5 Ways To Assess Fitness Progression Without Maximal Efforts
Maximal testing is commonly used by both coached and self-coached athletes to assess progress. Common tests include the 20-min time trial and the ramp test, both of which are typically used to estimate ‘functional threshold power’ (FTP). More comprehensive protocols include critical power testing or power profile testing.
When done properly, these maximal tests require you to ride right up to the point of failure. This is, of course, no easy task! It demands a good level of mental fortitude as well as sensible planning of your training, nutrition, and other life commitments to make sure you’re sufficiently fresh, well-fuelled and generally ready to perform. Many people also really dislike maximal testing and find it hard to perform to the best of their abilities outside of race conditions.
In this article we’ll look at 5 ways to assess progress in cycling without performing maximal testing:
The Talk Test
The Threshold ‘Sensation’ Test
Efficiency Factor
Repeating Interval Sessions
Reflecting on Long Rides
1. The Talk Test
What it tells us
This test can be used to establish your ‘first ventilatory threshold’ (VT1). This is the point at which you begin to use increasing amounts of carbohydrates to produce power on the bike. It demarcates the boundary between Zones 2 and 3 in a 6-7 Zone model, or between the low and medium intensity domains in a polarised model (see here for more on training zones).
As you step over your VT1 intensity, there is a marked increase in your breathing rate, and we can assess this through the talk test.
An improvement in your VT1 power can indicate an improvement in your
fat oxidation ability,
general aerobic fitness, efficiency or endurance.
Who should use it
VT1 power is particularly important for people aiming to complete long, and relatively steady-state events, such as ultra-endurance events, and sportives/Gran Fondos, because these will generally be conducted very close to VT1.
However, VT1 testing via the talk test is also relevant for people competing in more stochastic endurance events, because fat oxidation ability and general aerobic fitness are still attributes that you’ll likely want to develop.
How to test
You’ll need access to a power meter for this test.
Begin by riding at a very low intensity that feels subjectively easy (e.g. no more than a 2/10). If you already have a rough estimate of your FTP, you can aim for around 55% FTP.
Hold this power for 5-mins and then recite the alphabet out-loud. Ask yourself whether talking feels comfortable, and record either ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘don’t know’.
Being able to recite the alphabet comfortably means that you can do it without having to take frequent heavy breaths. This intensity is often referred to as being a ‘conversational’ effort i.e. one where you could easily hold a conversation with a friend while riding, where your speech is not too dissimilar from talking at rest.
If you’re having to take frequent breaths roughly every 5-8 letters of the alphabet, or thereabouts, then this indicates that talking has become uncomfortable.
Repeat the steps above at increments of around 5% FTP or 10-15W, until you reach a level where breathing quite clearly no longer feels comfortable.
Your VT1 is the highest power at which breathing feels comfortable. If your breathing feels uncomfortable, or you’re not sure, then this power is classified as being above your VT1.
Testing should be either indoors, or on a quiet section of road where you can easily control your power.
Note that you shouldn’t be increasing the intensity to the point where reciting the alphabet feels extremely uncomfortable (e.g. you’re only able to say 1-2 letters at once, and feel that your breathing is very heavy). At this point, you’ve gone very far beyond your VT1!
Example
Female athlete weighing 50kg began riding at 90W, increasing power by 10W every 5 mins. Up to 110W, talking was clearly comfortable. At 120W, the athlete was unsure whether talking was uncomfortable. At 130W talking was clearly hard. LT1 was therefore determined as 110W.
2. Threshold ‘sensation’ test
What it tells us
This test can be used to roughly determine your threshold power. As we’re making a fairly crude determination of your threshold, we can interpret ‘threshold power’ synonymously with FTP or other similar thresholds such as critical power or LT2/maximal lactate steady state. Although it should be noted that these threshold are all slightly different.
Below your threshold you should find that an effort feels sustainable for an extended period (e.g. an hour or more), whereas above your threshold you will notice that fatigue starts to hit much more rapidly (e.g. within minutes or tens of minutes at most).
Who should use it
It’s helpful for nearly all cyclists to have a rough idea of where their threshold power sits, because it can be a useful benchmark for determining cycling training intensities or zones.
