I did The Chores on Sunday using my last 4DP settings which are sadly a year old. Can I assume that if I can complete the Chores on those 4DP settings, then in all likeliness, they are the same? Also meaning I haven’t gained fitness, but also I haven’t lost any? With work and family commitments, I haven’t had much time to train and wanted to know I was on the “most effective” 4DP settings.
Sorry for the obvious questions and what will probably be obvious replies.
For info, I did nothing in the week and had a 2ish zone 2 ride on the previous Sunday, so I suppose I could have been relatively fresh? The Chores were hard but doable, I didn’t struggle to finish but questioned my sanity a few times. Oh, and I did The Chores right after cleaning the toilet!!!
I will get round to doing a 4DP when life stops with the body blows, so for now, if your collective knowledge and advice gives me the obvious answer, I’ll keep plugging away on the current settings until I can mentally prepare for the 4DP. I was going to a 4DP on reduced settings to start getting my head into the zone, sort of for training. What would you recommendations be do a 4DP for training? 90% 95%?
Cheers for any help, however obvious or indeed, any advice that goes counter to the obvious. And apologies if this has been answered in any previous threads, I had a quick search and could not locate.
If you felt as exhausted as a year ago you could be fine.
I compare my max/min/average heart rate and heart rate recovery values and if they are the same in the same workout with the same average/normalized power values you are probably on the same level if your freshness/fitness are similar.
Personally I would stay away from a FF test since it is quite taxing if other commitments are already very challenging.
If you want to you can still do a Half Monty which is less exhausting if you want to be more confident in the assessment.
The “obvious” answer is to do a Half Monty. It’s only an hour at most, nowhere near as intense as FF and will get you close to your current FTP and MAP values.
Provence: Luberon last night and it hurt, probably more so that The Chores. That feeling of, “I’m not going to get through this” and you do, just! I think the 4DP settings are about right, although I’m going to get my head round a Half Monty and a full 4DP.
Cheers for the feedback.
Depending on your rider profile, Half Monty can either over or under estimate your FTP and MAP. The workout that will bring you brutally face to face with reality is Nine Hammers. If you can survive this without having to dial back the intensity during that last third or so, you’ve probably got the FTP and MAP set about right.
