Watt. What? Watt!
Come dear, we need our power workout now.
July 1 was a huge day for Global Ride. All of the first generation Spinning® bikes were retired and replaced by those fancy Keiser M3 bikes with Power. Since then, you’ve probably heard a lot about power, and some of us have been invited (subjected) to participate in various power tests during classes. Power power power!
But what *is* this power thing?
Power is how much energy your muscles are applying to the pedals of the bike, making them go around and around. That’s pretty simple. It’s measured in watts. You’ve heard of watts, in terms of light bulbs and heaters. It’s the same thing. It’s a measure of energy
In physics classes, they teach the “power formula”, which is “work x distance”. For the Keiser bikes this means “gear x cadence”. Keep the same gear and increase your cadence, you increase your power. Keep the same cadence and increase your gear, you increase your power. It’s possible to reduce your gear and increase your cadence and stay at the same power output.
Ok, great, we now have yet another new number to look at on the bike computer. What good is it? There are two ways to use your power reading:
* Track your progress over time
* Give yourself a goal.
Let’s look at that first one. As you get fitter, your muscles can generate more power before tiring. Your muscles will complain if you try to generate too much power, usually by burning and eventually refusing to work. During classes you can find your comfort zone for power, and then push that envelope to develop strength. Before you know it you can crank out higher wattages. You can see your improvement by recording your average watt numbers after each workout. To see your average wattage, stop pedaling for 5 seconds and then look at the bike computer. It’ll blink the average watts on the display. Record it and watch it over time.
The much more interesting tool, at least for me, is using power for goal-setting. Gino has calculated that for doing outside riding on the Western Pennsylvania hills (not rail-trails), you need to be able to produce, and sustain, at least one watt per pound of body weight (plus weight of your bike, tools, water, snacks, jewelry, small dogs, etc). This will give you enough power to lift you and the bike against the force of gravity.
I have a ways to go before I can sustain one watt per pound. The ways to address this is to lose weight, so I have less to lug up hills, and also to generate more power. I’m working on both of these.
Remember the Zone talk from last time? There are Zones for power stuff too. This is new exciting stuff that Gino is building here at Global Ride, taking the Heart Zones principles and applying them to power. He’s come up with three zones, called Sustainability, Climbing and Explosive. The Sustainable Power Zone is what you should be able to maintain for 20 minutes or more. The Climbing Zone is what you can sustain for about 5 minutes, and the Explosive Zone is for really working yourself hard. As you progress through these power zones, generating more power, you can handle more outdoor cycling situations. You can track your progress from flats, to rail-trail, small hills, rollers, and so on.
Periodically some of Gene’s regular classes become “threshold tests”. These help identify where your current fitness lies in the Power Zones. You start with a 20 minute warmup, then choose a target wattage and see if you can sustain it for an amount of time. It’s no fun doing math in your head (so what is 60% of 1 watt per pound of your particular weight), so there are little printouts that show the actual wattage numbers for each Power Zone for your weight. There are also little clipboards to hold the printouts, and little lights to help you see the little clipboards.
Taken independently, the heart zones and power training are pretty powerful. But when you combine them… Well, that’s the subject for next time. Stay tuned.
Comments
Post your comment and receive 1 Cycling Fusion point towards FREE cycling DVDs!!
Info on Cycling Fusion's point promotion can be found here.
