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8 ways to track your cycling fitness
Looking to improve your bike performance? These fitness monitoring methods from cycling coach Alan Milway will ensure that your gains stay on the right track.
Fitness testing was once reserved for professional athletes, conducted in laboratories using expensive and specialist equipment. While it allowed for in-depth assessment and monitoring, it wasn’t widely accessible, practical or economical for most amateur cyclists.
Times have changed a lot though, and there are now many more ways to monitor progress and track performance without requiring the financial backing of a professional team. But is pouring over data and stats after every ride necessary for anyone but the elite?
If you’re training to improve performance, then the answer is yes – you want to ensure that you are improving after all. You don't have to wait for the results on race day, either. It's possible to use varying techniques throughout your training rides to ensure that the area you are focusing on bettering is actually improving. This will keep you informed, motivated and driven to keep putting the work in, or adjust, research and consult on why things aren’t working out the way you want them to.
Not sure where to start? Here are eight easy ways to track your cycling fitness.
1. Using a stopwatch on a local hill
Don't have all the fancy tech? A stopwatch is all you need for this tracker
© Sven Martin
Having specific testing roads or trails is very useful – this might be an uphill road where you have set a previous maximum effort which you can return to at the end of a training block to assess progress. While you don’t want to time every ride up them, you can use them as your benchmark testing tracks. Seeing time drop on your local climbs is hugely motivating and encouraging.
This also works for coming down them. Mountain bike riders can benefit from a track with varying terrain to time and re-assess as the year progresses. These benchmarks will drive training.
2. Tracking heart rate data and noting changes
Although an investment, a heart rate monitor is ideal for measuring gains
© Wahoo
Maximum testing efforts aren’t fun. By their very nature they push you to your limit and are mentally draining so shouldn’t be repeated regularly. But don’t forget that sub-maximal efforts can also give a very good insight.
When it comes to heart rate response, for a given effort or pacing, an increase in fitness will result in a decrease in average heart rate. If you have a climb that you can ride at a consistent average speed, and also log the average heart rate for that climb, returning and repeating that same steady effort with improved fitness will show a lowering of heart rate (assuming all other variables are the same). This allows more insight without ‘to the limit’ tests.
3. Track resting heart rates
Monitoring your heart rate shouldn't be limited to on-bike activities. Measuring your resting pulse is a very good habit to get in to and can be done with a cheap pulse oximeter that sits on the finger or with a heart-rate monitor.
First thing in the morning while you're still relaxed, take a measurement and note your resting heart rate. Improvements in aerobic fitness will generally lead to a decrease in resting heart rate.
Heart rates are also a good indicator of your body not being 100 percent, as fatigue or the onset of illness can see an increase in resting heart rate. Noting changes will help you understand your body better and adapt training or rest to suit.
4. Have a ride of KOMs
Have you got a KOM in your sights?
© Long Nguyen/Red Bull Content Pool
Cycling apps such as Strava are very useful to track progress, but can often goad you into turning every ride into a full race effort to gain status on the app. However, if you train and prepare for a specific ride when you know you have made improvements and are willing to try for a KOM (king of the mountain) on a specific track or segment, you can use this as a great tool. It will drive motivation, monitor changes and allow you to compare to previous results.
Do be aware that some small changes can be hidden as the accuracy isn’t always there. From personal experience, I have led a friend down a trail and, although he was behind me, his time was many second faster than mine, so do take times with a pinch of salt!
5. Use rate of perceived exertion to show how things feel
All smiles at the end would suggest that you're feeling stronger
© Leo Francis/Red Bull Content Pool
It’s important not to be solely focused on the numbers, but to factor in how things ‘feel’ too. After all, there is a good link between your rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and threshold effort levels – when effort perceived reduces for the same effort, it shows that fitness is improving. It will often indicate mood, fatigue and training status.
When combined with other forms of feedback, RPE can be used to determine progress and also readiness for a race or test. It's also a useful motivator; 'I felt great up that climb today!’ is more motivating than anything else and doesn’t require any technology or further feedback.
6. Testing on a turbo trainer
Indoor training is a great way to maintain your fitness over winter
© Dave Mackison
Technology has improved hugely in this area over recent years, with turbo trainers and stationary bikes now offering feedback and testing that would have previously needed performance laboratory access. There are many different tests that can be set to test different fitness components, so you could test your functional threshold power (FTP), max power, or repeated sprint performance and compare to previous results.
The key things to remember when testing and retesting are that you should be rested and ready to test before each effort, and that what you are testing is relevant to the training you’ve been doing. If you have been training with medium-to-long duration interval sessions, don’t expect max peak power to have increased.
7. Compare to your friends
Comparing yourself against friends is a good yard stick
© Long Nguyen/Red Bull Content Pool
For many of us, riding with (and beating) our friends is the biggest motivation and pleasure when out on two wheels. Noting progress and changes is also most clear when riding with a group and seeing how you have progressed or improved within it.
Feedback is often most encouraging from those that you care about, and as such will motivate you more to continue the effort. Skills development is something that is often overlooked but is also something you can make huge increases in that are immediately noticeable to your friends.
8. Gym fitness testing
Your strength training can be a guide to your overall progress
© Hadi Sarieddine/Red Bull Content Pool
The obvious strength test is that of the weight on the bar – can you lift more now? But testing doesn’t have to be maximum weight on the bar every time. It could be the maximum number of reps you can do to show strength endurance progress – this could be 50 percent of your one rep max squat, which will give a very different challenge to just a max lift.
Gym training should also influence power, and as such the rate at which you can impart a force. Jump height is an easy way to test this, whether it be on a jump mat, marking height on a wall, or trying to jump on to a high box. Having a clear way to mark improvements outside of just weight on the bar is useful and rewarding.