In addition, threshold power is a key determinant of performance in many endurance cycling disciplines. Time trials lasting between 30-60 minutes (e.g. 15- and 25-mile efforts) will be performed very close to FTP, and are key examples of disciplines where developing FTP is extremely important.
However, more stochastic events lasting between 20-mins and 2-hours will also be strongly dependant on threshold power, and therefore tracking threshold power using the sensation test can be a good way to gauge progress.
Some athletes may have concerns that the threshold sensation test is not particularly accurate. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that your threshold power will change from day to day, depending on things like fuelling, hydration and fatigue levels. So the concept of an ‘accurate’ threshold power does not really exist! Moreover, if you’re using your threshold power to determine training intensity zones, then these will always need individualising based on your unique physiological profile anyway. So in our view, the subjective threshold sensation test is accurate enough for gauging progress and for determining training intensities, particularly if you test quite regularly, and follow our guidance on how to individualise training intensity zones (see here).
How to test
For this test, you’ll need access to a power meter.
Similar to the talk test, this method involves riding at a steady power, gradually increasing this in small increments that are close to the power you suspect your threshold sits at. Hold each effort for at least 10-minutes before increasing, and aim to start at a power that’s a little below where you think your threshold sits.
During each effort, pay attention to:
How the effort feels. Be honest with yourself - do you think this is an intensity you could sustain for at least 40-minutes? If not, then you’re probably riding above your threshold power.
Your breathing. Is your breathing under control, and would you be able to speak short sentences (e.g. 5-6 words). Or is your breathing rate escalating so that you’re finding it increasingly hard to say even a few words. If the latter, this is a sign that you’ve probably crossed your threshold power.
Lactate levels. When you first start riding at a particular power output, you’ll probably start to feel lactate levels rising within your muscles over the first 1-2 minutes. This will feel like a burning sensation in your legs. If you’re riding at or below your threshold, then after the first 1-2 minutes of the effort, you should feel lactate levels reach a stable level or even reduce slightly to a level that feels tolerable, and isn’t getting more painful as the effort wears on. In contrast, if you’re riding above your threshold, you’ll notice that the burning sensation continues to progressively increase as the effort goes on.
Heart rate. Like lactate levels, you should see an initial increase in heart rate over the first 1-2 minutes of the effort. If you’re riding at or below your threshold, your heart rate should then stabilise (to within a couple of beats per minute). In contrast, if you’re riding above your threshold, your heart rate will continue to slowly creep upwards, albeit at a slower rate from the initial rise. We’ve included a couple of charts below so you can see the difference. Bear in mind, there can be other factors that can cause your heart rate to rise, even if you’re below your threshold, so this isn’t a foolproof indicator of threshold power on its own. You’ll need to consider all the factors above collectively to determine if you’re over your threshold.
To avoid spending too much time riding close to threshold within a single session, you can spread the efforts out over multiple sessions if you wish.
Testing should be either indoors, or on a quiet section of road where you can easily control your power.
Example
75kg male athlete began riding at 290W for 10 minutes (initially suspecting his FTP was around 300-310W). Perceived effort, breathing, lactate and heart rate all indicate this effort was below threshold, although the effort did feel moderately hard.
Athlete then tried a 300W effort. In this effort, lactate levels felt stable, and the effort felt sustainable, but breathing rate and heart rate seemed to be escalating, suggesting the effort was possibly slightly over threshold.
Working estimate for FTP was 290-300W.
3. Efficiency factor
What it tells us
Efficiency factor (EF) is the ratio of power to heart rate. It’s calculated by taking your average or normalised power and dividing by heart rate. Many platforms used for planning and analysing training will calculate an EF value for you.
A higher EF tells you that you’re producing more power for a given heart rate. It’s can be a useful indicators that aerobic efficiency is improving, if used with care.
Who should use it
EF is relevant to anyone who is looking to improve their general aerobic fitness and/or efficiency. As long as you use the metric consistently, you can use it to look both at your aerobic efficiency when riding at lower (e.g. Zone 2) intensities, or at higher intensities, such as efforts above your threshold power.
