hi there, i just got a trainerroad account. i’m having a few rest days right now, but i can start working out still this week. i’m about to do ssb1 low volume. my question is: i have the option of doing the ramp test and the first workout (mount field) on the same day or consecutive days, followed by another day of functional training/weights. do you believe it’s better to do the ramp test, a bit of active recovery and then mount field. leave a day of recovery and then my weights? mount field also doesn’t look like too demanding of a workout…
I do not recommend planning an actual “work” workout after the Ramp Test. If done to true exhaustion, you should be too smoked to do Mount Field (a top end Tempo workout).
For reference, here are some of the recommended workouts to do following the Ramp. These are nearly all easier, and shorter aerobic workouts.
I used to add them, and may still add Carter on occasion. But as I have improved my ability to burn myself entirely into the Ramp, I have far less to ride after.
You may be able to do Mount Field the day after, especially if you keep any Ramp follow-up easy and short. Overall (and with respect to your strength training) make sure to give yourself adequate rest and recovery following any hard days (which can include the Ramp Test).
If you do the ramp test correctly, you will have nothing left in the tank afterwards. If you do have something left, you didn’t do it correctly. If you’ve ever run a 5k race, the end of the ramp test feels pretty much like the last km of a 5k. I’m a slow HR ramp-up guy, particularly in the morning, but I do a 20 min warmup and then the test, and I hit my max HR at the end. And I get the “are you ok?” from my wife afterwards.
I used to do Carson -4 the same day after a ramp test. I just looked back and my last 3 I didn’t do anything the same day, I was pretty much toast after each of them. The notes on the ramp test where I didn’t bury myself generally say I felt like I left a little in the tank.
I too would suggest to follow the plan and ramp on one day (optionally followed by some aerobic endurance ride), skip a day and do Mount Field as prescribed the day after. It’s generally suggested that you work in weights on the same day as a workout so that your recovery days are true recovery days.
obviously that’s the ideal. this week it wasn’t possible to do that, hence my question. if i underassessed i guess it’ll become obvious sooner or later and i’ll have to redo that or change my numbers. it certainly didn’t feel like i did underassessed though.
I think the first time, you are not quite ready mentally for what’s to come so you don’t perform as well; the following times, you pace yourself better (although with an erg trainer the’re only so much “pacing” you can do), and you can push harder.
This hasn’t been my experience - I think it very much depends on what factors limit your ability to push further in a ramp test. It’s clearly not going to be glycogen depletion that stops you, so you’re presumably either going to get to a point where your muscles are flooded with lactate and you just can’t push any more, and / or you overload your lungs and you just can’t keep getting enough oxygen in. Possibly(!) a simplification there, but whilst I certainly can’t push any further on, and do collapse in a heap gasping for breath with burning legs, I am not actually exhausted in the sense that I’ve used up my resources, and I haven’t injured my muscles to the extent that they need days of recovery before doing any more work. I actually managed to complete Ebbetts after my last ramp test, though it was a bit of a struggle with an FTP increase. I’ll be doing another ramp test tomorrow, and will play it by ear, but I think Mount Field is likely very viable - it’s a pretty gentle one.
I’m adding this post directly, in case anyone missed it or didn’t read the link I shared above.
This is from THE Coach Chad, and someone who knows about this on a deeper level than most of us (myself included).
Edit to add: The typical context for a Ramp Test Follow-up workout is that it would happen shortly after completing the Ramp. Spin out the warm-down on the Ramp and possibly take 5-10 mins additional spinning (via extension) or off bike entirely. Then hop back on for a short-ish ride.
The reason for this was an attempt to match the basic TSS demand of the other FTP tests in effort to keep the weekly TSS in line with other weeks.
The main context above leans more towards a two-a-day style with the large time gap between them. As such there is more of a chance of doing a more demanding workout, assuming proper recovery and refueling after the Ramp.