Confused by ramp test result

I need help here. The last 4 x 1 minute I was bang on target power. And all above 200 watts. Final 1 min at 234. So why is my new estimate only 175? I may try the 20min test next time as this is the second ramp test that has come out lower tan expected. I’m 60 years old so perhaps longer efforts will be best for me?

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The ramp test takes your best 1 minute power and multiplies by .75 to get your result. Your result is correct based on your final minute.

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Tamp test takes 75% of of best 1 min power so in your case the 175W.

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I see. Thanks for that. Maybe I should try the 8min test next time and see how things go. Perhaps not suited to the ramp. Worth a try. Thanks so much for your help.

It’s only a benchmark number for training (some would say vanity benchmark) - why are you concerned about your score? Are the workouts too easy when your FTP is set to 175 watts?

If it’s any help, my first ramp test (after a long time off the bike) was 180 watts. It seemed unbelievably low to me too, but it improved very quickly and the workouts always seemed to be sufficiently challenging.

Hi.

If you do the 8min test it takes 90% of the wattage you can do and if you do the 20min test its 95% of the power.

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Thanks that’s great info and explains alot. I’ve done 20mins in the past and was wondering why my numbers were higher from that test.

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Thanks BAA. I’ll monitor my RPE on the next few workouts and see how I feel. If they do feel easy I might adjust my FTP by a couple of Watts and see what happens.

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I don’t race anymore, and find the 20 minute test increadably hard to mentally “stick into”, so I mix them up, and keep a little spreadsheet of all the results, so if I do a 8 minute test I expect to get x, 20 (if I get through it) I will get about x-2, and if I do a ramp, roughly x-20 … so I can still do a ramp test, and as it’s just a guide to what my FTP is, I’m guided by it a little more, I (personally) think it’s a good idea to mix the tests up

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No worries. If it’s any help, I tested every 2 weeks when I started - as I was improving so quickly (180 > 238 watts in 6 weeks). You might find this useful as an alternative to bumping up the difficulty of the workouts.

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