SPARC test results

[mlocke]

I went to the SPARC lab last week as posted by Alan I think to help a guy out with his studies.

Some of the results I was a little disappointed with but the experience itself was very interesting.

I think Sylv has gone into the details of how the test was done on his blog so I won’t repeat it again and will get straight to the results:

Relative VO2max 54.7ml
Absolute VO2max 4.37l/min
This is in the superior range for my age band which starts at 52ml so I am obviously pleased with that

Max aerobic power 350Watts
My weight was almost bang on 13 stone which gives me power to weight ratio of 4.3w/kg

Max HR 196 which meant my HR thresholds that I should be able to maintain a constant effort at would be around 172 -178 (or so the theory goes)

Body fat was 14.25% where elite is 12% or less so some improvements to be made here

FTP for the 5 min effort was 286watts
FTP for 20 min effort was 215watts

Right at the start of the 20 min effort I got cramp in my left calf which meant I didn’t feel able to give it my all for the test so I think these could be improved a bit. The output from the oxygen analysis suggested that this was the case too and indeed for the last 5 mins I did wind things up a bit as I thought I would be able to hold the cramp off.

As I said generally it was a good experience but am disappointed with some of the power results but I am going to look at it form the point of view that next time I have some of these done (which I plan to) they will have improved.

I think my power results put Sylvs into perspective as he is about half my size but still had similar results.

Cheers
Mark

[Toks]

Hi Mark, thanks for sharing the info. In TRAINED riders Functional Threshold Power (Maximum average power output for 60mins) is according to Ric Stern in the region of 72-77% of your MAP (350watts). So that gives 250-270watt. With only 20mins at 215watts (calf pain not withstanding) there's plenty of scope for improvement. In otherwords keep training

[Andrew G]

[quote]Body fat was 14.25%

[mlocke]

[quote]Skinnier than Sylv .

[Andrew G]

No, but we all look fatter than Sylv .

[Sylv]

Cheers for posting your numbers Mark

Good news Andrew I'm stuck with a nasty flu and couldn't eat anything yesterday

[kieran]

Hi Mark,

just looking at your results, I'm not into power but I looked at your heart rate info:

[quote]Max HR 196 which meant my HR thresholds that I should be able to maintain a constant effort at would be around 172 -178 (or so the theory goes)

[mlocke]

Cheers Kieran

When I did my 20 min test those were the sort of heart rates that I was asked to maintain and from what I remember i did. I dont remember it falling below 180 for the whole session I think.

Mark

[kieran]

hi mark, I suppose the difference might be that when doing a 2x20 you know you have to repeat the effort in a few minutes time all over again

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="kieran"]hi mark, I suppose the difference might be that when doing a 2x20 you know you have to repeat the effort in a few minutes time all over again

[kieran]

I have to say now that I have a big 'air circulator' (fan) on when turboing my heart rate tends to drift upwards much less than before so after a few minutes initially climbing it tends to stay put for the rest of the session.

[Rob C]

My numbers:

Body Fat % 15.85
VO2 Max: 4.65l/min
Max aerobic power 425 or 5.4w/kg
Power @ Threshold 350 or 4.4 w/kg
HR Max 195
HR Threshold 179-184
FTP 288 = 303w avg for 20mins -5%

Lloyd (the tester) was saying that you can train your HR threshold. The closer it is to your maximum HR the better. In other words Kieran, you need to try harder

At least according to Lloyd...

Anyway, I really enjoyed that, it was hard but Good. Having spent a lot of time on the turbo recently I didn't feel to out of place with the setup and enjoyed the process. Lloyd was very helpful and answered all my stupid questions. I was a bit surprised to find out that I'm a fatty but pleased that I can knock a few kilos of safely.

Saying that I think avoiding beer and hearty dinners may well prove much tougher then any test.

[img]http://i27.tinypic.com/2mxpw10.jpg[/img]

[Sylv]

we're all fatsos

actually i read since that you shouldn't exercise before the caliper test, as it can increase the figures. saying that i only rode slowly for 50 minutes and had about an hour's rest before being measured.

i realise now that my low HRT (164-170) was surely a sign of being fatigued, i'm sure i can get it to 185

good work Rob

[Rob C]

Cool, my "I won't try for the second test" came to nothing. I'd like to see the HR file for it but pretty much throughout the second half of the second test it didn't drop below 181. It was increasing toward the and I ended up spinning the HR monitor around so I didn't have to look at it for the last few minutes. I still can't get over how much I enjoyed it, my training schedule for this week complimented it pretty well and I felt good for it...

[Marky Mark]

Nice advert for SRM there. Top crank. I think it's a monopoly on world domination