Increasing Power

Wilby_89

I'm trying to increase my power on my hard intervals.
At the moment for about a 8 minute effort my average power is between 260-275w either at an average of 80-90rpm (50x14) or 95-105rpm (50x16).
My question is to try and increase my power obviously I need to spin a higher cadence in both gears but which one.
The 50x14 gear feels very hard like I'm grinding and if I push any harder feels like I'm putting a lot of stress on joints.
Whereas the 50x16 feels less stressful but already feels like I'm spinning very high at 95-100rpmand increasing the cadence will almost feel like I'm sprinting.
I'm not a big build 5ft.8 & 9.8st. not very fast on the flats but fairly good on the climbs but overall I just want to produce more power.

aukray

50x15 at 100 rpm. You need a close ratio cassette. At hard effort levels a 2 tooth difference is too great.

antsmithmk

If you want to increase your power you need to be ,doing shorter intervals than 8 mins, with a power much higher than your 8 min power.

fenix

Learn to spin. Ride a lower gear at a higher cadence.

cycleclinic

Spinning more wont increase your power output. more power means more work done but that mean more training. Try 5 minute intervals go as hard as you can recover and go again. do that 3 or 4 times. do this set a number of time to boost 8 minute power. changes will be seen over a few weeks.

Toks

You're on track. Whatever the gearing keep increasing your 8min power - make it 10mins, 12mins, 15 then 20mins - your power will increase eventually

Wilby_89

Thanks for the advice guys.
Started using zwift but use lap time and average lap power to see what power I'm pushing and for how long.

ajmitchell

Only you can answer what is the best cadence for you. also achieving your prime objective is increase in power not incr your cadence. That said If you over 100 RPM already I cannot see much increase in power coming from higher RPMs. No one I know of in the pro peleton rides over 105 RPM consistently. If 50x14 is too much (cadence too low), try changing your front chainring eg 53 or 54. 54x16 would be like a 50x13 for you. I am assuming you don't have 13T on your cassette otherwise you would have used it.

ps. in zwift use structured FTP mode and Zwift displays AVE power for you as you go.

johnny25

Hill sprints are good after a reasonable warm up. Approach hill / short incline at speed, then go on the drops and lift up as if you were standing. Go flat out for 15 seconds up hill etc then recover for 4 mins and repeat 5 times. If done properly your legs will really burn!

I'm quite lucky as I have a road with 5 short sharp inclines where I can practice this. I do this twice a week when I can. You can set up a turbo trainer to do this too, however it felt a little unstable for my liking going flat out.