Australian rowing use a 30 minute test.
They take minutes 6 to 26 to calculate FTP.
Australian rowing use a 30 minute test.
They take minutes 6 to 26 to calculate FTP.
Bill,
How about a link to or copy and paste of the protocol?
Hugh
Sorry forgot. Would be interested in opinion.
6.3 30minOpenRateTest 6.3.1 Background
The inclusion of the 30 min Open Rate has been intentional and aimed specifically at determining the rower’s Functional Threshold Power (FTP: http://home.trainingpeaks.com/...threshold-power.aspx). FTP is analogous to the LT2 measure that we previously interpolated from the 7x4 Step Test. In reality FTP has a high degree of relevance to events with a duration of 2-15 min. Improvements in FTP have been shown to correlate highly with improvements in both maximal aerobic power and rowing performance. This means that we can use these measures to re-focus training intensity thresholds as well as infer changes in 2000m racing performance. The training intensities thresholds will be most specific to ergometer training but will cross over with a high degree of transfer to most other training modalities as well (i.e. rowing, running, cycling).
FTP can be estimated or calculated. Obviously the most accurate way is to calculate it from the 30 min test data but this can be time consuming for large training groups or coaches with little external support. In this case we suggest you estimate the FTP from the 30 min test. Outlined below are the two methods that are available to obtain the FTP from a 30 min open rate test.
How to calculate FTP from the 30 min open rate test: to calculate FTP you MUST record from the concept II work monitor; power output, HR and stroke rate from min 6 to min 26 of the 30 min test. To do this you need to reset the work monitor to record the 30 min open rate data at 2 min intervals. By using the 20 min time period (min 6 to min 26) and excluding the start and end of the 30 min effort ensures that a true sustainable work load is taken as the athletes current FTP. The FTP data then become very accurate and valid measures of LT2 training HR, power output, stroke rate.
NB We suggest that if you want to review the power output and stroke rate pacing strategy adopted by the athlete during their 30 min effort then you record the data in 2 min intervals and use this template to graph the data and produce a report for the athlete.
How to estimate FTP from the 30 min open rate test: to estimate FTP from the 30min test all you need do is multiply the 30 min average power by 0.98. This value will then be a very good estimate of FTP as calculated by the method outlined above. The average SR and HR for the full 30 min are valid measures to use as the values for FTP in this setting.
Calculating heart rate and power training zones: upper and lower HR and power output training zones can then be determined from the FTP (calculated or estimated) as long as the 30 min test is performed as an “all-out” maximal test (please see section 6.3.5).
It is very possible that the 30 min all-out measure could be done more frequently than is prescribed here. This has the value of regularly assessing training induced changes with a valid and reliable tool of which the output can be used to immediately reshape training workloads. It has the additional benefit of being a very solid training effort if done regularly where athletes learn to better pace (dose) their effort each time they undertake the test.