Training with power
Power, measured in watts, is an expression of how much work you are doing on the bike. Being such a data-driven metric, I could write many pages on this topic and happily drone on about every minute detail, but this will just be an overview to help you understand the basics of training with power.
Quick caveat; as mentioned previously, I do not have any experience with measuring power during running so I will leave that out for now.
Power is fairly simple; you press on the pedals and your power meter measures the amount of force it took to move the bike forward. Power doesn't care if you are big or small, riding uphill or downhill, going fast or slow, your power is your power and that is the beauty of it. Understanding it from a training perspective and how outside factors relate to power data takes a bit more insight. Just like heart rate and RPE, training with power requires an athlete to complete a “test” from which a coach would be able to prescribe power training zones. For cycling, this is known as an FTP test or functional threshold power test. FTP translates to how much power you could sustain for one hour. Because a one-hour test is incredibly difficult to accurately pace and also incredibly painful to perform, there are shorter tests that can be completed in twenty, ten, or even five minutes from which you can extrapolate the data to get your estimated FTP. Once you have completed an FTP test, you can use that data to set your power training zones. Here at Peduzzi Performance, I use the seven-zone method that was developed by Dr. Andrew Coggan, a renowned exercise physiologist, and leading expert in the field of power-based training.
Using these zones, I can target specific adaptations at specific times during the season for each athlete. Having power data gives you much more insight into how much work an athlete is doing in a workout, race, or training block. There are many types of power meters on the market today, all of which are fairly reliable and accurate. Over the years, they have become more and more affordable, but even the cheapest model out there will still run you around three-hundred dollars. While not cheap, I believe this is one of the greatest investments you can make to improve your cycling.
Training with power allows you to target specific zones which leads to a greater overall training experience and increased fitness, speed, and power. Training and testing with a power meter also gives you insight into your “power profile.” This profile keeps track of your best average power for any specific period of time; typically it ranges from five seconds, all the way up to 2 hours or more. Using the metric “w/kg” or watt/kilogram, you can compare your best power for these specific time periods against yourself or anyone else. This helps you focus your training because you get objective feedback on which zones you perform well in and which zones could use more of your attention. Using myself as an example, I am a terrible sprinter on the bike and my five, ten, and thirty-second power numbers reflect that. If I wanted to excel in something like a criterium race, I would have to focus more training time in those zones to bring my numbers up to a more competitive level. Without power data, I would only have RPE or race results to compare to, neither of which is very useful.
One of the downsides to training with power is that it is expensive. After purchasing a bike and all the necessary equipment that goes along with it, you are looking at another three-hundred dollars minimum to obtain a decent power meter. Secondly, training exclusively with power can lead to overtraining tendencies. Without a coach to guide you, obtaining accurate testing data from which you set your training zones can be tough. If you end up with inaccurate data, you can easily slip into a cycle of overreaching and overtraining. Without objective feedback and without heart rate or RPE data, it can be hard to notice when things are going off the rails. Training with power while also measuring other training metrics such as RPE and heart rate is the best way to get an accurate depiction of your fitness and training stress.
Overall, a power meter is probably the single best investment you can make to improve your cycling performance. Because it gives you instant feedback on how much work you are doing at any given moment on the bike, you can dial in your training to be more accurate and precise in workouts. Endurance athletes are busy people who want to make sure that the time they invest in their training is time well-spent. Along with hiring a coach and developing a season plan, training with power is the best way to maximize your precious training time and reap the full benefits of zone-based training.
Pros
Incredibly accurate
Not influenced by outside factors
Efficient way to train
More comprehensive understanding of training stress
Cons
Expensive
Depending on the style of power meter, you are limited to one bike
Easy to overtrain if training solely with power
Can be hard to decipher data
