I know, but it's start.
  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    That's American categories, they have an extra tier. At 4.4 w/KG I'm a run of the mill Cat 3 but as you say, there could be many other reasons for this :lol:

    As a base fitness, it's OK, a good starting point but without a power meter or regular tests it isn't that useful a metric.
    If you are training for the RL100, do you have more specific goals? Is the aim to ride your first 100, set a certain time, etc.
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    You'll be ok for charity rides and flat sportives... but you'll get dropped by the faster riders on about the second climb.
    A middling club rider... if you were bothered to join a club.
  • Pfcb0y
    Pfcb0y Posts: 27
    Thanks guys gives me an overview.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    JGSI wrote:
    A middling club rider... if you were bothered to join a club.

    Can't speak for the OP but I have aspirations to become a middling club rider, many years being one of the slowest takes it's toll.
  • Pfcb0y
    Pfcb0y Posts: 27
    markhewitt1978 wrote:
    JGSI wrote:
    A middling club rider... if you were bothered to join a club.

    Can't speak for the OP but I have aspirations to become a middling club rider, many years being one of the slowest takes it's toll.

    I took it as a compliment! :D

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