When a new performance test really tells you something
A retest makes sense when its result supports a specific training decision. There is no interval that suits everyone and no universal minimum difference in watts1.
Create comparable conditions
Document protocol, device, stage duration, load increments and analysis model. Prior exercise and test conditions also belong to this when you compare. A change of model or protocol can create differences4.
Take measurement uncertainty into account
How large a reliable change has to be depends on the measurement method, the protocol and individual variability2. Other measures can help with interpretation. A lower lactate curve or heart rate does not on its own prove training progress3.
Choose the timing individually
A completed training block can be a reason for a check. So can planned zones that persistently do not match perceived exertion. Before a test after injury or illness, the person’s capacity for exercise must be appropriately assessed. A retest is neither automatically necessary nor a clearance to return to sport.
Keep the raw values
If the stage values are kept, the models can be recalculated. This makes differences easier to trace. But it does not retrospectively compensate for different test conditions.
Sources
- 1
Heuberger JAAC, Gal P, Stuurman FE, de Muinck Keizer WAS, Mejia Miranda Y, Cohen AF. Repeatability and predictive value of lactate threshold concepts in endurance sports. PLoS One. 2018;13(11):e0206846.
Original researchDOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0206846PubMed 30427900
- 2
Hopkins WG. Measures of reliability in sports medicine and science. Sports Medicine. 2000;30(1):1–15.
- 3
Maassen N, Busse MW. The relationship between lactic acid and work load: a measure for endurance capacity or an indicator of carbohydrate deficiency? European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. 1989;58(7):728–737.
Original researchDOI 10.1007/BF00637384PubMed 2737193
- 4
Bentley DJ, Newell J, Bishop D. Incremental exercise test design and analysis: implications for performance diagnostics in endurance athletes. Sports Medicine. 2007;37(7):575–586.
Specialist information. No medical advice and no substitute for individual assessment by qualified professionals.
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