Whilst HM is a less strenuous test than Full Frontal (FF) and doesn’t have the dreaded pacing issues of the 5 and 20 min part I think it has a uniqure issue.
We all want to increase our numbers and you know that is going to be tough so you push as hard as you can to the point where they go up. You are unlikely to be able to push a great deal harder than a 20 point increase in MAP unless your numbers were way out. The problem is the way it communicates your progress, it’s at the end of each 1min block.
That is not enough. I want to know were my new MAP figures are almost instantaneously, if my current MAP is 275 I am damn sure I’ll push through fire to at least get 275 but that knowledge is just not possible.
I’m sure the creators of the HM have considered this so am I missing something?
They probably deem it not necessary. The whole point of a ramp is that you push until you can’t push any more. The core of your suggestion is that you’d be looking to stop when you felt you’d “done enough”, not when you have to.
Frankly, it would be better if they removed the progress messages entirely rather than increased them because that way it keeps you honest, you just push until you have nothing left and then stop.
The only thing adding more reports of progress would do, in my eyes, is give people reason to stop before they’re actually done.
Perhaps that’s why it’s the way it is but personally I feel it would give me more of a driver to not stop. So much of it is psychological so telling myself “you’re not done yet, move those numbers higher” would work (I think)
I don’t think I’d go “ah great numbers up by 1 watt I can stop right now”.
If you can even read when you are close to failure then Kudos to you
I don’t think I’d want more frequent updates. Once you’ve done one or two you should know which step you got to last time, and personally I will try to better that step.
That really depends on how well you did on your last Half Monty, the ramp is based on your current MAP, the steps aren’t consistent for everyone. If you only just crept past your previous MAP then they’re likely similar, but if you had big steps then you won’t need to go so high to just stay the same this time.
I still don’t (personally) see why it matters. It’s a fitness test to see what you can achieve as a maximum, not to just get to where you want to be. It would be more “true” if it didn’t tell you where you were at all until you were done.
The MTP (mental toughness program) would be a good lead in to this so people can find a driving force to push themselves on with that isn’t the outright number.
A ramp test is, really, a test of both your current fitness and mental fortitude.
I understand where you are coming from. I like the idea. I always try to make it to the 3rd from the last step. But I question if setting that as my goal lets me quit prematurely.
I struggle with the mental toughness aspect of leaving it all out there.
I often finish feeling like maybe I had more in the tank. I realize this is normal, and sometimes we forget just how hard we pushed or how much it hurt.
I do think the first few are a little demotivating. When you’re already working hard and it seems like you’re nowhere near your current value never mind improving
There is a possible counter-point that this is a good reminder that efforts are supposed to be precisely that, effort.
I know I am certainly one of those people who can forget the old adage “It never gets easier, you just get faster”, where I can fall into matching last years’ performance and finding it “easy” so thinking that is enough.
Sometimes we need a reminder that for the real gains we should be suffering and that hard work, well, hurts…
Push on through and you’ll find your potential.
I believe that you are correct we all want to increase our numbers, however, the primary motivation should be to work out with the correct numbers. Some times that will cause your numbers to reduce. Did a HM on Sunday that left me with a 13% reduction in MAP, but knowing that my fitness had decreased since my last test I’d rather work out on accurate numbers rather than artificially high numbers causing me to fail every session or make ad hoc intensity reduction until my fitness was back up. In my opinion accurate numbers will yield better and faster progress than guesstimates.
I had the same feeling doing my last HM as well, but doing a MAP focused workout should reveal the truth soon enough. Did 14 Vise Grips last night, and having to reduce the intensity of the three middle intervals of the second set tells me I could probably not have gone for much longer in the HM.
Expect it would be similar for FTP, but as I just started a MAP building block I cannot confirm from own experience.
As the coaches note somewhere, it is not unusual to feel you could go further in the ramp test. I think in this case it is the mind thinking you could do more, but the body just says no.
You are right @Heretic, and as @JSampson says, it is at the end of the ramp in HM.
As a side note, HM in my experience is more likely to slightly overestimate my numbers, whereas FF may underestimate a little bit. I guess this is not the case for all, it may depend on your rider type and which test suits you better.
After every power test I’ve ever done, or any of the riders I coach have ever done, they always say “I feel like I could have pushed harder”. They say this normally 10 minutes after the test when they’ve stopped aching and feeling like a lazer goat is glaring into every muscle of their legs with full beam on the lazers. It’s always the way
