Adactiv Diagnostics builds a physiological profile from a single ride. For that profile to be reliable, the test data has to be clean. What matters isn't only a high power output, but a standardised, steady and maximal effort.
So treat the test like a race: arrive rested, prepare your equipment and fueling, and take pacing seriously. Your last larger meal should ideally be 3–4 hours beforehand. Whenever possible, always use the same power meter and calibrate it before the warm-up.
A steady climb you can ride without interruptions is ideal. The more constant the conditions, the more meaningful the results.
The Quick Test
The Quick Test consists of a single maximal effort lasting 3 to 6 minutes, ideally around 5 minutes. It is the simplest way to get to a usable assessment quickly.
After 15–20 minutes of warm-up with two short openers, you start the test. If you roughly know your FTP, you can use about 130–140 percent of FTP as a guide for a 5-minute effort. This helps you start the test neither too defensively nor too aggressively.
What matters is a steady maximal effort. The test doesn't have to last exactly 5 minutes. A little shorter or a little longer is no problem, as long as the effort is cleanly paced and ridden truly all-out.
Pacing
Start in a controlled way and find your highest sustainable rhythm within the first minute. The last 60–90 seconds should be very hard. If you can still clearly accelerate at the end, your start was usually too cautious. If you collapse badly early on, you went out too fast.
Fueling and preparation
- last larger meal 3–4 hours beforehand
- optionally 30–50 g of carbohydrates in the warm-up
- caffeine 30–60 minutes beforehand, if you tolerate it well
- same power meter, same calibration, conditions as similar as possible
The Comprehensive Test
The Comprehensive Test combines two maximal efforts and thereby delivers a more robust determination of CP and W'.
The protocol is simple:
- Warm-up
- 5-minute test
- 20–30 minutes of very easy spinning
- 20-minute test
The first effort: 5 minutes
After the warm-up, you first ride a maximal 5-minute effort. If you roughly know your FTP, here too you can use about 130–140 percent of FTP as a guide for an effort of around 5 minutes.
Here too the same applies: the test doesn't have to last exactly 5 minutes to the second. What matters is that it is ridden steadily and all-out.
Recovery between the efforts
Afterwards you spin very easily for 20–30 minutes. This phase serves to let you complete the second effort cleanly. Spin truly easy, drink something and prepare yourself mentally for the next test.
The second effort: 20 minutes
Then comes a maximal 20-minute effort. If you know your FTP, a rough starting range of 102–108 percent of FTP can help. Here too, more important than the exact duration is that the effort is ridden steadily and maximally.
Both tests should ideally take place on a steady climb. The decisive thing is that you don't ride tactically to save energy for the second effort. Both efforts must be true maximal performances.
Consistency beats perfection
For comparable results, it isn't the perfect single test that is decisive, but a procedure that is as identical as possible. The more standardised you test, the better changes over time can be assessed.
Pay attention as much as possible to:
- similar time of day
- similar diet and caffeine intake
- the same power meter
- similar terrain
- similar freshness
Different conditions often change performance more than you'd think. Anyone who wants to compare cleanly therefore has to test not only hard, but also consistently.
Indoor or outdoor?
Indoor tests are very precise, because external influences such as wind, traffic or the course profile fall away. At the same time, for many athletes power output indoors is somewhat lower than outdoors.
So the rule is: anyone who mostly trains and races outdoors should rather test outdoors. Anyone used to indoor efforts, who rides Zwift regularly or competes in indoor races, can test indoors very well.
If you want to be on the safe side, you do one test indoors and one outdoors. That way you get condition-specific zones and at the same time a better feel for how you should manage your intensity depending on the environment.
Retest cadence
For most athletes, a retest every 6–8 weeks is enough. More frequent tests often produce more fluctuation than insight; longer intervals can hide relevant developments.
The Comprehensive Test is especially well suited for cleanly comparing progress across several months.