Tip: Strength doesn?t equal power

[Brakkies Sport Fotos]

supersport webpage:

 

 

 

 

 

? Strength doesn?t equal power on the bike. Power is defined as work over time.

 

 

 

So riding a hill with low cadence in a big gear doesn?t develop power ? it develops strength.

 

 

 

However, to get the power you want, you need to develop strength first and then add power by doing intervals at a high cadence

 

 

 

For more info contact: editor@swimbikerun.co.za

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.supersport.co.za/cycling/article.aspx?headline=Strength%20doesn%e2%80%99t%20equal%20power&id=215199

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

popeye2007-10-31 08:27:48

[BikeMax]

 

supersport webpage:

 

 

 

So riding a hill with low cadence in a big gear doesn?t develop power ? it develops strength.

 

 

 

However' date=' to get the power you want, you need to develop strength first and then add power by doing intervals at a high cadence

 

[/quote']

 

Interesting.. but not correct.

 

Strength has little or no bearing on the power a rider will develop up a climb (or on a flat for that matter) and so developing strength will not have any positive impact on your climbing power - think Roberto Heras or Pantani (Hardly the stongest of athletes in stature)

 

Cadence is not going to have any positive impact on the power you ride at up a climb and nor will high cadence help to develop power - the power you ride up a climb is dictated largely by your aerobic capacity and if you want to improve that then train at the correct intensity to do so (At any cadence)

 

[ewep]

BikeMax, why is it then that I put out more power at, say, 90-95rpm cadence than at 70-75?  Been bugging me since I got this here fancy power thingy.

[Pantani]

Bliksem! 

[BikeMax]

 

BikeMax' date=' why is it then that I put out more power at, say, 90-95rpm cadence than at 70-75?  Been bugging me since I got this here fancy power thingy.

[/quote']

 

That depends

 

I am guessing that is on the flat ?

 

A riders muscle fibre make up will influence at what power they are able to generate the most power - that is why self selected cadence is almost always the best option. A rider with more fast twitch will tend to push a bigger gear to make the most power and a rider that is predominantly slow twitch will favour a higher cadence.

 

You will also often find that the added momentum of a slightly higher cadence on the flat will make it a little easier to generate higher power levels.

 

I am the opposite - I put out more power at 80-85 than over 90

 

[ewep]

 

Bliksem! 

Who, WHERE?!?!?!  B A R N E Y!!!!!!

 

[ewep]

 

BikeMax' date=' why is it then that I put out more power at, say, 90-95rpm cadence than at 70-75?  Been bugging me since I got this here fancy power thingy.

[/quote']

 

That depends

 

I am guessing that is on the flat ?

 

A riders muscle fibre make up will influence at what power they are able to generate the most power - that is why self selected cadence is almost always the best option. A rider with more fast twitch will tend to push a bigger gear to make the most power and a rider that is predominantly slow twitch will favour a higher cadence.

 

You will also often find that the added momentum of a slightly higher cadence on the flat will make it a little easier to generate higher power levels.

 

I am the opposite - I put out more power at 80-85 than over 90

 

Very interesting.  One more q, can you "teach" your muscles to adapt to higher cadence and thus put out higher wattage?

 

[BikeMax]

 

BikeMax' date=' why is it then that I put out more power at, say, 90-95rpm cadence than at 70-75?  Been bugging me since I got this here fancy power thingy.

[/quote']

 

That depends

 

I am guessing that is on the flat ?

 

A riders muscle fibre make up will influence at what power they are able to generate the most power - that is why self selected cadence is almost always the best option. A rider with more fast twitch will tend to push a bigger gear to make the most power and a rider that is predominantly slow twitch will favour a higher cadence.

 

You will also often find that the added momentum of a slightly higher cadence on the flat will make it a little easier to generate higher power levels.

 

I am the opposite - I put out more power at 80-85 than over 90

 

Very interesting.  One more q, can you "teach" your muscles to adapt to higher cadence and thus put out higher wattage?

 

You can certainly teach your muscles to adapt to a higher cadence - but your power output is still going to be limited by your aerobic capacity. All you may do is move your optimum cadence up a notch or two. The only reason you may want to do this would be to reduce fatigue in the muscle for longer stage races or races with lots of climbing - think Lance and the tour.

 

Remember that you cannot increase your work capacity just by changing the way you produce the work - the ceiling is still in place, and if your working muscles cannot get enough 02 then work will be reduced.

 

[whitesox]

Remember that you cannot increase your work capacity just by changing the way you produce the work - the ceiling is still in place' date=' and if your working muscles cannot get enough 02 then work will be reduced.
[/quote']

 

Not entirely correct, efficiency has to with the way in which you use energy to produce power. Thus, it is possible to increase your capacity, or to be more corrct, optimise the use of O2 for the production of energy.But, the ceiling stays in place as you put it, unless off course you can train your body/muscles to use O2 more efficiently...

whitesox2007-10-31 08:53:27

[Brakkies Sport Fotos]

whitesox, wanneer is my toets?.. ek moet begin oefen.

[FanieFiets]

jeez, is dit net my kop wat spin?

[Brakkies Sport Fotos]

soek jy 'n powermeter faan? ons is oppad soontoe.

[BikeMax]

 

Remember that you cannot increase your work capacity just by changing the way you produce the work - the ceiling is still in place' date=' and if your working muscles cannot get enough 02 then work will be reduced.

[/quote']

 

Not entirely correct, efficiency has to with the way in which you produce power. Thus, it is possible to increase your capacity, or to be more corrct, optimise the use of O2 for the production of energy.But, the ceiling stays in place as you put it, unless off course you can train your body/muscles to use O2 more efficiently...

 

Efficiency is not about how you produce power but rather the amount of power you produce for a given 02 uptake.

 

It is in theory possible to improve your cycling efficiency by a small amount  but as in the case of Armstrong, the most recent Coyle study hypothesised that this was likely a result of riding 3-6 hours per day for many years. Added to that most of the other literature disagrees with Coyles conclusion.

 

For the sake of this discussion I do not think it is significant and will only serve to confuse the issue.

 

 

 

[whitesox]

Maybe you are the one confused? NO, not how much power you produce, but how efficiently you are able to use the available sources of energy and O2 to produce a given power output. Maybe I did not make that clear enough...

 

 

 

[FanieFiets]

 

soek jy 'n powermeter faan? ons is oppad soontoe.

 

nee, ek het net weer na my avatar gekyk!

 

[BikeMax]

 

Maybe you are the one confused? NO' date=' not how much power you produce, but how efficiently you are able to use the available sources of energy and O2 to produce a given power output. Maybe I did not make that clear enough...

 

 

 

[/quote']

 

If you are more efficient at converting energy into mechanical work, then you will be able to produce more power for the equivalent 02 uptake than a less efficient rider (Which is what I was tyring to explain in my previous post)