Training with a power meter: the ins and outs

[cadenceblur]

I might be mistaken but as one gets fitter, surely your body will react differently to training stimuli. Therefore making it harder or it will take longer to hit a certain zone? This would be problematic when doing an interval.

[Pure Savage]

Thank you Dr., but that session is still completely HR based. Are there any power related goals that a cyclist should be able to obtain within those intervals to be competitive?

 

Example: A world tour sprinter should be able to develop 1200 watts for 10 seconds, a climber should be able to generate 350 watts for 20 minutes.

 

Power unlike HR does not have a threshold, which can be used to compare different athletes and their forms and fitness.

 

The problem with power is that it depends on weight, very well being able to push 400w for an hour if you are 140kg.

[carrera4s]

Thank you Dr., but that session is still completely HR based. Are there any power related goals that a cyclist should be able to obtain within those intervals to be competitive?

 

Example: A world tour sprinter should be able to develop 1200 watts for 10 seconds, a climber should be able to generate 350 watts for 20 minutes.

 

Power unlike HR does not have a threshold, which can be used to compare different athletes and their forms and fitness.

 

See Coggan & Allen's Power chart and this good article:

 

http://cyclingtips.com/2009/07/just-how-good-are-these-guys/

 

As mentioned, the chart is based on Watts / kg.

[Pure Savage]

See Coggan & Allen's Power chart and this good article:

 

http://cyclingtips.com/2009/07/just-how-good-are-these-guys/

 

As mentioned, the chart is based on Watts / kg.

 

This is much more useful, then depending on where you think you fit in, do the intervals that match that w/kg

[Fat Boab]

Re the Coggan & Allen chart. That moment when you estimate your W/kg from your benchmark VAM and some basic mechanics, and you like the descriptor associated with you, and you save yourself >R10k! Happy Friday!

[VeloRacer]

Been riding with a powertap for close to 5 years now.

Best investment ever. Training is so much more efficient.

[madbradd]

As some of you guys guessed, this isn't a "Praxis" product, and as such isn't something that we are able to offer in the local market. We can certainly sort you out with chainrings

 

I think it's definitely something you guys should look at trying to get - effectively its a Zayante crank with a 4iii crank arm (similar to stages addon) except you don't land up with a "spare" crank arm.

 

The Zayante on it's own seems to get very good reviews and the next cheapest equivalent would be the Power2Max on an FSA Gossamer at approx. R12500.

[Ashold]

Started training with a power meter towards the end of last year, found it amazingly useful at stage racing where you can set a more accurate threshold and stick to it. Like the article mentions, you don't stamp on the pedals at the beginning of intervals either just to get the HR up. Will only really see the fitness results (if there are any) later this year after a whole year's training vs last year's HR based training. 

I do like numbers though and power meter training really lets you dig into the stats to see improvements or drops. 

['Dale]

Word of the day = decoupling ????

[raptor-22]

Started training with a power meter towards the end of last year, found it amazingly useful at stage racing where you can set a more accurate threshold and stick to it. Like the article mentions, you don't stamp on the pedals at the beginning of intervals either just to get the HR up. Will only really see the fitness results (if there are any) later this year after a whole year's training vs last year's HR based training. 

I do like numbers though and power meter training really lets you dig into the stats to see improvements or drops. 

 

 

 

When you examine the area Under the Hr curves and Power curves you will see that the HR curve actually shows the Work done quite effectlively for post ride analysis. Where the short coming is that the change in HR to load lags where the power meter is shows the change according to the smoothing profile you select which inevitably will be quicker than for HR.

 

For this reason some people think its more accurate or delivers better results.

 

Where i find the POWer meter helps is during certain types of interval repeats where the fatigue is more easily spotted as your power curve will start to trend lower quicker.

 

its for this reason that I actually do most of my intervals on an indoor trainer with a power meter.

On the road as a pacing tool its not nearly as effectiveand compares to an HR or power calculator bike computer. On the road its really nice to have because of terrain variability. Where its really effective on the orad is when using the same stretch of road for hill repeats or repetive intervals where the rest period is very short (2-4min).

 

Otherwise, its just a nice flashy toy that dazzles other cyclists into wheelsucking your perceived superiority.

