Well, I Have just finished the Half Monty test, my first ever fitness test. Mixed feelings about the results TBH. Originally when I started the 12 week training plan I had nothing to go on and set my FTP at 180 watts which is 3 watts a kilo for me. Over the last 8 weeks and based on how I have felt doing the plans at the levels suggested I have gradually upped my estimated power until today to 210 watts (3.5 watts a kilo) I did the Nine Hammers workout based on this figure and found it hard but no more so that other workouts so I was hoping that 210 watts or even more would be my new FTP but in fact I am at 197watts. Also my 5 second is listed as 598 but I have done 767 on previous sprint workouts?? Now, maybe I wasn’t on full form as I couldn’t get my HR up to above 141 (max150) or maybe I just didn’t push as hard as I could have this being my first attempt of this kind of thing even though I was gasping for air. Maybe I should at nearly 69 years old be happy with that figure but competitiveness doesn’t decline with age only your body does!! Happy to hear your thoughts…
A couple thoughts. Half Monty only measures FTP and MAP. The very first time you do the test, it populates numbers for AC and NM, but those are simply based on population average ratios of your FTP and MAP. Large errors in those estimates are common. You’ll need to do Full Frontal to get real measures.
Nine Hammers is mostly based on your MAP number, not FTP (that’s what the yellow means). Consequently, changing your FTP wouldn’t have much impact on the difficulty of Nine Hammers. Changing your MAP would. You didn’t say how much Half Monty changed your MAP number.
If you want to test out if the 197 FTP makes sense or if 210 is closer, try Cobbler. Jack up the intensity to 106%. If you can complete the workout with no breaks, 197 might be too low.
Thanks for that info. Map before was 211 now it is 244. Didn’t realise that is how it worked. I will give that workout a try and see how I go. still learning!! Thanks
That’s why Nine Hammers was easy!
Congrats @ozmadman! That’s a nice jump in fitness, good training man! To get a better understanding of each of the 4 metabolic metrics used in the SYSTM workouts check out the article, ‘Going Beyond Threshold Power – The SYSTM 4DP Power Profile’
What they said . Plus if you had ftp set low the ramp becomes very long and your perceived exertion may be higher by time you get to real hard work . Full frontal just is 5 minutes at what you think your MAP is and hold on to end . Also I find HM harder in see ways than FF as there is no video and nothing to distract you from the suffering . Max HR varies based on a lot of factors on a given day . I’ll be 67 in October and your numbers are better than mine ( though I’m seeing some gains for first time in 5 years) so I’ll be chasing you anyway
Thanks, that has made me feel a lot better but I do agree that my starting point at HM ramp was about 100 watts and did seem to take a while to get up to the hard work and yes no video distraction or motivational music etc. I have the full frontal in about 3 weeks time and must admit I am dreading it already! and didn’t realise that FF has a video attached to it. Thanks again for your encouraging comments. Will post back after FF good or bad. And good luck with your progress too
The ramp is based on MAP, not FTP. It starts at 50% of MAP and the increments seem to each be 6% of MAP.
Thanks, yes as I mentioned to the other person who replied, It did seem to take a while!
Enjoy ? your first FF. It’s a different animal . All about pacing . It often takes a couple or three before you find your best method. I find setting a goal wattage near your current one and going in at your preferred rpm then adjust from there works best . Near end of 5 and 20 min efforts I gear down and slow cadence like a climb to keep power up works but to each his / her own . I look at HR and if it’s not too high I try to ignore the perceived exertion . If numbers come out and seem off from what your workouts are you can adjust your settings manually .
Thanks for giving me the benefit of your experience with the FF. I will need all the advice I think. Before I joined system I was a bit of a slow cadence person (70 rpm was fast for me)and tended to grind up hills. I have learned to pedal faster so 85-90 seems ok for me now but still tires me out if I keep it up for a long while. In hindsight on the HM and after looking at your suggestion to power out the last bit at the end of the sections in a lower cadence , that is what I think may have suited me a bit better because my breathing tends to give up before my legs. It’s all a learning curve!!
GvA, is that you?
Did the tool shed (mash up) the other day based on my new figures and that was HARD. Just about made it to the end with a diminishing power in the last hard section.
Sounds like the new numbers are about right🙂