So, I’ve always been a bit unsure about how to pace the 1 minute bit of Full Frontal.
The instructions say to hit it flat out and then gradually fade, but I get a higher result if I aim for just over my current AC number and then try to hold or even increase. If I sprint from the start I am ending up sub FTP by the end!
Now, I just figure #trustthescience, but I am currently finding AC workouts too easy. For example, I just did the UCI BMX one and running it in level mode, I was at least 100w higher than the targets for every lap of the track.
For ref, my current MAP is 305w, and my AC is 347 (from FF a couple of weeks back). According to Systm, my AC is my weakest aspect.
So, do I ignore the instructions and go with whatever gives me the highest result, or do I follow the instructions, sprint like crazy for 15s and then fade away to the power output of a geriatric snail?
I think hit it like the instructions say. I believe The aim of this 1 minute is to find what explosive power you have left and to empty you out. It’s not to get the highest average power over the minute.
I’m not sure I agree with you here, at least not entirely.
A agree the goal isn’t to get your best 1 minute power but that is because you will already be gassed from the previous efforts. So the goal IS to get your best 1 minute effort after you’ve already done a hard effort. I don’t think that means you shouldn’t try to maximize your power output over the course of the effort.
My 2 cents, pace it however you can to give you the best result.
Here is the text from the coaches back in the day:
You’ve made it through the longest part of the test. Now, after a solid recovery, comes the piece de resistance: a final, 1-minute, all-out effort. 1 minute. 60 measly seconds. How bad can it be? In Revolver you do 15 (sorry…16) of those without giving it a second thought. But let’s be honest: this is going to hurt. You’ll be tired, your legs and lungs will be burning, your eyes will be bleeding, and you will just want to be done. But you’re a Sufferlandrian. You can dig deep into the Courage mines and give one last, glorious effort. It won’t be the greatest 1min you ever do, but it is important. This will show us your Anaerobic Capacity (or AC). This is what determines how much you have “left in the tank” at the end of a hard effort. The best pacing strategy for this one is to hit roughly 2x your 5min power for the first 10-15 seconds and then just try and hold on for dear life. Unlike the 5min or 20 min efforts, a well-paced 1-minute looks like a slight peak and fade. Some athletes will get out of the saddle for the first 15-20 seconds, sit down for another 20-30 seconds, and then spend the last 15-10 seconds out of the saddle to really get everything out.
The BMX video’s main efforts are based on your AC. Did you mean to say that you’re finding AC workouts too easy?
Maybe try some of the AC no-vids and see if your FF results fit better. If not, you can always manually adjust the 1 minute target in your athlete profile and see how they feel then.
As per instruction … ‘ The best pacing strategy for this one is to hit roughly 2x your 5min power for the first 10-15 seconds and then just try and hold on for dear life. ’
This is quite different from the OP strategy of start at MAP and wind up the power. I think you will not get the same result that science is trying to evaluate.
Have seen some posts in the past where folks talk about the 7 sec NM test in FF where they wind up the power prior to the 7 second window to get max 7 second result. That is not testing NM 7 second ‘standing start’ power is it.
I just follow the coaches instructions as I believe that is how the tests are designed to get meaningful results.
It’s all a bit of a guess anyway and at the end of the day, it’s just a snapshot in time. I see nothing wrong with experimenting a bit to see what works best for you.
There’s also more than a little art to sport science.
This shows that there are different but valid pacing strategies.
This means that you can pace it however you want.
Try different pacing strategies and see which one works best for you. Because none of them is more right or wrong than any other. They are just different. And some will work different for different riders.
And that’s OKAY!
The idea is to find the one that works best for you.
oops. That’s embarassing. Everywhere I said MAP, I meant AC. eesh.
Just did AC progression 3 this afternoon.
I did it in level mode and was generally 30-50w higher than the target, so I do feel that my AC number is lower than it should be.
I will manually increase it by 30w and see how that goes. Should be ouch.
Cheers. My mistake - I got a bit confused when writing this between AC and MAP. It is my AC that seems to low, and I usually try to start just over my AC and hold on (around 400w). That is nowhere near 2x my 5 min power (that would be just over 600w).
This was precisely how my last one went. Maybe not the seconds of the sprint exactly, but that’s how I recall it.