So I scheduled the two tests for this week. I will be doing Half Monty tomorrow and Full Frontal this weekend. I have read the two brief narratives. Anything I should know, do, not do from those who have already done these? Any insights would be appreciated.
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Hey @Critmark why both full frontal tests FTP, NM, MAP, and AC. HM tests FTP & MAP.
Cheers
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I was looking at the plans available for the tests and the one I found had both tests on the calendar for the same week. I assumed that was standard operating procedure. Having not yet done either, it seems like a reasonable thing to do.
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Hey @PeterEire, the coaches have said that unless you’ve done FF before and/or are really comfortable with pacing AND have a good sense of what your indoor trainer MAP and FTP outputs are, the plan that has both allows you to set realistic targets for FF and the HM is nowhere near as taxing physically as FF.
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Follow the HM on screen instructions and you’ll be fine with that one.
My advice is for FF.
You should know ahead of time which Level you’re going to use (0-9). Some people leave theirs set at one level for the entire test and others use different levels for the different parts (it’s been a while but I leave mine in Level 2 on a Kickr '18)
If you’ve never sprinted before in Level mode, it would be worthwhile to try a few out using any Open vid, set your Level and go! See how fast your trainer ramps up the resistance and see what gearing works best for you. You dont really wanna be experimenting with gear selection during FF sprints (though you do get two chances).
Other good advice I’ve heard from others is not to get toooo freaked out about FF. At the end of the day it’s just a really hard workout. That and give each part EVERYTHING you’ve got.
Lastly:
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I found it super helpful to get freaked out🙂
Three more bits of advice for FF.
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Coach Neal does FF in level 1 and says that most people can stick to level 1.
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It really helps to know what gear you want to be in for each effort ahead of time. Power moves too much when you change gears to experiment during the test.
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It also helps to have a general sense for what power you think you can achieve. That will help you pick a gear and target cadence. Remember that for the longer efforts, very small variations in cadence make a large difference to power—so if you have the gear right and a decent “target” cadence, you can go up or down based on what your body says with just modest cadence changes.
I went through a process of experimenting in level mode and doing some calculations to help me pick gears and target cadence for each effort based on my guess about my capabilities. In several, I outperformed by quite a bit by increasing cadence just a couple RPM.
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Half Monty will help with that.
Good stuff!
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One other question for today’s HM. Should I do any kind of warm up or just jump in to it? Actually, same question for FF.
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FF and HM have warmups that should be fine.
You could consider doing the pre-ride activation yoga session.
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Having just finished my FF an hour and half ago, all of the above are good suggestions. The 20 min effort in FF was, for me, the worst. Again, I had an idea of what I could do for that 20 and went with that. Don’t worry about cadence, just your power. Also, the sprints come on quick and don’t last long. So I was ramping up and shifting gears just prior to start, right or wrong.
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OK, so my Half Monty is in the books. It looks like my hard work is paying off, or I had my numbers set to low, or a bit of both.
MAP 236 (+31)
FTP 197 (+37)
The good is my numbers are getting better. 
The bad, my workouts are going to be a lot harder. 
As for Full Frontal on Sunday, how much should I expect to be different from these numbers? Is it typical that they are fairly close or can some large swings pop up?
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I’d say that depends on your rider type and how you manage your gears/level. Some people find that HM over-estimates both FTP and MAP. This tends to happen when MAP is a strength. My FTP after HM has been way too optimistic in the past. As far as gears and level to use, the best advice I’ve seen on here is to trial beforehand. Use an Open session to work out the gear and trainer level combos that allow you to hit your target 5 minute and 20 minute power at a comfortable cadence. It isn’t pleasant trying to work that out during your FF, there is enough going on already. It’s surprising how big a difference there can be between one gear and the next on how much power you generate at any given cadence and trainer level.
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Your FTP and MAP are in a fairly normal relation to each other and MAP doesn’t appear to be an outsized strength. Based on my own (limited) experience with FF, I think it would make sense to pick a gear for each of the 5 minute and 20 minute efforts which allows you to sustain your HM power levels at a comfortable cadence. Then adjust cadence accordingly to what your body thinks you can sustain. Because cadence is steadier than power (which, at least for me, bounces around quite a bit even when I’m trying to pedal smoothly and bounces a lot when I make even slight changes to cadence —the last due to physics), I found it much easier to pick my gear and cadence targets ahead of time and adjust from there. The key thing to remember is that at around 200 Watts (where you are), changing RPM by 1 point (eg 90 to 91) will increase power by 4-5 watts.
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I’ve done HM quite a few times and my FF is usually within such a very small handful of watts that I’ve thought about dropping FF altogether. I KNOW I will always be a Sprinter (1000+ watts quite easily).
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I don’t know what FF will say about my style but likely not a sprinter. Several years ago when I was training for an Ironman I hit 980 watts but was never able to crack 1000. I’m ok with that, endurance events are more my interest these days.
I will keep with the program, heeding the advice above, and see what happens.
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Me as well 100%. It’s just that FF says I’m a sprinter cuz my NM is higher relative to my other metrics.
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@Glen.Coutts Your numbers are freakishly similar to mine.
I tend to prefer endurance or sustained efforts. But sometimes it depends on my mood. Typically, most of my personal challenges are endurance-related…
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For the record I HATE sustained efforts (eg HHNF Defender etc)
Both you and Sir David specifically mention Defender as one of your least favorite videos. Yet it’s one of my all-time favorites. 
Just goes to show that we’re all more than just our 4DP profiles. 
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And you’ve also done a vEveresting? 
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