Power Output
nolf
Posts: 1,287
Went to the gym the other day and had a go at maxing out my power output- hit 500 watts which I held for about 15 seconds-
I also managed to sustain a power output of 250 watts for 5 minutes getting my heart rate to 90% of max.
Would be interested to know how this compares to others- and what kind of power output is good to aim for.
Pride speaks, but Elephants listen...
I also managed to sustain a power output of 250 watts for 5 minutes getting my heart rate to 90% of max.
Would be interested to know how this compares to others- and what kind of power output is good to aim for.
Pride speaks, but Elephants listen...
"I hold it true, what'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost;
Than never to have loved at all."
Alfred Tennyson
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost;
Than never to have loved at all."
Alfred Tennyson
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Comments
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Well firstly, gym trainers are not accurate by any means, but if you use the same machine each time, it will give you something constant to use as a guide.
Three good durations to test are 1, 5, and 20 minutes. Get some figures for these durations, then go out on your bike and practice doing 1, 5, and 20 minute time trials, both on the flat and on hills.
Then go and retest at the gym to see how you're improving.
http://www.teamvelosportif.co.uk0 -
I made 1.2bhp on my mates rolling road ( for motorbikes!) power curve was really jagged though!0
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The problem is you never know how accurate these things are. On my imagic I can hit 550 watts for a minute or 340 watts for an hour. Haven't tried 5 minutes, I'd guess I can probably hold 380 - 400. 550 Watts are the basis of my one minute interval sessions.
If those figures are true, then I should feel confident about the Etape - but at 6'3" and 91 kg, my power to weight is distinctly average.0 -
Some benchmarks for you. They did a survey of 1hr power on another well known cycling forum and this is the resulting chart.
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<font size="1">Obsessed is just a word elephants use to describe the dedicated. http://markliversedge.blogspot.com</font id="size1">--
Obsessed is just a word elephants use to describe the dedicated. http://markliversedge.blogspot.com0 -
Blimey! I'm bumping against the ceiling of "Moderate" !!
Guess these aren't age-corrected though?I'm not saying pedestrians in Hackney are stupid.. but a fixed bayonet would be more use than a fixed gear...0 -
Yes, that table makes grim reading. This evening on the turbo I knocked out 354 watts for an hour which is a PB. That edges me into the "good" category - which explains why I am pretty quick on the flat, but crap on hills. Too much bulk to haul up mountains. For some reason I can't get below 90 Kg...of course that is quite a bit better than 107 Kg last year....
I'll try some flat out one minute sessions tomorrow and see what I can hit. My interval level (550) is tempered by the knowledge that I am going to have to do it again in two minutes time!0 -
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by liversedge</i>
Some benchmarks for you. They did a survey of 1hr power on another well known cycling forum and this is the resulting chart.
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<font size="1">Obsessed is just a word elephants use to describe the dedicated. http://markliversedge.blogspot.com</font id="size1">
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
What is "FT" in the benchmark table? How long should you be able to cycle at this level? Thanks in advance.0 -
Genki,
FT will probably be functional threshold.
Ben0 -
Believe FT = 60minutes but please correct me if wrong.
I would agree with AndyB re doing 1/5/20 minute intervals but for most cycling think also worth monitoring 60+ minute PBs as well as this is what will be of use if doing sportives or longer rides. (as a rule of thumb a sportive gold will probably mean averaging 170-190W for the 5-7 hours of the ride).
(Note a way of doing this at the gym is simply to keep a record of calories burnt. Simply divide calories by seconds of exercise and you will get a reasonable ball park for watts (so 1000 cals in an hour = FTP 277W. (Caveat on this re gym equipment differing. That said found Lifecycle to be pretty accurate when comparing to my Powertap)Martin S. Newbury RC0 -
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by bahzob</i>
Believe FT = 60minutes but please correct me if wrong.
I would agree with AndyB re doing 1/5/20 minute intervals but for most cycling think also worth monitoring 60+ minute PBs as well as this is what will be of use if doing sportives or longer rides. (as a rule of thumb a sportive gold will probably mean averaging 170-190W for the 5-7 hours of the ride).
(Note a way of doing this at the gym is simply to keep a record of calories burnt. Simply divide calories by seconds of exercise and you will get a reasonable ball park for watts (so 1000 cals in an hour = FTP 277W. (Caveat on this re gym equipment differing. That said found Lifecycle to be pretty accurate when comparing to my Powertap)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
i think FT is over 20 mins, not 100% sure either
Mark
In sport, losing is the end of the world .....
la marmotte xD
In sport, losing is the end of the world .....
la marmotte xD0 -
FTP or functional threshold power is the sustainable power output you can maintain over 60 minutes. Here is a definition.
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<font size="1">Obsessed is just a word elephants use to describe the dedicated. http://markliversedge.blogspot.com</font id="size1">--
Obsessed is just a word elephants use to describe the dedicated. http://markliversedge.blogspot.com0 -
Nolf,
You asked how power output compares to others?
Here's a little comparison I did a while bike, against Jens Voigt at last years Tour.
www.flammerouge.je/content/3_factsheets ... wer082.htm
It makes real interesting reading. Even if I say so myself!0 -
liversedge wrote:Some benchmarks for you. They did a survey of 1hr power on another well known cycling forum and this is the resulting chart.
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<font size="1">Obsessed is just a word elephants use to describe the dedicated. http://markliversedge.blogspot.com</font id="size1">
Hi there.
Looking at the weightweenies graph and mentally comparing that to TT race results, I'm going to conclude that either:
a:) Quite a few people were telling porkies...
b:) Only the top riders responded and the average riders stayed quiet.
Cheers, Andy0 -
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Going back to nolf's 1st post.
I did a 1hr training ride last night(on my tacx turbo) and averaged 203 watts over the hour. This was 15min @ 70%, 30min @ 80% tempo and 15 min @ 68%. This is the best I've done during my 5 weeks of 7 week training programme. Incidentally the 30 min tempo averaged at 235 watts.
When I started 5 weeks ago I was just about averaging 180 watts for the hour so I'm happy. It'll be 2 more weeks before I have to do 60mins tempo uphill, so I'll have to see what I can average.0
