SPINPower® Personal Spinning Threshold (PST) Test • Mon, Apr 26 at 12:00PM Instructed by Dawn Gamache
One exceptional metric to track on your Spinner® bike is how much power (in watts) you’re putting out in real-time throughout your ride. Why, you may ask? Power gives you a direct, immediate measurement of how much work you’re doing. This means that it also tells you the true amount of calories you’ve burned in a workout. Huge benefits right?! But did you know that to truly train with power there’s an important step you must take? You need to know your Personal Spinning® Threshold (PST).
What is PST?
Personal Spinning® Threshold (PST) is a marker that identifies an individual’s aerobic ceiling. It’s the highest level of exertion you can maintain before entering anaerobic metabolism. If you’re familiar with Functional Threshold Power (FTP), this is a similar concept. PST is the Spinning® program’s version of threshold, and the PST test is designed as a tool that anyone can use on a Spinner® bike. It’s a unique, safe, sub-maximal method that is easy to control and replicate.
What’s the Benefit of a PST Test?
A PST test empowers you to train within individualized zones. It’s not enough to know that you’re putting out 150 watts—you need to know what that number means for you. For some people 150 watts represents a moderate, aerobic effort. For others, it’s the high end of the anaerobic zone. Knowing your PST allows you to train smarter, because you’ll know when you’re riding in aerobic, threshold, or anaerobic zones. PST reflects the point where the exertion begins to produce the highest sustainable effort, challenging your strength, speed and stamina.
How Do You Determine Your PST?
We will determine your PST with a PST ramp test. The objective of the PST Test is to identify the average watts you can sustain in a 2-minute effort with a steady cadence at a Rating of Perceived Effort (RPE) between 7 and 8 on a scale of 1-10. To get there, you conduct a ramp test, starting at a very low workload and progressively increasing effort by adding resistance at ramped stages. Your PST is determined by the last fully completed 2 minute ramp stage. With this number, you will will leave with your unique SPINPower zones to use in any future SPINPower ride!
*Source: www.spinning.com posted on June 9, 2020