• No warm-up
• 6 minutes per step,
• Increase by 30 Watts each step
• Take just enough break in between the steps to take lactate (roughly 30 – 60 seconds)
• Start with less Watts than you think you can easily hold for 60 minutes. 
  Example: typical Watts for 30 – 60 min low steady state session: 200W, start with 150W. 
• Do not go by “average “Watts” but aim to hit your target Watts as consistently is possible. (Disregard average Watts completely)
• Do not increase Watts or stroke rate before the end of a step
• Do not go by average heart rate but look at your heart rate monitor throughout the 6 minutes and chart down the estimated consistent heart rate which you had for the last 2 – 3 minutes of the respective steps
• Stop the test once you hit 7mml of lactate or more

It is normal if the lactate levels drop from the first to the second step, sometimes ever to the third and fourth step. Lactate levels will go up later throughout the test protocol. 

Recommended training session three days before the test: 

day -3: 10 U + 10 M + 10 @ O + 10 Reg + 10 @ 4 + 10 Reg

day -2: 30 U + 30 M + 30 Reg

day – 1: 5 U + 5 M + 10 @ O + 10 Reg + 10 M + 10 Reg

day 0: lactate step test

Avoid extensive activity the day of the test. If possible, do not ride your bike (hard) to the test. If you have to ride your bike, go very slowly. 

Nutrition: do not eat excessive loads of carbs on the day of the test, do not drink lots of milk or eat lots of diary products 24hours before the test. 

General advice for taking blood samples: 

• take blood from the ear lobe. If taking drops of blood from your finger, lactate read out seems to be elevated by 0,3 – 0,5 mmol
• There is no need to sting for every sample. Wipe off the crust, massage one drop of blood out, wipe if off, be meticulous about sweat contamination, and use the second drop of blood for the measurement. 
• General hygiene basics apply as with any similar procedure.