Power Increase Rate

GiantMike

Hi all

[EDIT - I'M KEEPING A LOG OF IMPROVEMENTS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS THREAD]

I've just started using a Powertap and the excellent Golden Cheetah software. From the few rides I've managed so far I have a CP20 of 293W and a CP60 of 270W which is disappointing, but considering I haven't ridden a bike for 3.5 months isn't that surprising. This gives me a power/weight ratio of 3.91 and 3.6 respectively. I'm trying to improve my power/weight ratio to be more competitive, particularly on the climbs.

Once I get back into proper training, what rate of increase in power can I resonably expect to achieve? Assume I'm doing a proper training plan with 4 workouts a week. For example, is 10% a month too much to expect, or could I expect more? Less?

For the last 3.5 months I've eaten carefully, had no alcohol and have been running around 25 miles a week, so other than drastic dieting, I think my weight will be fairly static.

Cheers

SBezza

Everyone is different, and the rate will vary massively from person to person. It will depend on what sort of training you do, how you recover, how often you train etc. It is just too complicated to say you can increase by x % each week/month.

amaferanga

If you haven't ridden much for the past few months then you might make some significant gains quite quickly initially, but 10% gains per month can't last for long given your starting wattage or you'd be putting out pro-level wattages by the middle of the summer!

Are the CP20 and CP90 you quote actually maximal efforts? Were you completely done in by the end of the 20 minutes or is that just a segment of a ride where you pushed fairly hard? What's your FTP?

Bronzie

As recently discussed:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12763461

GiantMike

The CP20 was a maximal effort, the CP60 (original post was a typo) is from a longer ride. I haven't had the chance to do a dedicated maximal effort 60 mins for an FTP yet.

Thanks for the link to the other discussion.

GiantMike

As a follow-up to the question posed above, here are some observed improvements after 3 weeks of training:

29 May CP20 - 297W, 19 Jun CP20 - 310W

Both are maximal efforts. So that's around 3-4% improvement in 3-4 weeks. I've mainly been doing short intervals up to 20 minutes, with a recent focus on 5 mins and 30 sec intervals.

Cheers

GiantMike

As a follow-up to the question posed above, here are some observed improvements after 3 weeks of training:

29 May CP20 - 297W, 19 Jun CP20 - 310W , 10 Jul CP20 - 322W

So, that's an 8.4% improvement in about 6 weeks. Training has been a combination of intervals and races.

Cheers