How to Perform an INSCYD Test

THE TESTING PROTOCOL IS VERY SPECIFIC. TO GET CLEAN DATA AND ACCURATE RESULTS, IT IS CRITICAL TO CAREFULLY REVIEW THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENT PRIOR TO EXECUTING THE TESTING. If you have questions, please ask Ryan Kohler.

RECOVERED STATE

Ensure you are well recovered before undergoing any tests. This testing should not be carried out immediately after a hard block of training. For better reliability, one or two rest days before the test are ideal.

However, if you want to gather fatigue information, it is recommended to carry out one test in a recovered state and one in a fatigued state for comparison.

The four INSCYD tests do not need to happen on the same day. Testing can take place over a period of up to 3 days if necessary. Please contact our Ryan Kohler for guidance on splitting the efforts up.

RIDE SEATED, SAME BIKE, SAME CONDITIONS

All intervals (all 4) must be done SEATED, in the same conditions (indoor, outdoor), same bike, position (drops, tops, extensions), same power meter, and on the same gradient (hill vs. flat) for all four tests.

STEP ONE: PREPARATION

Make sure your power meter is calibrated and your cycling computer is charged and has sufficient memory capacity remaining. Set to record data every second (no smart recording!). Make a zero offset calibration before each test if required, and ensure you record your heart rate (if you have a heart rate monitor).

How to Select Your Power Meter for Your INSCYD Test

Many of us have multiple ways to measure power: indoors with a smart trainer and outdoors with a crank-based, pedal-based, or possibly rear wheel-based power meter. When selecting your method for measurement, consider where will you do the majority of your training. If you are doing your INSCYD test to establish post-season or winter training zones and will be spending most of your time on the indoors, using your smart trainer of choice is a great option. On the other hand, if you are planning to spend most of your time outdoors, it would be better to do this test outdoors with your power meter on your bike.

Finding the Best Terrain for Your INSCYD Test

INSCYD requires a few specifics in order to calculate the most accurate results for you, so it is important to select your terrain carefully. Here are a few considerations when deciding on your outdoor testing location(s):

1. Flat // Consistent Terrain
When determining your terrain, flat terrain can be excellent for the 3m, 10m, and 12m test durations as long as you can remain seated and continue to produce maximal sustainable power without running out of gears on your bike. If you only have flat terrain and find it challenging to complete those efforts with even your biggest gear, wait for a day when you have a headwind as this will provide additional resistance for you to overcome, and help to maintain power more consistently.

2. Undulating Terrain
Undulating terrain can work, if flat or uphill terrain is not available for the duration of your tests. If you find that you’re committed to undulating terrain, ensure you have enough gears and can shift through them appropriately to maintain power on any descents. Obviously, try to find undulating terrain that has as little descending as possible, or has the shortest possible descents. Additionally, if you can ride that undulating terrain into a headwind, it will help provide additional resistance on any small descents so you can more easily maintain your power output.

3. Hills
Hills are great! If you can find hills for all of your efforts, you will naturally have enough resistance to maintain an appropriately high power output consistently. The key here is to be sure that you can remain seated and utilize your gears to maximize power output.

For the 20s effort, if you can get your initial acceleration (first ~8 seconds) on flat or slightly uphill terrain, and then have your remaining 10-12 seconds push you into a slight uphill grade, you will have plenty of resistance to push against. Be sure to test this out before doing your full protocol so you can check on the ideal gearing to use for the test.

For the 3m, 6m, and 12m efforts, hills make it easy to pedal against pretty consistent resistance, settle into your maximal sustainable power, and still shift gears appropriately to maintain effort with any changes in grade that may come along while climbing.

4. Corners // Interruptions
Ideally, your testing location(s) should be free of interruptions so you can avoid having to brake or stop pedaling during the trials. This is a pretty critical piece of the puzzle. If you have trouble finding a location that is uninterrupted, there are a couple options left.
a) look for a smaller loop that allows you to minimize your moments of zero power (while cornering), or
b) it may be easier to switch to your indoor smart trainer for the testing

5. Scouting Terrain
The temptation is to jump right into the test because it’s exciting to look forward to, fun to experience, and the results are very informative. However, if you are completing the test outdoors it would be good to scout your terrain ahead of time. It would be great to head out on a ride that would include your projected location(s). Ride the 20s segment and try some different gears to get a sense for what you will need. You can even do 1 or 2 small sprints (~8-10 seconds) to test out your gearing. Just give yourself a few days of rest // light riding before getting into the actual protocol.

For the 3m, 6m, and 12m test durations, you can ride these easily and just make sure you have enough gears to go harder and the terrain is appropriate to allow you to remain seated the entire time.

STEP TWO: WARM-UP

Make sure you are properly warmed up. At minimum, a 15-minute warm-up is recommended, with one surge (of up to 8 seconds) reaching higher power output but without reaching exhaustion. Allow for a minimum of 8 minutes time between the end of this effort and the first test.

STEP THREE: RECOVERY BETWEEN TESTS

Ensure that you are recovered and fueled before you start your next test by consuming fluids and carbohydrates (especially prior to the 10-12 minute test). Include at least a 15-minute warm-down/recovery after your previous test. Specific recovery times and intensity are listed below.