[z@z@]

No scientist here but its each to there own. Some love numbers some get scared of it.

 

I've always trained with HR and still do BUT started training with power and it changed my overall performance over a year, starting at 2.4w/kg and now standing at 4.8w/kg so it was money well spent of-course with a good program like trainer road I was able to elevate much better hence loving numbers BUT some guys out there don't even ride with HR yet still perform as well as a guy with all the gadgets. It helped me achieve my goals that I thought was far fetched and believe it can help the next. I never thought that I will be able to ride a sub 3 Argus this year not being able to afford a coach but the numbers backed my faith.

 

I do believe in order to find your rhythm you need to experiment with different techniques

 

my 5c  

[carrera4s]

No scientist here but its each to there own. Some love numbers some get scared of it.

 

I've always trained with HR and still do BUT started training with power and it changed my overall performance over a year, starting at 2.4w/kg and now standing at 4.8w/kg so it was money well spent of-course with a good program like trainer road I was able to elevate much better hence loving numbers BUT some guys out there don't even ride with HR yet still perform as well as a guy with all the gadgets. It helped me achieve my goals that I thought was far fetched and believe it can help the next. I never thought that I will be able to ride a sub 3 Argus this year not being able to afford a coach but the numbers backed my faith.

 

I do believe in order to find your rhythm you need to experiment with different techniques

 

my 5c  

 

Wow!  I only started with Power training about a month ago - only cycling for just over a year and only used HR up till recently (and a few FitTrack plans).  If I could double my FTP W/kg like that...  I will be ecstatic with a 30% improvement.

[z@z@]

Wow!  I only started with Power training about a month ago - only cycling for just over a year and only used HR up till recently (and a few FitTrack plans).  If I could double my FTP W/kg like that...  I will be ecstatic with a 30% improvement.

 

 

wish I got comm for this  ...Trainer Road promises 6-8% increase after 6 weeks , worth every penny. Best part I enjoyed every bit of training , the tricks and hacks really helps when on the edge.  

 

Yeah I'm extremely pleased with gains although it doesn't get easier you just go faster 

[Eon du Plessis]

wish I got comm for this ...Trainer Road promises 6-8% increase after 6 weeks , worth every penny. Best part I enjoyed every bit of training , the tricks and hacks really helps when on the edge.

 

Yeah I'm extremely pleased with gains although it doesn't get easier you just go faster

I've been doing a Trainer Road programme for the last month or so. With a week of flu and knee injury mixed in, I still managed to improve my PB on a local climb from 19:27 to 17:27, during that period.

 

I did a FTP test on Monday, but the trainer didn't switch to slope mode and held me back, so the results weren't useful. I suspect it added a few percentage points already, judging by my Strava segments. Training with power really works for me.

[Kona Kula]

No scientist here but its each to there own. Some love numbers some get scared of it.

 

I've always trained with HR and still do BUT started training with power and it changed my overall performance over a year, starting at 2.4w/kg and now standing at 4.8w/kg so it was money well spent of-course with a good program like trainer road I was able to elevate much better hence loving numbers BUT some guys out there don't even ride with HR yet still perform as well as a guy with all the gadgets. It helped me achieve my goals that I thought was far fetched and believe it can help the next. I never thought that I will be able to ride a sub 3 Argus this year not being able to afford a coach but the numbers backed my faith.

 

I do believe in order to find your rhythm you need to experiment with different techniques

 

my 5c  

I agree completely and have experienced similar. Last year 94,7 I rode a  3:17. This year with the help of a coach and a power meter I am riding VA and  now looking towards a sub 2:30 94,7. Its really about what you do with the power meter. If you just have it to look at the numbers you wont get anywhere. But with the right focus on the numbers you can maximize your training and really improve.

[carrera4s]

wish I got comm for this  ...Trainer Road promises 6-8% increase after 6 weeks , worth every penny. Best part I enjoyed every bit of training , the tricks and hacks really helps when on the edge.  

 

Yeah I'm extremely pleased with gains although it doesn't get easier you just go faster 

 

With my coach my training volume is down quite a bit when compared to the FitTrack HR programs, but heck, those intervals are tough!

 

I will have 6 months of coached power training by 94.7 time.  Will be very happy if I can have a 20 to 30% increase by then...