![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Trieye-logo-300x98.jpg\"){kind=logo}
assessment, and oxygen and blood analyses under the guidance of Tim Fleming, an M.S. in Exercise Physiology and owner of Endurance Performance Training Center<\/a>. Last month, Tim introduced me to an even higher level of testing using the INSCYD<\/a> method, a testing protocol that is used by World Tour cycling teams and Olympic sports federations, as well as many professional triathletes, runners, and other endurance athletes.<\/p>\nThere are a number of ways to do an FTP test:<\/p>\n
- \n
- A true one-hour, all-out-effort, which is perhaps the purest form of an FTP test because it actually tests what you are assessing (very rare because it is so painful and physical taxing).<\/li>\n
- 8-minute test.<\/li>\n
- 20-minute test (the most commonly used).
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Firefly-logo-2-300x87.jpg\")
<\/li>\n - Ramp test (increasing power every few minutes until you can\u2019t go any longer).<\/li>\n
- 4DP test (all out effort for 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 20 minutes).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Each of these common FTP test protocols has its advantages and disadvantages, and all can provide a reasonable approximation of your FTP that you can use to establish your training zones. And all can be done at no cost on your indoor trainer.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Jakroo-logo-1-300x80.jpg\")
INSCYD uses a different system that is comprised of three six-minute efforts at increasing levels of wattage (as determined by your blood analysis; mine were 200w, 220w, 240w) with recovery in between (again based on your blood analysis) and concluding with a 2:30-5-minute, keep-going-for-as-long-as-you-can-turn-the pedals effort at some wattage as determined by the data so far in the test (mine was 250w and I lasted 3:29 minutes; I wasn\u2019t dying, just couldn\u2019t turn my pedals any longer).<\/p>\nThe INSCYD methodology involves direct measurement of essential physiological markers, through real-time blood collection:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Aerobic capacity (VO2Max)<\/li>\n
- Lactate production rate (VLamax)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PowerBar-e1619127034379-300x147.png\")
<\/li>\n - Anaerobic threshold (AT)<\/li>\n
- Metabolic efficiency (Fatmax)<\/li>\n
- Carbohydrate absorption rate (Carbmax)<\/li>\n
- Functional Threshold Power (FTP)<\/li>\n
- Body composition data (lean and non-lean body mass).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I Practice What I Preach<\/strong><\/p>\n
Those are the facts, now for the experience of FTP testing. The reality is no one likes FTP testing. Why? Because it\u2019s painful, as you have to push your physical limits for various lengths of time (the ramp test is probably the least painful free test because the \u201churt locker\u201d only opens the last few minutes on the highest steps of the ramp). I found the INSCYD test hard, but not terrifyingly so.<\/p>\n
![\"Poc\"](\"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/POC_types_black-300x138.jpg\")
I never looked forward to FTP testing for two reasons. First, as I just noted, it always hurts\u2026a lot. Second, it provides something of a moment of truth in which my hard-data fitness is revealed and all of my efforts to date are put on the line. In other words, will all of my pain, sweat, and tears have been worth it?<\/p>\nGoing into the INSCYD test, I wasn\u2019t overly optimistic. My first-ever FTP test back in 2020 was 186 watts and, in 2021, I did make some gains up to 196 watts, so a trend positive trend. I\u2019ve always aspired to reach 200 watts because it is a good round number, but I truly didn\u2019t think it was possible. 2022 saw a real decline in my FTP, 176 watts, because I was still recovering from my hit-and-run bike collision<\/a> in September of 2021. I missed more than five months of training recovering from my injuries and wasn\u2019t fully healed when I took the test in March of 2022.<\/p>\n
Second, I\u2019ve never been a power guy on the bike and my wattage definitely wouldn\u2019t strike fear in the hearts of my competitors. I was barely a middle-of-the pack cyclist in triathlons (my strength is my running). My watts per kilogram (w\/kg), a better measure of power because it takes into account body
![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Greg-logo-300x123.jpg\")
weight (all else being equal, a heavier cyclist will be able to put out more watts because, presumably, much of the added weight is muscle), was only 3.1 w\/kg. My coach, Greg, told me that if I wanted to be competitive on the bike, I had to get my w\/kg up to at least 3.5. To be honest, I never thought it would happen. 3.5 w\/kg comes out to 217 which is a substantial increase over my previous FTPs.<\/p>\nWith the numbers already against me to make such a big gain, there was another number that was also not on my side, namely, my age. Though I may be in the best overall shape of my life (I had a different type of fitness during my Ironman years), I\u2019m no longer \u00a0a young man. For many at my age, it\u2019s not about getting fitter and faster, but rather about slowing the decline in fitness and speed as much as possible.<\/p>\n
It sure felt like the odds of meaningful power gains were against me. At the same time, given what I do for a living, I had to \u201cpractice what I preach.\u201d So I did what I tell the athletes I work with to do as I
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bisaddle-logo-4_1440x-300x64.jpg\")
approached my FTP test: be positive, do lots of imagery, focus on the process, make a commitment to giving my best effort, and, in the painful moments of the test, to tell myself, \u201cI choose to push my limits<\/a>.\u201d So that\u2019s what I did. And guess what? My FTP was 230 watts!! I was truly blown away with this result because I far exceeded any hopes or expectations I had before the INSCYD test. 230 watts is a 24% increase over 2022 and a 15% increase over 2021 when I was healthy.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/slf-motion-logo-black-300x93.jpg\"){kind=logo}
Sprint at the beginning of March. In the bike leg (12.4 miles), my \u201cnormalized power\u201d (NP) was 203 watts on a course that had seven 180-degree turns (meaning I had to stop pedaling, slow way down, go to zero watts, and build back up seven times). Greg figured that my real NP was closer to 210 if not higher. As a point of reference, I had never held more than 192 NP in a race before.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.drjimtaylor.com\/4.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Form-logo-300x126.jpg\"){kind=logo}
push myself even harder (within the confines of Greg\u2019s training schedule; I want to overreach, not overtrain!) to continue to build my fitness and speed as I approach the USAT Multisport National Championships, my first \u201cA\u201d series of races of 2023, beginning April 18th<\/sup> in Dallas.<\/p>\n