THE FOUR-TEST PROTOCOL

Test 1: 20-Second SEATED Sprint

Allowed range: 18-24 seconds
Minimum recommended recovery: 12 minutes @ 50% of FTP prior to next interval.

Detailed Instructions
If done outdoors: Find a quiet road with minimal traffic. The road should be flat and straight with no turns or corners. Best is a slight uphill or, even better, a headwind! Prior to the test, coast, and easy spin for 5 minutes. In the final 100 seconds prior to the sprint test, there is NO PEDALING, to ensure proper preparation. Your test will not be accepted by the algorithm if you don’t rest / coast for a minimum of 100 seconds before the actual sprint!

Important: Trial the gear in a few training sessions PRIOR to the testing session, so that you know which gear allows you to accelerate quick enough in a seated (must be seated) sprint. Efforts of only 10s will be sufficient to try the gear and the stretch of road / conditions.

Come to a stop or coast for at least 100 seconds before accelerating as hard as you can to reach maximum power output quickly. The most important thing is to remain seated. Performing the test out of the saddle will lead to incorrect results.

Pacing: This should be all-out. No pacing whatsoever. Think of this one as your “empty the tank” effort where we want to destroy those anaerobic stores. You will go full gas from the start, and continue pushing full gas for the entire duration. Although fatigue will be building in, particularly over the last ~10 seconds, it is critical that you continue pushing maximally to the end. This is one reason why it is helpful to have your 20s effort running you into a slight uphill grade so there is no chance of easing off the gas.

Be aware that you might find it very difficult to sustain this effort after approximately 7 or 8 seconds. It is very important that you keep pushing as hard as you can for the full 20 second duration, also ensure you make no gear shifts and stay seated.

It is recommended you repeat this test a second time if you feel you used the wrong gear or were unable to maintain power for the full 20 seconds.
If you repeat the test, please allow for 15 minutes of recovery prior to repeating the effort.

It is critical that you ride ‘full gas’ while seated for the entire 20 seconds. To ensure an accurate assessment, you need to record a maximal sprint output while seated.

Test 2: 3-Minute Maximal SEATED Effort

Hold the highest wattage consistent for the entire interval
Allowed range 2:30 – 3:15
Minimum recommended recovery: 15 minutes @ 50% of FTP prior to next interval.

Detailed Instructions
Choose a quiet road that is either flat or slightly uphill. It required you are able to maintain consistent power for the duration of the effort. If you have traffic, corners, downhills or other obstacles during the test, it may make the test invalid. Make sure you plan ahead and pick a stretch of road that is long enough.

Pacing: The 3m effort should be a hard start, but even in this one, you should pay attention to your breathing and sensations in the legs. If you aren’t sure how to pace yourself, it would be worth trying an effort like this at 90% of maximum a couple weeks before your test day.

Test 3: 6-Minute Maximal SEATED Effort

Hold the highest wattage consistent for the entire interval.
Allowed range: 4-8 minutes
Minimum recommended recovery: 15 minutes @ 50% of FTP prior to next interval.

Pacing: For the 6m and 12m efforts, these would require slightly more knowledge of your sustainable power, or what that “feels” like. For all of these efforts, think “hard” but “manageable” when you get into each effort. As you get to the halfway point, check in with yourself and see if you can lift the power a bit more. If not, that’s ok; just hold onto your effort and keep pushing to the end. If you have a little more in the tank, lift that power and keep pushing on.

Test 4: 12-Minute Maximal SEATED Effort

Hold the highest wattage consistent for the entire interval
Allowed range: 8-20 minutes

Detailed Instructions
Choose a quiet road that is either flat or slightly uphill. It is required that you are able to maintain consistent power for the duration of the effort. If you have traffic, corners, downhills or other obstacles during the test, it may make the test invalid. Make sure you plan ahead and pick a stretch of road that is long enough.

INSCYD Test Audio Protocol Walkthrough

When you are ready to do your INSCYD test, you are welcome to use the below audio file, which features our Head Coach & Physiologist Ryan Kohler talking you through the test execution. If you decide to use this audio guided test, make sure you download the audio file first or that you are using a reliable internet connection before you begin.

SUBMIT YOUR DATA

Download the data file(s) from your bike computer or smart trainer and and send it to our partner coach, Ryan Kohler of Rocky Mountain Devo.

Please include the following metrics with your submission:
1. Date of birth
2. Weight (kg)
3. Height (cm)
4. Estimated body composition (% body fat)

OVERVIEW/SUMMARY

To summarize, the INSCYD Power-Performance Decoder testing protocol is:

20 Second, Maximal effort, while seated. Try the gears beforehand. Start the interval after a full stop or coasting for 100 seconds. After interval, please spin at 50% of FTP for 12 minutes.
3 minute maximal effort. After effort, please spin at 50% of FTP for 15 minutes before the 6 min. effort.
6 minute effort – maximal effort. After effort, please spin at 50% of FTP for 20 minutes prior to the 12 min. effort.
12 minute maximal effort
Share the file with your coach.