If you haven’t done a plan yet, maybe start with the Fitness kick starter at the beginner level. That would give you a low volume plan where you could layer in extra rides. From there then go with a plan with outdoor rides that fits your goals. Probably best to avoid the advanced plans as they require a higher time commitment?
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Huge gains for me in my second 4dp test:
NM: 799+ 225 =1024 // I don’t think I got the timing right in my first 4dp test so the initial number is prob wrong
AC: 447 + 66 = 513
MAP: 291 + 58 =349
FTP: 243 + 36 = 279
and my LTHR went from 143 to 153
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I was up around 10 watts on the 1-5 and 20 mins. I am supposed to be a a steep age related decline, so the numbers are good
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Thanks @JSampson for the response. I’ll try as much as possible to keep any outdoor rides on workout days as close as possible to the plan. My main concern was how much impact doing something as minimal as a 1 hour Zone 2 ride would have, either in addition to a workout or on a plan rest day. I added 2x25min recovery rides this past Thursday, which was a rest day on my post-ToS plan, and I’m wondering if that had any impact on today’s FF outcome.
@ErickT I hadn’t considered the Fitness kickstarter, but that sounds like a good answer. I’d like to be able to better judge when the non-plan activities are complementary to the plan, rather than counter productive, but then again I’m not out racing on the weekends, so maybe I’m overthinking this. Thanks for the help.
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Congrats on the positives, but more congrats on the other achievements. Times are crappy at the moment, well done on crushing life too!
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Just did my post ToS FF this morning. Was hoping for more improvement on the FTP number, but I’ll take it. Steady progress!
FTP - Oct 24 = 242, Jan 17 = 268, Mar 6 = 273
MAP - Oct 24 = 315, Jan 17 = 342, Mar 6 = 352
AC - Oct 24 = 441, Jan 17 = 470, Mar 6 = 499
NM - Oct 24 = 1203, Jan 17 = 1130, Mar 6 = 1169
The NM one is inconsistent as I am on a dumb trainer and can only hit those numbers on the highest resistance in my hardest gear while doing like 120RPM.
The AC I attribute a bit to learning how to do the test…the peak and fade was quite good this time…I was struggling to hold 400W at the end of it and I couldn’t feel my legs anymore.
Now onto the next training plan! My goal is to get to 4W/kg by end of this cyclocross season. I’m at 3.5W/kg now.
Have fun hitting the roads now! we still have a ton of snow on the ground here, but the roads are pretty dry…that paired with these gains is giving me the itch to get out there.
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The week after The Tour, my legs were just not right. Did a couple of recovery spins and then nearly quit halfway through GOAT over the course of the entire week. Did not feel good.
But then inner voice said: “Sign up for a Full Frontal training plan”.
Brain said “Make it so!”.
Legs replied “Good luck! We’re on strike”.
I must admit, I was 50/50 as to whether or not to do this today. Glad I did. But… the 5 minute MAP test is soooooo hard. A truly bucket-worthy test. Strange thing is, although the 5 minutes seems long, when I looked up from chewing on my bar stem, I was already 3 minutes in. By contrast, looking up during the last 1 minute AC test and the clock said I still had another 40 seconds to go. ARGHHHH! Grateful for all the the advice that I read before attempting FF again. The Sufferfest boys and girls know their stuff about how to get the most from this workout. Above all, NEVER give up in the last 10s of the AC test!
Here are the numbers anyway:
FTP up to 265 from 256
MAP unchanged at 332
(The above relative to a more recent Half Monty)
AC up from 378 to 453
(Big increase is partly due to in my last FF, I span out on the 1 minute test in the small chainring. This time, used the big chainring and got the pacing right)
NM up from 920 to 940
Change from Pursuiter to Attacker. And by contrast with the last FF, my strength is now repeated efforts! YAY… don’t need to do THE SHOVEL!!!
BUT… workouts just got harder of course!
Ride on citizens! Y’all are amazing!
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Thanks @Magnito! It was much more thrilling than I expected this time. I have still more to learn about how to be in the best gear. My results said I went from a Rouleur to Sprinter, which doesn’t make sense as I don’t think I have a fast-twitch muscle in my entire body 
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I had too many hard rides early this week. I could still feel them in my legs. That and my 2 month layoff for the holidays and I knew some numbers were going down. But it ended up about where I expected - tho I suddenly moved from a Pursuiter to a Sprinter which makes me laugh.
NM +28w
AC -25w
MAP -22w
FTP +2w
LTHR -3bpm
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That is a fantastic result, way to keep the suffering pure and true!
Congratulations to everyone for just committing to doing that all out on Full Frontal. I started on the platform on January 3 with a full frontal on the first day and did my second yesterday.
I did Half Monty on 1/25 so the numbers would be a little better for the tour. Since I wasn’t conditioned on the bike before I’m enjoying big gains and learning to pace myself on FF.
Here are my results:
Changes since 1/3
NM 42%
AC 16%
MAP 26%
FTP 30%
LTHR +11
I was classified as a pursuiter both times.
