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Cycling Training Tips

Contribute to the greatest collection of power meter data ever

During the following 3½months I will try to collect as many power meter profiles as possible. Afterwards I will present the data so you can compare your power outputs to people spending more or less time on training than you. I hope that a lot of riders will participate in this project, because I believe we all can benefit from this knowledge. You can read more about the project here and maybe enter the project if you already know your numbers. I will strongly recommend that you spread the words to riders who use SRM, PowerTaps, Ergomo or similar products. Thank you.

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Wattage controlled intervals improve performance

There have been some delay of the final tests in the Power Meter Project, but I have received some test results and race reports that indicate improvements. I’m really impressed by the participants because I know that they have been through some really tough interval workouts during the last 12 weeks.Wattage controlled intervals are a great way to control pace and secures that the rider trains exactly the physiological skill he is interested in.

Until now I have received the incredible results from Paul Skiba and Gonzalo Vilaseca. I will post some comments on these results soon, but you are welcome to take a closer look at them now. I have not seen how many watts Marc Moeller was able to do in the final week, but I know that he has made some great results in a couple of cycling races. Please consider that podium places are more important than watts on your PowerTap anyway”¦

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Final Week in the Power Meter Project

This week is an exciting week for me: Four of the riders in the Power Meter Project will push as many watts as they can perform in four critical power tests. These results indicate that the riders have achieved a new level. I predict that there will more improvements for them in the coming week, but I have also prepared the riders that they will not see amazing improvements as we saw in week 6.

The Power Meter Project has until now convinced me that the wattage principles motivate riders to make a great performance during training. SRM or PowerTap have shown that they are a great tool for monitoring watts during training sessions and also as analytical data for evaluation of performance.

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Weight Training for Road Cyclists

I have covered this topic a couple of times before, but there are still a lot of reasons to consider whether weight training is waste of time or way to improve your overall performance. When road cyclists discuss strength training it sounds like a discussion of religion rather than a discussion about having some amusement in the winter time. There are strongly believers in the possible gains from strength training and there strongly opponents arguing against lifting weights. There is very few arguments there are supported by scientific research. Like most studies in exercise physiology, research on trained cyclists are always made on small groups, thus making it very difficult to prove significant differences for trained individuals. Here are my comments about Cycling, strength training and statistical power

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Power Meter Training for Beginner Triathletes

Heart rate monitors like Polar and CardioSport have been the most used strategy in triathlons because these events have such long durations. If you like to use a heart rate monitor for pacing, triathlon and especially ultra distance triathlons are definitively the place to wear heart rate monitors. It is clear that when a constant tempo is the ideal pace in a race situation, then there is a good chance that your heart rate will show you how tough you current workload is. In cycling races the workload (Watts) is very inconsistent (sprints, jumps, hills, breaking, corners, etc.). In a traditional triathlon race there is lot more consistency in the power output, thus there is a lot better correlation between heart rate and workload.

Power Meters to the People

Power meters like SRM, Ergomo and PowerTap are very common among pro triathletes, but actually they would be at least as helpful for beginner triathletes. When a triathlete enters a competition for the first time, he will realize that it is very difficult to get an efficient pacing strategy. It is very tempting to hunt down the opponent in front of him and it is difficult to save the energy for the final part of the race (hint: there is a run AFTER the bike race in triathlons”¦)

Even though there is a better correlation between heart rate and workload in triathlons, there is really good arguments to start considering power meter training. By knowing your critical power outputs for the distances you compete in, you have the best opportunity to optimize your training program. As an example I would like to mention Dave Simonson who participate in the power meter project. He has gained several watts because he has learned how to pace himself and trained at the right intensity.

Heart rate monitors are good for pacing, but they are still influenced by several external factors (temperature, caffeine, level of recovery, etc.) This indicates that there is a great potential for beginner triathletes to improve their performance. Power meter training improves their skill for pacing and that is one of the most important non-physiological skills in triathlon

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