RAMP

The Ramp is a procedure developed by Joe Beer, a triathlon coach from Bath, England. It can play a significant role in all aspects of your training if done frequently. I've found that conducting the Ramp once or twice weekly throughout the season keeps the athlete in control of their training progress by eliminating guesswork as to current fitness and fatigue levels.

Watching for overtraining, although important, can be quite difficult for the serious athlete. While subjective measures of overtraining are seldom trusted by athletes as valid indicators, the heart never lies. Using it with the CompuTrainer is an accurate and reliable way of determining overtraining. The most valid indicator of "staleness" is performance - if performance declines despite adequate and consistent training, overtraining is imminent.

Purpose: The purposes of the Ramp are to quickly check aerobic progress, determine if extreme fatigue or overtraining is happening, measure recuperation from overtraining, and to warm up before intense workouts.

CompuTrainer set-up:

1. Calibrate.
2. Disconnect the stereo jack from the handlebar control unit so that you use the Stand Alone Mode only during the Ramp.
3. Connect the heart rate monitor jack to the handlebar control unit.

1. Determine wattage resistance levels to be used in the four stages of the test. Most athletes find that stages of 50, 100, 150, and 200 watts are about right. You may need to experiment to find personal power settings that will keep you at least 10 beats per minute below your anaerobic threshold pulse at the highest stage.
2. Select a gear similar to what you warm up in. Stay in this gear throughout the test.
3. Maintain a speed of 16mph in the stage 1 wattage setting for three minutes. Without stopping, record your stage 1 heart rate at three minutes and increase the wattage resistance to the second stage. Repeat the procedure through all four stages. Then stop pedaling for one minute to measure your recovery pulse. At the end of the recovery minute, record your pulse. The test is complete.
4. You will now have five heart rates recorded. Add them to find your current Ramp Total. The data will look like this:

   Stage	Watts	Heart Rate
   1	50	91
   2	100	102
   3	150	124
   4	200	138
   5	(Recovery)	88
   Ramp-	Total=	543

5. Record your Ramp Total for comparison with future tests.

Links for Workout Manual:
Isolated Leg Training
Warm Up and Cool Down
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