Powermeter - should I or shouldn't I?
phil s
Posts: 1,128
Hi, this is a question aimed primarily at those guys who've used some kind of powermeter for their training, I'd like to hear your experiences of whether you've found it helpful or got fed up with it.
I'm a Cat 2 racer, been comfortable in that category for three seasons without actually racing loads - I always do enough to keep my Cat 2 status. This season, though, I'm racing a lot more and looking to step up to Cat 1, and have some specific objectives.
I currently train with a heart rate monitor, although for short, hard intervals I use perceived exertion, i.e. as hard as I can go at the time. What I find frustrating about my training is that even with my training history recorded I can't truly quantify actual improvements. I know that I feel stronger now than I did two years ago but I have no specific measure for this. Therefore, it seems a bit like guesswork.
Now, I'm seriously tempted to get a Powertap but part of me wonders if the novelty of having a new toy will wear off after a couple of months or if it will really be the kind of training aid that will serve me well and help me tailor my training, and perhaps pace myself in races. Part of me also wonders if the constant number-crunching will pi$$ me off and will I lose the enjoyment of going out and riding with mates, for example?
All opinions and advice very welcome.
I'm a Cat 2 racer, been comfortable in that category for three seasons without actually racing loads - I always do enough to keep my Cat 2 status. This season, though, I'm racing a lot more and looking to step up to Cat 1, and have some specific objectives.
I currently train with a heart rate monitor, although for short, hard intervals I use perceived exertion, i.e. as hard as I can go at the time. What I find frustrating about my training is that even with my training history recorded I can't truly quantify actual improvements. I know that I feel stronger now than I did two years ago but I have no specific measure for this. Therefore, it seems a bit like guesswork.
Now, I'm seriously tempted to get a Powertap but part of me wonders if the novelty of having a new toy will wear off after a couple of months or if it will really be the kind of training aid that will serve me well and help me tailor my training, and perhaps pace myself in races. Part of me also wonders if the constant number-crunching will pi$$ me off and will I lose the enjoyment of going out and riding with mates, for example?
All opinions and advice very welcome.
-- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --
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Posts
Ruth
My 2p is that you will find it useful to track, measure and rate your medium length efforts, but that one of the biggest benefits (with appropriate software) is tracking your long-term training load using TSS and CTL for example, and therefore hopefully avoiding over-cooking the training and blowing up mid season, and equally (hopefully) training hard enough so that you progress in a measurable way through the season.
S.
www.thebikewhisperer.co.uk
May be useful as he has just got a power meter and will be interesting to see how he finds it.
No - I'm not scouting for business
IOW - if you just do what you've always done, then the results won't change but at least you'll have some solid data to assess why.
Training (& racing) with power is a new paradigm, hence a PM in the hands of someone not prepared to learn how to use it to at least some of its potential (or engage someone to help with that) won't be of much more value than a fancy cylo-computer.
Fortunately there is a wealth of information available on the topic, if you are prepared to take the time to absorb it. Otherwise, get some assitance. Or choose to keep doing what you're doing.
tikka
All my cycling work for them is a labour of love
Powermeters aren't really science as such they just measure what your putting through the pedals. Nothing else can do this. Nothing can measure fitness or prescribe training plans better contrary to what the old school say. Your coach should know about powermeters
tikka
Secondly, haven't you got a coach so that he/she can worry about the gobbledygook and interpreting the numbers, leaving you with just clear instructions about what to actually do?
Ruth
I'm sure you will enjoy using your powertap wheel.
I;ve been having a good time with mine so far: I think you described the main advantages of it, in that by using it during fitness tests / races you should be able to measure any improvements (or otherwise as the case may be) that you make rather than having to feel for whether things are going in the right direction.
Sure you can get "bogged down" with the numbers but I wouldn't have sleepless nights about it - and it also sounds like you have a coach who you can trust to look at all that stuff for you if you'd really prefer not to know/ not to have to delve too deep. As i'm sure you know, it is not a substitute for hard work and so to continue to improve you will have to continue to try and train and recover harder.
I've found it useful in the few races ive used mine in, both in recording what i've done to look at afterwards but also sometimes in quantifying on the go how much effort im putting in and whether that level is sustainable or not....
The cost is pretty crazy - but at the same time with so few alternatives I imagine this wont change an awful lot in the next few years.
On the other hand you could just save your money.
Now there's a novel idea. Best advice so far.
Dennis Noward