This has come up before as responses to how to get faster on the bike split, and several people have suggested getting a power meter. I understand that a power meter measures how much effort you are putting into pedalling. etc. Ie. when biking into the wind you slow down but your effort stays the same. But I don’t understand how buying a power meter will make someone faster on the bike. Can anyone explain how using a power meter makes you faster. The theory behind it etc. Thanks so much.
This has come up before as responses to how to get faster on the bike split, and several people have suggested getting a power meter. I understand that a power meter measures how much effort you are putting into pedalling. etc. Ie. when biking into the wind you slow down but your effort stays the same. But I don’t understand how buying a power meter will make someone faster on the bike. Can anyone explain how using a power meter makes you faster. The theory behind it etc. Thanks so much.
Read this:
http://www.amazon.com/Training-Racing-Power-Meter-Hunter/dp/1934030554
Better training quality = better fitness.
More accurate way to monitor effort = more even pacing during race.
Both give you a better bike split.
Throwing a power meter on your bike doesn’t automatically make you fast. A power meter allows you to train more specifically and grow stronger, thus making your faster. If you’re not willing to invest the time to learn how to effectively use a power meter as a training tool its just a toy.
It doesn’t make you faster. It’s a feedback tool. It’s up to the athlete to interpret the data & train more effectively.
Summary:
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Racing with a power meter potentially allows you to pace better.
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Training with a power meter gives you better information during
and after rides that potentially allows you to train better.
Read the books and stuff for the details of how/why. Clearly how
you use the information matters; if you just ignore the data a
power meter doesn’t help a bit.
Would you train in the pool without a stopwatch / clock? A power meter is just giving you the same info on a bike, where speed / time information doesn’t provide a fixed reference for your performance because of variable conditions and terrain.
That makes sense. At the risk of highjacking this thread, why then is pace considered by many to be so much better for run training than HR? Isn’t pace really just a cycling computer for running, in other words, it gives speed/time information which doesn’t consider variable conditions and terrain? Wouldn’t a HR monitor be more like a power meter, in that it gives an idea of effort, which takes into account conditions and terrain?
BTW, I’m not directing this at you per se, since you didn’t even mention running, but I’ve been curious about this, and it seemed like a good time to bring it up.
Because they are expensive - ANYTHING you buy for triathlon makes you faster - the more you spend, the faster you get.
Heart rate is delayed and a secondary/tertiary measurement of work already done. Heart rate also allows non effort factors to creep into the mix (overtrained, dehydrated, temperature, etc.)
Power > Rate (speed/distance) > Heart rate
Good to have all 3 but it is crucial to understand what each measures and is telling you. In running winds play less of a factor than pacing on a bike so until we can accurately measure “power” on the run pace is the best we have.
Just eat Spanish beef
.
But isn’t power on the bike also affected by overtraining, dehydration, temperature, etc.?
It just seems to me that HR is more similar to power on the run than pace, because HR is affected by wind, going up hill, or just having a bad day. I realize there is a delay, but when I used to run with a HR monitor, if I hit a big hill and tried to keep the pace the same, my HR went up quickly. Pace on the run seems to be the same as speed on the bike. Do you just say, I’m gonna run at 7:30 pace, regardless of the conditions I encounter? I guess there is a way to adjust the pace based on the conditions I mentioned above?
I ask these questions because I’m considering getting a GPS for pace on the run, but I’m not sure how to adjust pacing for different conditions. I know I can, and should, go to the McMillan Pace Calculator to get my pace for different workouts based on a race time, but surely that pace must be adjusted for varying conditions.
Thanks.
You will also want to know how a power meter makes you faster on the run.
But isn’t power on the bike also affected by overtraining, dehydration, temperature, etc.?
It just seems to me that HR is more similar to power on the run than pace, because HR is affected by wind, going up hill, or just having a bad day. I realize there is a delay, but when I used to run with a HR monitor, if I hit a big hill and tried to keep the pace the same, my HR went up quickly. Pace on the run seems to be the same as speed on the bike. Do you just say, I’m gonna run at 7:30 pace, regardless of the conditions I encounter? I guess there is a way to adjust the pace based on the conditions I mentioned above?
Bike power (i.e. the power supplied to the machine) is not affected by these factors. Your ability to produce said power is affected, but the power meter doesn’t care about how you feel.
Run pacing is more often an average value than a realtime metric. Holding a constant pace across variable terrain is good for interval-type training, but it’s not really an effective training or racing technique. On the flipside, HR can give you a better sense of consistent effort, but it tends to lie a bit when you need it most. Your body adapts and compensates for changes in effort much faster than your HR, so by the time your HRM “informs” you to slow down much of the damage is already done.
This has come up before as responses to how to get faster on the bike split, and several people have suggested getting a power meter. I understand that a power meter measures how much effort you are putting into pedalling. etc. Ie. when biking into the wind you slow down but your effort stays the same. But I don’t understand how buying a power meter will make someone faster on the bike. Can anyone explain how using a power meter makes you faster. The theory behind it etc. Thanks so much.
i read the book
i got a power meter
i analized the data
i raced/trained with it for ~1year
i just sold it.
a power meter doesn’t make ME faster… but it tells me how much work i have done. but my legs, lungs, times, body comp, heart, and brain are all there to tell ME the same thing. after a year on the meter, i could tell what numbers i was going to see before i looked down and saw them.
This has come up before as responses to how to get faster on the bike split, and several people have suggested getting a power meter. I understand that a power meter measures how much effort you are putting into pedalling. etc. Ie. when biking into the wind you slow down but your effort stays the same. But I don’t understand how buying a power meter will make someone faster on the bike. Can anyone explain how using a power meter makes you faster. The theory behind it etc. Thanks so much.
As Mayhew might say, “Dude, it’s a power meter not a bolt-on motor.”
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it can allow you to improve the way you train
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it can allow you to pace yourself better in races
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it can allow you to test equipment or position changes (if you are very very careful)
This has come up before as responses to how to get faster on the bike split, and several people have suggested getting a power meter. I understand that a power meter measures how much effort you are putting into pedalling. etc. Ie. when biking into the wind you slow down but your effort stays the same. But I don’t understand how buying a power meter will make someone faster on the bike. Can anyone explain how using a power meter makes you faster. The theory behind it etc. Thanks so much.
“after a year on the meter, i could tell what numbers i was going to see before i looked down and saw them.”
You know what…I tend to agree with this. I will say that sometimes if my mind drifts during intervals, I will drop in power, so it helps to keep my workouts focused a the proper level.
I do Short Course racing, Sprint and Olympic. I use the power meter when racing. I look down every once in a while to see where I’m at power wise, but honestly, I’m going full balls to the wall anyway so it’s pretty much useless to me for racing.
For me the biggest difference, not the only difference, is for pacing during the bike on 70.3 races or longer. I always went too hard and was not evenly paced, too big an effort in some spots. With a controlled pace, my run times have improved considerably. Bike times are about the same or slightly faster. So, I went too hard on bike before, not now.
I do not use it for shorter races (I look at it after the race).
Training ride- I now have efforts that I can compare, match, go harder or easier as the plan dictates. I feel heart rate was not nearly as effective for me. I do keep an eye on heart rate too during long rides, but just as a secondary/additional info.
Very valuable!
so you 30 second power is the same as your 30 minute power is the same as your 1 hour power?
this would be perhaps unique among human beings.
if the power meter is useless for pacing its because you have enough experience with your distance that you know how to pace yourself by RPE.
then again you may be going out too hard and fading in the end…you can check that after that fact with… a power meter! =)
but honestly, I’m going full balls to the wall anyway so it’s pretty much useless to me for racing.