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FF 
I’m happy with the results:
NM +133 (27%) I got the 
in a better place
AC +21 (7%)
MAP +12 (5%)
FTP -4 (2%) from HM in Nov but +13 from last FF in Aug.
Still a pursuiter. Interesting that my LTHR increased by 5 bpm. I’m not sure what to make of this.
Glad it’s over!
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I don’t think there would be much impact from those recovery and Zone 2 rides but in general you want to take it easy in the days before Full Frontal and stick to the plan. But admittedly life sometimes just gets in the way. It is definitely a tough test for everyone and it take a while to get your head around it.
For the past few tests I watch the Full Frontal instruction video before the test and map out my gearing/level and also write down some thoughts on pacing as well.
You might want to try writing down some post-test reflections in the notes section of the workout on the app - thoughts on pacing, hydration, fueling, how much sleep you had or did you feel that you could have willed yourself through certain parts but just didn’t get there and need to find some more positive chatter to do that. You may capture something that you can think about next time you take it again. Good luck!
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Did my post-ToS Full Frontal this morning. One day late after a last-minute decision to go skate skiing yesterday morning.
FTP: 258 (+24 W, +10%)
MAP: 297 (+26, +9%)
AC: 373 (+22, +6%)
NM: 630 (-3, -0%)
Rider type changed from Rouleur to Climber.
The results were flagged for MAP being less than 115% of FTP. It took me about 20 seconds to find the right gear at the start of the 5 minute interval, so I think I’ll stick with the recalculated MAP, rather than reducing FTP. I’m sure to regret that decision during some of the workouts in my upcoming MAP block!
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Almost zero biking since ToS. Managed primers yesterday to sort level/gearing as have others. Then FF…so, 3pts down for FTP (was Suffering unbelievably (you’re welcome GvA) then all others up! Taking that as a win. Bring on the CX season!
Pursuiter after being Sprinter after being Rouleur. I like to keep the pack guessing 
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Great, thanks for the tips! I’ll definitely be more prepared for the next one.
Did mine today! What a different mental game on these fitness tests, something I find much harder than hitting targets in erg mode. I Should spend a little more time on level mode because I spend too much time stressing about gearing. I had solid targets for FTP and MAP, both of which I hit! AC and NM I was less focused and flubbed.
NM, wrong gearing 1st attempt and popped out of the cleat on the 2nd. -113 from 890 to 777. -12%
MAP. Felt good. Anything is possible here after 9 hammers during the tour. +10 from 250 to 260. +4%
FTP. Felt good. Better gearing. Hard after that 5 minute effort though. +10 from 187 to 197. +5%
AC. Wrong gear. Didn’t time the effort well. -29 from 354 to 325. -8%
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Also did FF today as the culmination of the ToS recovery. The results are a bit of a head-scratcher. Here’s the context.
Last year was the first time that I started using a power meter pedal. FTP at the end of the outdoor season was about 200. My first FF in late November returned a Pursuiter’s profile: NM 714, MAP 239, FTP 181, AC 305, LTHR 139 (I was not using a HRM at the time). FTP was down compared to outdoor numbers, not uncommon according to info on the Sufferfest site.
I began the All-Purpose Road Program, along with strength training. HM on January 9 bumped FTP to 198, MAP to 263, WooHoo! LTHR remained at 139 (I was by this time using a HRM). Subsequent training used these values to set targets.
I signed up for ToS, which started on the date that my original All-Purpose Road Program would have ended with FF. I substituted the last two weeks of the ToS prep plan for the last two weeks of All-Purpose Road and deferred FF to the end of the ToS recovery plan.
I started FF today well rested, nourished and hydrated. Not super-pumped, but in no way feeling sub-par. Results are NM 882 (+168), MAP 252 (+13), FTP 178 (-3), AC 302 (-3), LTHR 145 (+6).
So, more or less held onto the MAP gain indicated in HM, but back to square one on FTP. The big gain in NM is gratifying. But I’m wondering how much this of this is a real improvement versus having a better grip the second time around on how to do the test.
Two questions come to mind:
- How does HM relate to FF, especially on FTP? Is it more accurate for some rider types than others?
- The workouts suggested by All-Purpose Road obviously did a good job of improving what I was relatively good at (MAP), but did squat for my weakness on long, steady efforts. Is there a better alternative among the Training Plans to improve this? Time Trial, maybe? Or a DIY combo heavier on FTP-focused workouts? As noted in the information on rider profiles “genes are genes”. I doubt that I will ever be a Time Trialist or a Climber and I’m OK with that. But it would be nice to bump up FTP and maybe get dropped a little less on climbs in the coming outdoor season.
Speaking of the outdoor season, are there ways to adapt a training plan to outdoor use? I do love my Kickr, but it’s still second best to the real thing and I will almost certainly be outside before the end of another 12-week program.
Apologies if I’m rambling. I’d love to hear if others have had similar experiences and any comments and suggestions are welcomed.
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