Training with a power meter

TRAINING WITH POWER by Stephen Lane

Training with a power meter is becoming commonplace among elite and recreational cyclists alike. Although the initial outlay may be the rate limiting step for many cyclists if you are out on the roads with a specific purpose to train for performance enhancement then the benefits of a power meter are limitless. There are various models on offer and fortunately they are becoming more affordable primarily due to popularity. Different models do have pro’s and cons’. 

The highly popular Cyclops Powertap is integrated in the rear hub. Therefore it is easily interchangeable between bikes and is as simple as swapping the rear wheel and head unit over and away you go. The negative of the Powertap model is that if you have a set of race wheels and your Powertap is laced into your everyday training wheels…. Well you see where I’m going. The alternative to the Power tap and a model that is becoming ever popular for its reliability, practicality and cost effectiveness is the Cinq Quarq model. The Quarq in my opinion is the pick of all the models available. I am lucky enough to run one on both my race bike and training bike. However if the bottom brackets are the same on both bikes it is a quick and easy process to swap from bike to bike.

So.. What can a power meter do that a simple heart rate monitor can’t? Well for starters it is instantaneous. If you are doing an interval at 80% then it may only be by the end of the interval that your heart rate reaches this intensity whereas power is there right from the start. Heart rate is also largely influenced by environmental conditions power on the other hand never lies. Secondary to these benefits is that once you become familiar with your power numbers it becomes a reliable tool to gauge intensity under any circumstance. In the lab the most common power number I use is an athletes peak power output (PPO). The number is the power output that corresponds with an athletes VO2max intensity. I then break this number down as a percentage of PPO to prescribe training intensities that elicit specific metabolic requirements within the body.

Supplementary to power meters are various software programs that allow each ride to be uploaded and your power and similar physiological/mechanical variables analysed. Such programs include Training Peaks or for a cheaper version Golden Cheater. These programs are a useful tool to monitor progress and to see changes in fitness and performance. You can ask any Professional cyclist what their sustainable power numbers are and Id bet they could reel of various numbers such as 1min, 5min and threshold power and max power of course for the sprinters. You may have noticed over the past few years that the power data for every Tour de France stage is posted on the Training Peaks website. I find it amazing to compare the numbers of the pro riders to that of my own and realize the huge numbers these guys are capable of.

In closing, spending thousands on a new bike to gain a small performance benefit is something we all do. However, it is the legs attached to the bike that requires the countless hours of precision training to produce the good numbers. A power meter is in my mind the best tool for any cyclist to monitor training intensity and track progress throughout a competitive season. Get into Bike N Bean and ask Paul which power meter will be best for you.