Half Monty after prolonged break

[ianthevet]

Hi all,

I’m just starting to train after again after a break of several years (COVID / injury / kids / laziness).

I’m planning to do a Half Monty tomorrow and then FF shortly after. My rider profile is set up with an old 4DP but I will be nowhere near that currently.

Should I do HM with the current 4DP or should I reduce the overall %age when I do the test? Don’t want to blow up in the warm-up! Will the results still be valid if the settings are reduced?

Many thanks

[Dafydd]

Hi @ianthevet and welcome to the forum.

I would suggest reducing your FTP and MAP settings by 10 - 15%, depending how well trained you were previously. Your MAP setting is key to the Half Monty as that sets the steps in the ramp.

I think you need to complete a minimum of 5 steps to have a valid result, but if you reduce your settings too much you could end up completing the full ramp section without actually reaching the point of failure.

Your AC & NM numbers won’t need adjusted for the HM, but if you intend to try a few workouts before your Full Frontal you should adjust these too, or any sprints (in erg mode) are likely to be a bit challenging.

[JSampson]

@ianthevet See this thread which addresses a similar issue. The suggestion was to do a few rides 1st to see were you are and also try level mode.

Question about Kickstarter plan and Igniter before Ramp Test

Hey guys, I haven’t ridden a bike in a year, and I’m seeing that the “Fitness Kickstarter” plan fits well with this comeback since it starts with a Ramp Test and ends with a 4DP, and it includes short exercises to get the body accustomed. However, I have some questions: When previewing the plan, I see an exercise called Igniter before the Ramp Test, I imagine it’s to activate the body. The problem is that when I used to train, I did a Ramp Test in SYSTM, and I have the data from that time. I …

[Saddlesaur]

I recommend doing some moderate rides on the trainer over a few days to get back into the groove and then doing the 7 day Test Prep plan. It’s a 7 day plan with a HM on day three and a FF on day 7. It gives a good consistent lead-in to the FF, and the HM results set suggested targets for the FF, which is very helpful in pacing. I try to hold and just exceed those suggested targets during the FF.

[devolikewhoa]

Yeah I would definitely do some rides before testing, and don’t artificially limit yourself to a week of them just bc that’s what the prep plan covers. After that long of a layoff, you’re in noob gainz territory for a little while, meaning:

1. Pretty much anything you do right now will improve you equally, partly just from getting the muscle recruitment patterns back but even the endurance training “signaling” is not that complicated: you get an aerobic adaptive signal for every muscle contraction, and when you do the right combination of duration and intensity to deplete muscle glycogen, you get additional signaling from AMPK. For a brief magical period, you get this from moderate intensity exercise at a dramatically lower fatigue cost vs HIT.

2. As long ans you get the consistency part dialed, you’ll adapt so quickly that the training targets you get from testing super early won’t even be valid that long.

[ianthevet]

Thanks all - some useful stuff there.

I did HM set to 75% and now have a baseline (very low) FTP to work with going forward.

Will retest with FF in a couple of weeks - any improvement at this stage will be a nice psychological boost!

[jmckenzieKOS]

One thing to do is Elements of Style every week. Since you were injured or had surgery, you might need to retrain you nervous system to regain smoothness.

[ianthevet]

Good plan!