I’m wondering if doing the Full Frontal 4DP test before taking adequate rest will impact performance on the test and by how much. Following up on that question, what would be the best course of action: #1. Take enough rest this week and re-do the test #2. Proceed with the all-purpose road plan as scheduled
I did the test last Wednesday after two solid rest days after a training block of 3 weeks. A previous FTP test (Zwift, September) had me at 214 and I’ve continued riding and training since. The FTP result from the 4DP test was 212 (all my other values were up though!)
It would be possible my FTP is just down from riding a bit more base miles, or due to insufficient rest before the rest. Would love some feedback before making mistakes regarding my training plans.
Hi there - there’s a one week FF prep plan in the plans list - that is designed to help you get the best out of a 4DP/FF test that I recommend highly if you want to get the absolute max out of it - it eases you through a week ahead of the test, with a few workouts to keep things topped up, but only ‘to a point’ and then Primers the day before.
There are a load of ‘depends’ though around how much rest/impact of less rest/individual response/how fast your body processes/builds/recovers so it’ll always be hard to know - someon people will build such a huge load over 3 weeks, some others won’t for example
And great tohear your other numbers are up - when did you last do a 4DP test and what has your training looked like since then?
Thanks for responding! Well I’ve only had the test last week on Wednesday, and I’m still new to structured training hence my interest in Sufferfest. Last month I had three cycling workouts a week, two short 1h workouts focussed on Sprint power & endurance and one 3 - 4h long base ride on Sunday. The total stress increased each week and at the end I had one rest week with the 4DP test on Wednesday and two shorter recovery rides on the weekend (last week).
I’d like to start out the 12 week all purpose road plan this week, but I want to be absolutely sure I’m not underdoing or overdoing based off a bad test. Do you recommend doing the 4DP preparation week this week with another test come Sunday?
Hey there - if you had a rest week before the 4DP test, then I’d suggest you’re good to go !!
You’ve got 12 weeks of fun coming up then - let us know how you getg on as you go …
Notes: some plans deliberately have lower intensity efforts in the first week - just let that happen - it’s all part od the plan - you can see whether a workout coming up has any modifications or notes in the calendar - it’ll have a wee notepad icon in the workout - always worth looking a few days ahead to be aware what’s coming up
Well it wasn’t really a rest week. I had a rest week with rest on monday and tuesday and did the test on wednesday. So I’m a bit doubtful if that was enough rest. Is two days enough? Or should i retake the test?
This was the week prior, followed by light stretching on Monday and rest on Tuesday. I had the test on Wednesday. This was the second “build” week with an increase in total TSS.
Adding to Sir Martin comments - I would also recommend just starting the plan and not worrying about retesting. Get a few weeks done and if you feel that you can handle some additional training stress just increase the workout by 5% and see how that goes. You will likely have a chance to test again with Half Monty - just for FTP and MAP to recheck your numbers about half way through the plan.
Just wanted to throw this out there. The statistical difference between 214w and 212w is negligible. Even tho the number is down 2w, it might as well be the same. If you keep seeing a downward trend over multiple tests then you might be concerned. But taking the test without enough rest could easily result in a much larger difference than 2w.
Also, which test did you do in Zwift in Sept? Different types of FTP tests will usually get you in the same ballpark, but your numbers will also vary based on the type of test (ramp v 20 min v 60 min v 4DP, etc), as well. Even within SUF there’s often a difference between HM and FF.
Aha interesting! Would you say that the negative impact of not enough rest on the performance during the test warrants I should take another go at it fully rested?
I did the full zwift test (1 hour and 13 minutes).
I would say just crack on with your training plan. If after 3 or 4 weeks you find it’s too easy then you’ll know that you were probably too fatigued which gave you lower numbers. If not then you’ll know your numbers are pretty accurate. All things considered, tho, I would suspect that your numbers are going to be at least close enough. And then you’ll be able to do HM at the half-way point which will compensate for your improvements. So, no need to take another week off just to re-test at this point.
