A story that was posted with the Wiggins pic on a blog: http://velorunner.blogspot.com/2009/11/power-to-weight-ratio.html "An exhausted and skeletal looking Bradley Wiggins at the finish of Paris - Roubaix 2009 Browsing through the cycling magazines a few days back I came across this rather shocking image of Bradley Wiggins at the finish of the 2009 Paris - Roubaix. What shocks me most is how thin his legs look. He looks skeletal and anorexic. The story of how Wiggins shed 6kg and focused on the road to become only the second Brit to finish fourth (the first being Robert Millar back in 1984) in the Tour de France has been told on many occasions and I won't repeat it here. But looking at the above image the idea of power-to-weight ratio popped into my mind and that is what got me thinking about him. It's amazing to think he could loose so much weight (almost to the point where if his body fat had dipped below 4% his body would have started eating into his muscle) without loosing any of his power. What is power-to-weight ratio and how does it work? A reduction in body weight has a substantial effect on your ability to ride or run up a hill. Gravity is the culprit. Gravity is the force that pulls you back down to earth when you jump. Without it you?d fly off into outer space. Gravity is also at work as you ascend a hill, and the more you weigh, the greater the gravitational force is pulling you downward. In order to counteract the force of gravity, you need to generate enough of an opposing force to propel the weight you?re carrying up and over a hill. The fact is, a lighter-weight cyclist or triathlete zipping past you on the hill is not only overtaking you, he or she is probably having to generate less power in the process. The bottom line is that your faster competitor doesn?t need to generate as much power as you because he or she has less weight, and therefore less gravitational force with which to contend. - Christoper D. Jensen, PhD, MPH, RD I'm no doctor so I thought I'd leave it to Dr Jensen who convinced me by the sheer number of letters after his name that he was the right man to explain power-to-weight ratio. In all seriousness though I think you'd agree he articulates the idea very well. All of us have different power-to-weight ratio's meaning some will start loosing power as their weight drops sooner than others. Wiggins like many pro cyclists has a physiology that allows his weight to drop to as low as seems humanly possible without him loosing any power. Whereas I, for example, would most probably be layed up in a hospital bed if I reached anywhere near Wiggins body fat levels. Alas I fear I shall never realise the apex of my own power-to-weight ratio due to my love of chocolate and the occasional pint or three of beer. For those who do aspire to weight loss goals I point you back to Dr Jensen's excellent article. Now, time for a sausage sandwich! POSTED BY JASON AT 21.11.09 LABELS: BRADLEY WIGGINS, POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO"