A shift in your EF is not only a sign that training is working, but can also serve as a prompt to adjust your power targets for a particular type of session. For example, if you see your EF improve quite markedly during intervals performed at 110% FTP (perhaps your average HR across a set of intervals falls from 180bpm to 175bpm), then this might be a sign to increase your power slightly in these intervals.
How to test
You don’t necessarily need to plan any formal testing in order to examine your EF - you can just analyse your regular training rides retrospectively, looking for a pattern of improving EF values over time. EF is therefore a really convenient and easy way to look for progress in training.
It will usually take at least a few months to spot a reliable improvement in your EF values, so this is the minimum period of time over which you’ll want to be assessing this parameter.
The important thing is that you need to compare like with like. So you need to make sure you’re comparing your EF for sessions that are similar in terms of intensity and duration, as well as environmental temperature, caffeine use, fuelling and hydration (all of which can strongly impact your heart rate).
We think that the best types of sessions to assess your EF in are:
Steady zone 2 rides, with well-controlled power (no surges that can tend to inflate your EF value).
Longer intervals lasting between 5-mins to 20-mins, with a stable power. Key examples would be intervals at or slightly above your threshold power. You can then calculate your average power over the set of intervals, and divide this by your average heart rate over the set of intervals (excluding power and heart rate in the recovery intervals).
Bear in mind that HR can change quite a bit from day to day due to a variety of factors, including those already mentioned above, as well as things like fatigue, stress, altitude and illness. This is a key reason why we need to assess EF over a longer period of several months or more.
It’s also worth noting that EF values will vary from individual to individual, so you can’t compare your EF with others and draw any meaningful conclusions. Just because your EF is higher than someone else’s doesn’t mean you’ll be fitter/faster than that individual!
Example
Below we’ve shown two steady Zone 2 rides from a male athlete weighing 65kg. We can see that the EF for the first ride is lower than the EF for the second ride. If we also look at the average power and heart rate, we can see that in the second ride, the athlete was producing slightly more power for a notably lower heart rate.
Importantly, this is a trend we’ve spotted in other Zone 2 rides for this athlete over the last six months. This improvement in EF values suggests that the athlete is probably becoming more efficient when riding at a Zone 2 intensity.
4. Repeating interval sessions
What it tells us
Repeating key interval sessions can be a great way of spotting performance improvements across a wide range of durations and associated fitness attributes. This is also another method of assessing progress that doesn’t require you to plan any formal testing, and so doesn’t interrupt your training.
Improvements in your performance in a particular type of interval session will usually indicate physiological improvements that relate to those intervals.
So for example, if you see improvements in your power output during a set of ‘anaerobic power’ intervals (e.g. 6x 1-min intervals with 6-mins recovery), this could reflect improvements in fitness attributes such as your neuromuscular ability to recruit Type IIx muscle fibres, your ability to produce energy through glycolysis, and/or possibly an improvement in your VO2max or ability to clear/buffer metabolic byproducts of anaerobic metabolism.
Improvements in power output during a set of 5x 6-min supra-threshold intervals (with around 4-6 mins recovery between intervals) could indicate improvements in VO2max, lactate clearance, or muscular strength/endurance.
Who should use it
Looking for improvements in your ability to perform a given interval session is relevant for any cyclist training for any type of discipline. Assuming that the intervals you’re doing are well-aligned with your training goals and the aspects of fitness that you’re looking to develop, then improvements in your ability to complete these intervals will usually be a positive sign!
How to test
Simply complete the same or similar interval session multiple times over the course of a few weeks or months, and look for changes in your performance. Improvements in performance might include:
the ability to sustain a higher average power across a set of efforts,
the ability to sustain efforts at the same power but for longer,
or the ability to complete an additional interval.
If you don’t have a power meter, you can also look at things like the length of time it takes you to complete a particular interval segment, or the ratio of your heart rate relative to the time taken.
Bear in mind that improvements from session to session won’t be linear, and you might find your performance even dips from one session to the next due to things like fatigue, motivation, fuelling, environmental conditions, differences in terrain, technique or pacing (to name a few!). What you’re looking for is a general trajectory for improvement, as illustrated below.
Example
Athlete completes 6x 3-min intervals with 3-min recoveries.
