Training Question/Garmin Edge 500

Soni

I've purchased a Garmin Edge 500 to assist with my training, the problem i have is, although the instructions are good in the sense that they show you how to set it up etc., it doesn't tell you how to evaluate the information....

What should i be evaluating and monitoring to improve my training/fitness?

I have the heart rate sensor, the cadense/speed sensor, the only thing i don't have is the Power Sensor.

This is the training log of today (on Turbo) i just don't know how to evaluate the information and what to look for to improve my training.....

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/61527577

Can anybody on here help me? Nap maybe?

jonmack

The first question that comes to my mind is what're you trying to achieve with your riding?

I'd advise you get some training related books and read up about structured training if you're currently just riding for the sake of riding. There are so many different types of workouts and training plans that it would be impossible for Garmin to include information about how to evaluate the information you get from the device. That's what sports scientists are for.

hugo15

I was in a similar position a few months ago. Someone gave me a copy of Joe Friel's Total Heart Rate Training. I found it very informative and gave me a good understanding of how to train with a HR monitor (as opposed to use it to collect data.........)

SBezza

Well if you have a rear wheel speed sensor, you could track fitness by comparing HR against a known speed.

Downside is that you need to make 100% the turbo is set up exactly the same between each test.

I currently use mine for logging rides etc, I gauge fitness currently by performance in races, and test on my turbo that has power measurements.

P_Tucker

SBezza wrote:

Well if you have a rear wheel speed sensor, you could track fitness by comparing HR against a known speed.

You say that, but you have to be bloody sure your turbo doesn't drift. Here's a nice graph of me doing a sweetspot ride to create room for Christmas dinner:



First 5 minutes: 40.3kmh
Last 5 minutes: 44.1kmh

And the power for the last 5 was about 8 watts lower than the power for the first 5. Fascinating stuff eh?

SBezza

That is true, I can only go by what my turbo does, and mine seems pretty stable.

The OP should still be able to get an idea though, not perfect by any stretch, but better than nothing.

Soni

As Hugo mentioned above, it just seems that its a data collection tool, unless of course you do as SBezza suggested, comparing each turbo session speed against heart rate, although you need to be sure its all set up exactly the same including tire pressures on each session....

I thought it would 'somehow' be able to help me improve my cadense whilst actually riding? Maybe a bit dumb of me to think that.....but thought there would be something like it has for heart rate, you set your upper and lower limits, and if you go the wrong side of either one it tells you to slow down or speed up......naturally a more smoother cadence would be a sure improvement....

With regard to heart rate, i suppose the only way i can gauge if that is improving is either doing exactly the same amount of time and speed on the turbo, ensuring everything is set up the same, or out on the road, doing the exact same route and speed each time (which would be nigh on impossible).

antfly

You can set it to alert you if you go over or under any cadence you want to set it to. Also, sporttracks is good software for tracking your progress.

Hudster

As antfly says, you can set alerts so that it will warn you if a cadence (or speed, or heart rate etc) drops below or above a certain range. You can also set it to do workouts, where you do an interval of cadence (or speed, or heart rate) in a certain zone.
I really find my useful, but yes, it's a datalogging tool. You still have to do the training to get faster, and the races to measure performance....

Pokerface

Soni wrote:

As Hugo mentioned above, it just seems that its a data collection tool.

I thought it would 'somehow' be able to help me improve my cadense whilst actually riding?

Soni - by and large you are correct. It really IS just a tool for reading back data to you. You can learn to analyze it and tailor your workouts a bit using it. But mostly it's a glorified speedo.

Without a power measurement device, there's only so much you can learn from a Garmin.

But it's not all bad!

As for cadence - it certainly can help you. No reason at all why, if you look at the cadence figure, you can't improve. But you have to do the work - it doesn't just magically improve you!

If you want to improve your cadence, pick a figure and try and stick to it as long as you can. I find it easiest to do this on a turbo (as you can look down without falling off!).

I assume you want to get comfortable riding at a higher cadence?