A power profile test is conducted at the start of a training programme (or for those of you without a power meter its done at the point you switch to training with one). It is used to establish what kind of a rider you are, where your strengths and weaknesses are and to set the parameters within which you will establish your power based training zones.

What you're trying to do is measure your peak wattage over various measurements of time. This does not mean the highest number of watts you can reach during the interval, rather the highest average watts you can sustain for the duration.

When you have all the information you put it into a power profile chart and a pattern emerges which describes accurately your strengths and weaknesses.

The test is simple but quite hard both physically and mentally and needs to be completed 3 times to record the best score which is the figure you input into the profile. This means you need to be well rested before each test, even treating it as you would a race, with the same level of preparation. Although the best way to test your true FTP (Functional Threshold Power) is to ride for an hour at TT pace this is too hard in the context of this test so It is suggested that you try that as a stand alone session later on.

In each of the test intervals, you want to set the highest possible average watts for the length of the interval, so don't blow up too early and don't finish with plenty left in the tank

The warm up:
10 mins @ 60% max heart rate
10 mins @ 70% max heart rate
5mins @ 80% max heart rate
5 mins easy spinning
5 x 30 second absolute max sprints with 1 minute rest between each.

The test intervals:
6 minutes average power test
6 minutes recovery
12 seconds average power test
6 minutes recovery
1minute average power test
6 minutes recovery
12 minutes average power test
6 minutes recovery
30 minute av power test

When you download the data, isolate the average heart rate during the last 20 minutes of the 30 minute test as this will give you a very useful indicator of your Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR), very useful for later on.

So do the above test 3 times, download the files and run them through the software to create the power profile, or better still give them to your coach and let him do it. From there you'll be able to set all sorts of highly specific training sessions to improve.