The Swedish Active Readiness Test

AKA The "SART"

Nils van der Poel and Johan Röjler

I want to round out this section of the book with one more tool for you to apply with your training.

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The Swedish Active Readiness Test (SART)

The hypothesis behind the test is an athlete’s heart rate response will be reduced when they are tired. Nothing earth shattering with this assertion. We often see heart rate suppression with fatigue.

What’s helpful is a standardized warm-up, so we can assess the degree of fatigue, or freshness, via heart rate response.

This enables better placement of key days as well as fatigue management across a microcycle.

In Nils’ book, he had a standardized warm-up.¹

• 5 min 200W (50% Threshold Session target)

• 6 min 260W (65% Threshold Session target)

• 3x30/30 400W/EZ

• 2 min 400W

The 400w part of the warm-up was only done during what Nils calls his “Specific Season.”

In modifying the SART for my own uses, I needed:

1. Targets I Could Hit Year-Round

2. A Simple Protocol

In consultation with Coach Johan, we settled on:

• 6-Minute Steps

• 150 watts, 165 watts, 180 watts

• Sprint, record best 5-Second Power

When I started tracking my SART, 180w was:

• A low-heart rate effort (115bpm, ~70% of HRmax)

• A moderate lactate effort (2 mmol)

After six-months of training focused on improving my Green Zone fitness, 180w was low effort, heart rate and lactate.

Our hypothesis is the test provides actionable information on the athlete’s readiness status.

• When the athlete is heading towards maladaptation, heart rate response will be suppressed, up to 10 bpm below normal. The athlete may notice a breathless feeling at low outputs. The combination of breathlessness and heart rate suppression is a key fatigue marker.

• At the start of a microcycle, heart rate response will be normal.

• When an athlete is fresh, heart rate response will often be “jumpy.”

The SART is intended to be part of a package of tools used to monitor the athlete.

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Setting Your Targets

What do you need to apply for yourself?

1. A Standard Warm-Up

2. Heart Rate Monitor (Track Average and Max Per Step)

3. Progressive Steps Ending Inside Your Early-Season Green Zone

Whatever targets you set (pace, speed, power), set a final step at a comfortable effort year round. Create a standard warm-up that works both early and late in the competitive season.

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Tips On Application

I had a chance to ask Nils about how he used the warm-up.

His tips:

• Aerobic Season - training with elevated fatigue is relatively safe. Nils knew he would typically bounce back with his back-to-back days off. When he didn’t, extra rest day would get him back on track.²

• Specific Season - the margin for error is small and errors are more costly.

  • When training goes well, expect the same HR response on each “Day One” of the microcycle.

  • With Nils, HR suppressed across the week with the specific training, then would start to trend back upwards.

  • Loading once heart rate trends back up after suppression is high risk.

Coach Johan makes the point that suppression shows more clearly at the lower efforts. Johan calls low-effort suppression the “heart rate hand brake.”

By using the SART, and other metrics, maladaptive fatigue can be detected earlier. If maladaptive fatigue is suspected, the coach-athlete team can consult on the best course of action.

The SART is a useful way to “break the tie” when metrics are indecisive.

• If feeling is good and heart rate metrics are unclear…

• Perform the standard warm-up and see how heart rate responds.

I hope this tool helps you place key sessions where you are most likely to benefit from the work.

Back to Table of Contents

1. If you’re interested in reading the book, with my notes, then you can find it here.

2. The Appendix of Nils’ book is an essential part of understanding Nils’ system. You’ll see he was willing to take extra days off when required.