What to expect -- Power & Wattage Testing
 

I am getting a power assessment and wattage testing done next week....
The coach said it should take an hour and they run me through a few hills, sprints, etc...

I was wondering if anyone else has had this done and what the got out of it, any useful tips?

Thanks!

what are YOUR goals to get out of it?

how is test done - indoors or out?

how is power measured, on your bike or on an ergometer?

the typical assessment and wattage test is intended to establish a power profile described here

if you arent training with a power meter though, it's going to be difficult to apply what you test in your everyday riding

Prepare for the taste of blood in your mouth. If you don't experience this taste, you are not trying hard enough.

It's going to hurt. Your legs should be screaming and your lungs should burn. You should have a river of snot running out of your nose.

I don't go as far as blood in my mouth though.

At the end of my threshold tests, my heart rate is at my max, I can barely get off my bike and stand there leaning over it trying not to vomit.

I don't test...

My coach just uses race and TT power data to build targeted workouts...

So far seems to be working...

Test will be done on my own bike...indoors...

My goals are to find out exactly what I am getting out of my weekly "burn out" ride. Saturdays I usually push myself to the max...or at least what I think is my max. When I see the data from my rides it always says I am training in the "power" area of my HR. I want to find out truly what my HR should be and how to train effectively. Sometimes I feel like I am just "spinning my wheels. I also want to try to find out why at around the 40 mile mark on ANY ride I do (hot, cold, drink plenty, drink not enough, intake, etc...) my legs start cramping.

The assessment is free so I cant complain with whatever comes out of it....

After the test, your self-loathing will be supported through hard data.

ok - how are measurements being made? blood lactate testing? breathing apparatus? HRM? how is wattage being measured?

how are you going to correlate these two factors?

what does that mean? if you are turning pedals, and your heart is beating, you are generating power and have a heart rate to measure

what your HR should be when? and how to train effectively for what and for when?


how will you correlate these factors?

....

i'm honestly not trying to be a tool, but these are things you need to think about otherwise you'll be getting your $ worth out of this test ;)

Just a one time indoor test? I guess it might help you to correlate some perceived efforts to actual wattage numbers, and give you a FTP number that makes you feel bad about yourself. But without training consistently with it, there probably isn't that much of a benefit.

Treat each activity like it's the only one. Don't save energy for later. That's laters problem. Be smooth and look forward, not down. GL

It sounds like the test is for your coach not you. He could use it to assess your capabilities relative to the other riders on your team. He/you could also use the info to assess your training effectiveness over time provided you do more tests or get hold of a power meter. As far as the rest of your goals: target HR, why you are cramping etc, it won't provide any answers.

I dont have a coach and am not part of a team...its a free test so just going is going to be getting my money's worth. I recieved it as a bonus for a century ride I did for cancer research. I have talked to the "coach" a couple of times and in the coming days he's sending me more stuff about the test. I'm sure at the end of this all, he'll probably say "well, I can help you improve xxx, xxx, and xxx so it'll be $99.95 for 4 months of me coaching...." or something to sell his services...

No worries... I honestly dont know how that is measured... I was just asking the forum for what to expect... again, its a free test so just going is going to be getting my money's worth.
When you spoke about my HR "zones" I always see stuff on my garmin, as well as on treadmills, etc... that say what specific "zones" you are in as far as fat loss, strength, warm-up, etc.... I always seem to be on the max end...even though I dont feel like it so I'd like to see what my "true" zones are......

After the initial post and your clarifications, you do not have a power meter or a coach - not a criticism. I have done FTP tests on the road using my power meter on the bike. They are hard but no more difficult than a time trial.

My FTP heart rate and power are different on the trainer and on the road (but this depends on the test protocol). A lot has to do with the temperature and humidity indoors and the amount of flywheel effect the trainer has. The closer the trainer simulates the road the better the test.

For example, I can go to the Stanford Human Performance lab with my road bike and they will hook me up to the mask and take blood samples to get my VO2 max and power and heart rate threshold. That will be pretty accurate and carry over to the road.

Free is generally good and I am sure you will learn something about your power production and heart rate.

You'll get HR based training zones. You'll get power numbers that correlate with the HR numbers, but they will be of little use to you in any practical sense. With the HR zones you should be able to structure your workouts to ensure that you are really resting on on recovery or endurance rides. HR is a somewhat useful for threshold intervals, but it lags. A few 20 minute efforts on the same stretch of road should let you bracket the effort to the right zone.

It's not a useful as when you have a powermeter, but 5 yrs ago nobody had a powermeter and we all trained effectively with HR meters.

Keep in mind that indoor HR is often significantly higher for the same power output. Much of that is due to overheating, so if you can set up with big ass fans that'll help make your numbers less inaccurate.
Even with that, the correlation of HR to power is not perfect. It takes a while for HR to rise, HR will increase over time at the same power output ("cardiac drift"), and it's also affected by external forces.
If you are fatigued or hot, it'll be high for the same amount of power.

I wouldn't say that you'll be wasting your time especially since it's free, but it's a lot less useful than you think it is.

If you can get your LT HR, that would be useful to know. That doesn't change due to the outside factors above (although it can change some with training, and will slowly decrease with age) and can be used to make more accurate HR based training zones than the ones based off HRmax.

Maybe a fit issue.