FTP Guided Test too hard, FTP not detected

Definitely don’t do it after a day at work. Your head will not be in it and desire to give up way too high. Rest day on a Friday. Get up an hour early on a Saturday with nothing else on. Decent breakfast. Wait 90min. Do test. Shower. Done

Thanks, but you missed the point of my question. This failure had nothing to do with my head. The test procedure seems to have changed from the last time I used it. I was asking if anyone knows what's going on there?

I never used FTP guided tests with my Garmin devices, but to me this protocol made no sense at all. Let’s assume that your properly measured FTP would be still 220 watt. Being able to ride in the range of 210-230 watt  for 60 minutes or so can be quite different from that to ride above 260 watts or so for 10, or even just for 5 minutes. You use your body differently. 

And generally saying, even if one does not want to make a real FTP test lasting for 60 minutes, the protocol should be much flatter in terms of power values.

This sort of step up (ramp up) tests may be good for LTHR and VO2max, but definitely not to measure something which definition is about “one can ride at X for an hour or so”, even if X is an average and not fully flat (constant) for 60 minutes.

nradov said:

Yes, I am aware that I can use other FTP test protocols besides the one built into my watch. I would like to be able to use this one for consistent results.

I do propose you forgetting this test or other similar built-in tests heavily ramping up, and if you can, just use a climb being long enough to ride on it for at least 20-30 minutes, preferably for 50-60 minutes. If you cannot then try to use the built-in test which first helps you to find your sweet spot (real range) then makes you ride in that range at least for 20 minutes.

And yes, I am sorry, but I do not know what exactly changed in the protocol, but if the old protocol was still about stepping up and up then my words are maintained.

Maybe the inventor of this test protocol you cited should have been thinking for a while about the different anaerobic capacity of the individuals.

I did a test end of February on my Descent Mk2i (so after I got the 24.00 update). For me it went the opposite way. I had done an FTP test a year earlier where it detected 270W as FTP. In that it was 265W for 4 min, then 295 for 4 min and 320 for 4 min. Felt like I was almost dying at the end and cadence kept dropping. I'm a stronger cyclist in general now, so was interested to see what I would get. Test went 245W for 4 min, 270W for 4 min, 300W for 4 min. I felt pretty fresh during the 300W and ready for more, cadence was pretty stable, but then it just stopped and gave me an FTP of 265W.

In retrospect I realize that I shouldn't have tried squeezing it in during lunch. I ate during the warm up phase and then my heart rate was all over the place during the ramp test. On the previous test there was a nice slow steady increase of heart rate during the ramp up, which is likely something that the algorithm wants for its analysis. 

So my guess is that the test hasn't changed, but it's likely very sensitive to how your heart rate behaves when you do the test. 

The heart rate chart shows a fairly steady increase during the ramp up phase through the end of the 265W step. At that point I hit 188bpm which is close to my max for cycling, but then the test kept going to a 285W step and I couldn't keep up. 

The previous test shows a similar steady increase in heart rate during the ramp up phase through the end of the 265W step. At that point I hit 179bpm and the test automatically stopped. I was in a little better shape for cycling then (have been running more than cycling lately).

What I'm trying to understand is why this latest test kept going even though my heart rate was so high? It seems like the test has changed.

In my case the heart rate was just barely touching the low end of my configured zone 5 when the test stopped, lower than it was in the previous test. So it doesn't automatically push harder now than it did before.

I don't have any deeper insights. It's probably detecting something with the heart rate increase or HRV when it's trying to decide how fresh you are. Maybe it thinks your running fitness better translates to cycling? The performance condition is improving during your test, so the watch seems to think you're doing better and better? On your previous test the performance condition slowly declines during the test. I've found that specific metric to be fairly dodgy on my rides..

nradov said:

At that point I hit 179bpm and the test automatically stopped.

The FTP test is influenced by the Max HR Value because the watch is looking for certain changes in HR/Output relationship at a specific point between LTHR and Max HR.

If your LTHR was 179, your Max HR would be about 199bpm because the watch is looking for these changes around 90% of Max HR.

nradov said:

What I'm trying to understand is why this latest test kept going even though my heart rate was so high? It seems like the test has changed.

Any chance your chest strap is getting old? Are you getting HRV readings for the health snapshot with it? Are the respiration graphs showing good data?

My watch shows Max HR = 192 bpm, LTHR = 174 bpm, Cycling Max HR = 186 bpm, Cycling LTHR = 164 bpm. I have the Physiological Metrics Auto Detection settings all set to On. By the end of the 265W step my heart rate hit 189 bpm, which was above my detected Cycling Max HR and almost at my overall Max HR.

I used a relatively new Garmin HRM-Pro+ chest strap with a good battery. The respiration rate chart looks accurate.

nradov said:

My watch shows Max HR = 192 bpm, LTHR = 174 bpm, Cycling Max HR = 186 bpm, Cycling LTHR = 164 bpm

Your ratios are very close to 90%, so they look good.

Just to make sure the strap is OK, can you complete an HRV stress test (not a healthsnapshot) with the strap?

I completed an HRV Stress test with the same strap and it worked fine.