In week 1, average 3-min power ranges from 276W to 296W.
In week 2, average 3-min power ranges from 287W to 299W.
In week 3, average 3-min power ranges from 291W to 306W.
There seems to be a general trajectory of improving performance, which doesn’t appear to be due to improvements in pacing, technique or route choice (where the latter two were established from discussions with the athlete).
5. Reflecting on long rides
What it tells us
This final method is not really a formal test as such, but is more a subjective reflection on how you feel in longer rides.
It can be used to assess improvements in your endurance, general aerobic fitness and fat oxidation ability.
Who should use it
This ‘testing’ approach is relevant to any cyclist looking to develop their endurance and/or build their general aerobic fitness.
It’s particularly relevant for athletes who are training for longer endurance events (e.g. lasting 2-hours or more), and also for any athlete completing a ‘base’ building phase, where the focus of training is usually on developing fat oxidation, improving economy and extending endurance.
How to test
Whenever you complete a longer, steady Zone 2 ride, we recommend reflecting on how this went, and and making a note of the following things in order to get an impression of how your endurance is developing:
How do you feel towards the end of your longer rides? You might want to include an RPE (rating of perceived exertion) score for each hour of your ride, and explore how these change as your fitness develops. For example, you may find that a power output that feels like a 3/10 in the first hour feels more like a 4/10 in the second hour and a 5/10 in the third hour. However, after a few months of consistent training, you may find that the same power feels like a 3/10 even after 3-hours of riding.
How tired do you feel the day after a long ride? Again, you may find that you feel very tired an achey the day after a long ride, and are unable to do any training the next day. However as you endurance develops, you may only feel slightly fatigued the next day, and might be able to do several back-to-back long rides without any problems.
How much do you need to eat on a long ride? One of the key factors that underpins your endurance is your ability to use fats for fuel, rather than carbohydrates. When you first begin working on your endurance, you might find you need to eat fairly often to keep your energy levels up. However, you should find over time that you can eat less, while still maintaining a consistent RPE and power output. This is a really good sign that your fat oxidation ability has improved, and this should translate to better endurance.
Example
When beginning training after an off-season break, an athlete is able to complete a 2.5H ride at an average power of 180W. The first two hours feel like a 3/10 effort, but in the final half hour this rises to a 4/10. The athlete needs to eat at least 30g/hour of carbohydrates to complete this length of ride without a more notable increase in RPE or a drop in power at the end. The athlete feels quite tired the next day, and needs an easy day of riding.
After 2 months focussing on building back the athlete’s endurance and aerobic base by gradually increasing training volume and extending the length of longer rides, the athlete is able to complete 2.5H without needing to consume any carbohydrates, and while maintaining RPE at a 2-3/10 effort throughout the ride. The athlete is no longer particularly fatigued by this length of ride, and is able to complete another harder day of training the next day. Moreover, the athlete is now also able to complete rides lasting around 3.5-4H, with a consistent RPE of 2-3/10 while consuming some carbohydrates (~30-40g/hour).
Benefits of sub-maximal testing
Finally, to wrap-up this post on sub-maximal testing, it’s worth considering the benefits and any draw-backs of this testing approach.
Maximal testing can clearly provide really valuable information to guide training, and in some cases, can offer more objective or precise indicators of your current performance level when compared with sub-maximal testing.
However, that does not mean that sub-maximal testing is inferior to maximal testing. Indeed, sub-maximal testing methods have many benefits over maximal testing, including:
The frequency with which testing can be performed. As sub-maximal tests are not particularly fatiguing and often don’t require you to make any meaningful changes to your regular training, they can be included in your training more often and thereby provide a better picture of your overall fitness and how this is progressing. This is in contrast to maximal testing, which is by necessity performed fairly infrequently, and only provides a single snapshot of your performance on a particular day.
The ease with which testing can be incorporated. As you don’t need to go to max, you don’t need to make sure you’re feeling particularly fresh on testing day. It’s therefore much easier to find a suitable point within your calendar to do some testing.
Overall, even if you like performing maximal testing, it can be beneficial to incorporate some sub-maximal testing in addition to the maximal testing.
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