I am new here and was looking at the endless possibilities and maybe entering a race with my equals. I saw the categories are divided by FTP/kg. When I went into my profile, my FTP was empty and so was my max heart rate.
I have seen the FTP test, I normally cycle outside and speed is done by the seat of my pants, I never did 20min straight (normally i would have hit 1-2 traffic lights here).
I have the Wahookickr i.c.w. the tickr, any suggestions for a newby how to get his FTP and max heart rate in his profile?
I remember doing this test when I was in my twenties playing highest league fieldhockey. We did this test 1 - 2 times a year and it was a killer, every 3 min increase the watts at 55rpm. I have so many bad memories about this test lol
Fortunately the really painful part doesn’t last that long It will probably give you a higher result than what you can do for a full hour but it’s a start. And it gives you a ballpark figure to aim for if you decide to try the 20 min test.
Pedal with a HR-strap until you croak and check the logs
A standard ramp-up test is good for this. Just going “all-in” from start on a normal session will probably eat away your legs before you reach the max heart rate.
British Cycling base their heart rate zones on FTHR rather than max heart rate, and you can test this in the same way that you test FTP. Your HR with indoor cycling tends to be a bit lower than outdoors, but when I did the 20-min FTP test on Zwift, my HR was much the same as it was on an outdoor FTHR test.
Max HR:
You can do what @Nicklas_Karlsson suggested. Or you can find someone or an entity that straps you up and sticks a tube in your mouth and tells you to pedal. You will ramp until they say done. What they are determining is your Anaerobic Threshold…which is determined by the mixture of gases in exhalation. They also give your zones and estimate your max. I did mine at Lifetime Fitness gym.
After doing it awhile you learn where this is at. Many years ago when I was younger, I could hold 179 bpm for awhile (20-30 minutes) but if I got over 180, crash and burn after a minute or two. Nowadays I am around 142-144 AT. If I get into reasonable shape I can push it up a few beats but it is getting harder and harder.
And since the max HR is highly personal, all calculation-based methods are practically useless. With the 220-age, I should top at 175 but I can still go over 200. Used to be around 215 in my 20’s
Testing is not an exact science since you might have an particularly good/bad day while testing and especially when you start, you get improvements as you learn how to distribute your power while testing.
The most important thing is that you now have a baseline to work on. Comparing to others (taking into account W/kg) is mostly useful for inspirational purposes
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