Finding t-max using Watt bike

elduderinoo

Hi,

I've been reading this interesting article here:

http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutri ... e-interval

I'm lucky enough to belong to a gym with 6 watt bikes in it. Watt bikes allow you to measure Peak Power Output. I want to find my t-max using the info in the article above....there's just one thing that confuses me about it though and I'm hoping someone can clarify for me.

In point one (Find your t-max) is says:

"the number of watts you produce just before collapsing is your peak power output, or PPO."

So I've cycled, starting at 100 watts, and increasing by 30 every minute....until I'm totally spent (cadence is around 60)....is my Peak Power Output (PPO) the watts that are displaying on the wattbike at that precise moment before I can't go anymore? Is it that simple?

springtide9

I'm no expert, but it sounds about right.

I guess you will start off cycling at your usual cadence while the effort is low and then increase the resistance as described. Obviously power is related to both torque (how hard it is to turn the pedals) AND cadence.

As you increase the resistance, there will come a time where your cadence will drop (and hence power), but you could theoretically keep increasing the resistance.

The goal is to increase power and not resistance, so you will need to have a few goes to work out how you produce the most power.

I got this from someone about Power Based Workouts:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-5L ... B1yuc/edit

.... which might be useful.

blackhands

As you can probably put in one last big momentary effort before you collapse, the power output at the point of collapse is not particularly useful. This is why exercise physiologists use 'maximum minute power' - that is the mean power over the final minute.

Unfortunately, its not possible to do a smooth ramp on a Wattbike - in fact I doubt that its even possible to keep to a set power output for a minute. To achieve a smooth ramp you need a proper programmable ergometer which forces you to work at the required level. Also, the final result is protocol dependent - that is it depends on what your ramp (or steps) are - for example you will get a different result if you use a 30Wmin ramp to a 20Wmin ramp.

jgsi

Steven17 wrote:

sounds good :roll:

oh dear.. you might expect a consequence of ignoring Rule 7

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elduderinoo

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies.

@springtide - thanks for the link to the doc. The interavls look interesting. I'm going to try and work a few in to my training.

@blackhands - I thought that basing the ppo on the reading just before you break was strange - that's why I posted.

Tom Dean

blackhands wrote:

As you can probably put in one last big momentary effort before you collapse, the power output at the point of collapse is not particularly useful. This is why exercise physiologists use 'maximum minute power' - that is the mean power over the final minute.

It says specifically

The number of watts you produce just before collapsing is your peak power output, or PPO.

Why would final minute power a better measure to use?

elduderinoo

Tom Dean wrote:

blackhands wrote:

As you can probably put in one last big momentary effort before you collapse, the power output at the point of collapse is not particularly useful. This is why exercise physiologists use 'maximum minute power' - that is the mean power over the final minute.

It says specifically

The number of watts you produce just before collapsing is your peak power output, or PPO.

Why would final minute power a better measure to use?

This is what I was wondering Tom. Wouldn't it be better to use an average over the whole period or something.

mattatwattbike

@elduderinoo - I work for Wattbike, please email me at mattm@wattbike.com if you would like us to help you further.

Tom Dean

elduderinoo wrote:

This is what I was wondering Tom. Wouldn't it be better to use an average over the whole period or something.

Well, no. Why should it?

It's just one way of setting a baseline, then you do the intervals at x times that power.

amaferanga

FTP (1 hour power) is MUCH more useful.