Power Meter Data Analysis

Trev The Rev
Trev The Rev Posts: 1,040
edited November 2012 in Training, fitness and health
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Cyclists' addiction' to power meter data 'similar to drug cravings', study finds.
Withdrawal symptoms experienced by cyclists deprived of access to power meter data compared to those felt by drug addicts or smokers going “cold turkey”, a study has concluded.

They found cyclists who use power meters admitted being “addicted” to their power meter data.
A “clear majority" of almost all power meter users users, were unable to voluntarily avoid looking at their power meter data for one full day, they concluded.

One unnamed American college student told of their overwhelming cravings, which they confessed was similar to “itching like a crackhead (crack cocaine addict)”.

The study, by Kopenhagen University, concluded that “power meter users… failed to go the full 24 hours without using".

The research, also found the cyclists used “virtually the same words to describe their reactions”.

These included emotions such as fretful, confused, anxious, irritable, insecure, nervous, restless, crazy, addicted, panicked, jealous, angry, lonely, dependent, depressed, jittery and paranoid.

Prof Svend Muller, who led the research, said;
"Cyclists talked about how scary it was, how addicted they were.”
"They expected the frustration. But they didn't expect to have the psychological effects, to be lonely, to be panicked, the anxiety, literally heart palpitations.

The study interviewed competitive cyclists who used power meters, aged between 17 and 63, who were asked to keep a diary of their thoughts.

They were told to give up accessing their data. They were, however, permitted to use land line telephones, and read books, watch television or ride their bikes.

The study found that one in five reported feelings of withdrawal akin to addiction while more than one in 10 admitted being left confused and feeling like a failure.

One British participant reported: “I am an addict. I don’t need alcohol, cocaine or any other derailing form of social depravity... my power meter is my drug;

Another wrote: ‘I literally didn’t know what to do with myself. Going down to the kitchen to pointlessly look in the cupboards became regular routine, as did getting a drink.’

A third said: ‘I became bulimic without my power meter and data, I starved myself for a full 15 hours and then had a full-on binge.’

While a fourth cyclist added: "I felt like a helpless man on a lonely deserted island in the big ocean”.

Prof Muller added: “Some (4%) said they wanted to go without their power meter data for a while but they could not. Others (7%) said their relationships with their partners were damaged by the time they spent on analysing data (11%) said they spent more time analysing data than they did training on their bikes.

Commenting on the research Henrietta Bowden Smith, consultant psychiatrist at London Imperial University, said: "The majority of cyclists we see with serious addiction are power meter owners – people who spend long hours analysing data which causes them to disregard their obligations. I have seen people who stopped attending university lectures, failed their degrees or their marriages broke down because they were unable to emotionally connect with anything outside their training data..
When someone comes to you and says they did not sleep last night because they spent 14 hours analysing their data, and it was the same the previous night, and they tried to stop but they couldn't – you know they have a problem".

Hunter Coggman PhD, author of 'Racing & Training With Power Meters And Analysing Qualitative Data' said, "Power meters are safe but must be used responsibly."

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