Feature: Training with Power

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Trainsharp talk about making the switch from training with heart rate to training with a power metre

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Feature: Training with Power

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If you have just purchased a shiny new power meter and have exhausted the google search, still wondering what that ever-changing number on your head unit means, then rest-assured, you are not alone.

Elliot and chris in lab

A power meter will change your training and racing for the better. Exactly as to where it helps depends on the discipline. For example, you will benefit from having power more in time trials than a road race. This is because pacing strategy is so important on overall outcome – whereas in a road race, it is much more dynamic: if you have to follow someones attack, you will, regardless of whether the “computer says no” or not!

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But no matter the discipline, where power measurement is so beneficial is in the training scenario.

It’s very easy to expect too much from your power meter and is something we see relatively often. Investing in power doesn’t gift you power (sadly). At the end of the day, the only way to get better is to put in the hard work. The structure that power based training brings to our athletes and the way we coach them has meant that we can deliver sessions to riders that are time crunched that will be both beneficial and fun.

Having power goals to train to will ensure that you can correctly and efficiently target various energy systems, meaning that if we want a rider to head out on a fat burning ride, or a threshold pushing specific effort; with power, we know that they will be doing just that.

If you are used to training to heart rate, you might be wondering where power measurement fits into the equation. Likewise, if you are a recent convert to power, you might be one of many that has banished the heart rate strap to the darkest corner of your cycling draw.

elliots presentation

In an ideal world, all of our riders at TrainSharp would be using both heart rate and power meters during their training and racing. This is because, power is a very stable metric in training, 100 Watts (W) one day is 100 W the next, regardless of how tired your legs are. However, heart rate (HR) readings are so much more variable, being affected by the temperature, fatigue, illness etc.

If you have just bought a power meter, or have had one for a while and feel like you are not making the most out of it, please get in touch with us and we will be able to help ensure you are getting the value from your power meter and progressing with your training as efficiently as possible.

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