[Closed] When do you stop a ramp tests

I do it until I fail. Which is kind of the point? And having done a lot of FTP tests over the years, ramp tests are horrible but they don’t compare to a full blown hour test or Sufferfest 4DP.
I don’t think I’ve ever come off a ramp test feeling like I was going to hurl, it always feel incredibly difficult but not in the same way as other longer tests.

Notice many people say they can’t hit their Max HR when doing ramp tests. I stop when i hit it as a safety precaution but always feel there is a little more left in the tank.

Then you clearly haven't reached your max hr. You can't calculate your max hr, you can only find it by reaching it. If you feel like you still have more left then push on.

That’s what I always thought and used to. As I pass the age of the average pro sports person I wonder how safe it is to push at that level on a regular basis.

When I say Max HR I’m talking about the old subtract your age from 220 you get told on gym inductions rather than anything scientific.

Lol I destroy the 220-age 5 days a week. I average more than that figure in a Zwift race

When I say Max HR I’m talking about the old subtract your age from 220 you get told on gym inductions rather than anything scientific.

My max hr is 30bpm higher than that.

What is the point of halting a test when you hit a number that is essentially picked out of thin air?

A ramp Test is a test which terminates at failure to complete the last ramp.

Assuming it is power based your heart rate shouldn't be a factor.

OP, if you're genuinely worried (I assume you don't have a cardiac history) try doing just ONE extra ramp after you hit max & see what happens. Get someone to watch you suffer & they can help if something exciting happens (though it's hugely unlikely)

My max HR in last couple of years has been 172 which is 7 over the "calculation". I bet I could get a bit higher but I'm a man who doesn't like to suffer (I don't do ramp tests)

When you physically can't keep up no matter how hard you're trying.

If you haven't thrown up or feel very unwell, you're holding back...

I used to taste blood / vomit in most XC races at some point.

When I say Max HR I’m talking about the old subtract your age from 220 you get told on gym inductions rather than anything scientific.

Haha, thanks for the advice all, sounds solid.

Always done done Watt Bike power based training before, in gym class with trainer, not even looking at HR.

Prob overthinking now at home on the smart trainer. Using HR alongside power for the first time.

I put a bit of black electrical tape over the HR on the screen so it doesn’t influence my result. It can get in your head if you are looking at a particular heart rate so prefer to avoid that and keep going until something fails (hopefully legs or lungs)

The idea of the ramp test is that you keep pedalling, until you can't, you just can't. By the time I get to that point it's like the Alien is trying to burst out of my chest and I'm struggling to focus and it's a couple of minutes before text that fills 20% of an iPad screen is legible! Your max HR has little if anything to do with it.

If you have power data, work to that, your HR will be what it will be, there's no "generic formula" to work it out. Also individual workouts and your recovery rate will affect your HR, when doing VO2max workouts for example I need at least the length of the interval as recovery, i.e. 50% on, 50% off, if the recovery time is less than that I'll eventually blow up.

My max HR is something like 206, and I'm a *long* way from 14

I'd stop as soon as the idea entered my mind!

When I can no longer turn the pedals, or I'm turning them so slowly that the power output is nowhere near the required power for that given 1min interval.

But having said that, I rarely use ramp tests to estimate my FTP, 75% of my best minute is usually more than 95% of a 20min effort. I usually use short Zwift TTs at Tempus Fugit.

I like the idea of covering over heart rate when trying. I’m sure I unconsciously give up at what I perceive to be ‘enough’.

I know from checking my stats at particularly lung-busting tough points on hard rides outdoors that I can reach a 188bpm heart rate when cycling. I can’t get close to this on the turbo though, no matter what I do.

I’m sure one of the attributes of proper athletes is being able to reach that point by will power whenever required without the brain making an executive decision first 🤔

I do the TR ramp test blind. Once the warmup is over I switch off the screen with the test and just keep going. I usually go through a couple of 'I must stop' moments before I actually stop so it's really not pretty when it actually happens. Usually feel physically ok by the end of the warm down but mentally a bit burnt.

Years since I’ve done one but the ‘max’ I could hit on a trainer was nearer my average in a 45min crit.

I don’t find ramp tests so bad. I go until my legs fail to turn the pedals while seated.

I don’t hit max hr

It’s a short effort and for me failure happens quite quickly - one minute I’m ok couple later and I’m done

Doing 6 12 min threshold efforts with 4 mins rest - that’s harder and gets pulse rate up