The ultimate benefit of riding with power comes from the fact that unlike speed or cadence, power is not affected by hills, wind, terrain or other environmental factors.
It’s only within the last 15 or so years that power meters have become more accessible to non-professional athletes, and in recent years the terms like “power” and “watts” have steadily worked their way into the everyday cyclist’s vocabulary.
The popularity of virtual training apps, like Zwift and Rouvy, have a lot to do with this. Power output is part of the experience, enough so that even without a power meter or smart trainer, their algorithms are able to calculate power based on the bike trainer being used or the speed of the rider. This interest in power training has been on the incline since the first introduction of power meters came onto the scene in 1998. With power, one constant remains – the fact that power is the most accurate and reliable way to measure cycling intensity.
Why Train with a Power Meter?
Most training systems only allow you to measure your body’s response to an effort. The actual amount of work you perform remains a mystery – or at best, an estimate. When power becomes the training measurement, the training itself can become more effective.
Now that you’ve determined your FTP, and understand what it is you need to do maintain an accurate threshold, you can calculate your training zones. Power-derived training zones are what you’ll use for every workout and ride to decipher how intense the ride was, and whether the planned intent of the ride or workout was achieved.
Zones allow you to establish the appropriate intensity to induce the adaptation necessary for aerobic, metabolic, and muscular development. Power zones also further highlight the importance of an accurate and up to date FTP. There are several different zone structures available for athletes to use, but ultimately the more detailed and accurately the zones reflect your physiology the better. Below is one example of a seven zone format that can be used:
| Zone 1 | Active Recovery (AR) | < 55% of FTP |
| Zone 2 | Endurance | 56%-75% of FTP |
| Zone 3 | Tempo | 76%-90% of FTP |
| Zone 4 | Lactate Threshold | 91%-105% of FTP |
| Zone 5 | VO2max | 106%-120% of FTP |
| Zone 6 | Anaerobic Capacity (AC) | 121%-150% of FTP |
| Zone 7 | Neuromuscular Power (NP) | Maximal Power |
Training with Power
The overall reason to purchase a power meter is to enhance your training and improve your fitness. So, how do you go about training with power? The variations of workouts that can be performed are endless, but there are several key areas that you can focus on to elicit the greatest response;
| Steady State Tempo | Tempo workouts are the foundation for most cyclists, especially those looking to increase muscular endurance and/or those training for longer endurance events. Tempo workouts occur between 76 percent and 88 percent of FTP, and should be long sustained efforts lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. |
| Sweet Spot Training | These efforts are performed at 88 percent to 94 percent of your FTP and are a great way to strengthen and build your FTP. Typically they’re performed earlier in the season, or mid-season to rebuild toward priority races. The duration of Sweet Spot intervals can vary depending on the athlete, but the goal should be to extend the duration and number of intervals throughout the season. |
| Threshold | Threshold workouts are meant to directly improve your FTP and should be completed at 96 percent to 105 percent of your FTP. These should take you to your limit. Much like Sweet Spot intervals, the goal is to increase the length of time you can spend at this level. Typically these FTP-specific efforts build off the time you’ve spent training in your Sweet Spot. |
| VO2Max | These efforts are often the focus for traditional criterium and road racers looking to improve sprint and lead out performance. Lasting from three to eight minutes, they’re very challenging and should be planned for accordingly, as they require proper recovery upon completion of the workout. Depending on the duration of the interval, the intensity may range from 105 percent to 120 percent of FTP. These are valuable when matching race specificity for climbs, sprints, etc. |
Analysing and Tracking Training
Power-based training is only as good as your (or your coaches, if you have a coach), ability to track and analyse it. To get the benefits of training with a power meter you have to analyse your workouts and chart your progress over time. Again, the beauty of training and racing with power is our ability to quantify the effort and assign values to it. Here a some key areas to focus on when it comes to analysis:
Key Metrics
Often times the barrier to entry for athletes that are new to training with power can be the learning curve as it relates to power-based metrics. Yes, it’s true that there are a lot of metrics and numbers that an athlete can pay attention to, but here a some of the most important ones:
| Watts per Kilogram (W/KG) | All things equal, the rider with the highest will be the fastest. Simply put, it is how much power you produce per kilogram of body weight. The higher the number is, the stronger you’ll be. |
| Normalized Power (NP) | Due to the inherently variable nature of cycling, NP is a better representation of how metabolically challenging a workout was. It takes carbohydrate burning power surges into account and thus highlights the overall fatigue of the ride better than average power. |
| Intensity Factor (IF) | Threshold workouts are meant to directly improve your FTP and should be completed at 96 percent to 105 percent of your FTP. These should take you to your limit. Much like Sweet Spot intervals, the goal is to increase the length of time you can spend at this level. Typically these FTP-specific efforts build off the time you’ve spent training in your Sweet Spot. |
| Training Stress Score (TSS) | TSS measures the total workload of a ride. TSS quantifies how much work was done, and thus how much recovery is needed. Training Stress Score is important to track over time because it drives both fitness and fatigue, which in turn tells you how prepared for a race you are. |
| Peak Power | Tracking your peak power numbers for key durations will help you not only see how you’re improving, but also ensure your training is matching the demands of your racing. As a rule of thumb if you’re focused on shorter and more intense races you should see higher peak powers for shorter durations, and more endurance focused athletes should focus on longer durations. |
Training with power, no matter the ride or race, is extremely valuable to athletes at all levels.
The ability to quantify and track efforts, as well as to make individualized training prescriptions ensures that you’re getting the most out of your training time. There’s a lot that goes into training successfully with a power meter, but in the end if you grasp a few basic concepts you’ll be ready to begin. Make sure your FTP is accurate and take the time to review and analyse both your workouts and races. Successful athletes are always looking to improve, and training with power is the best way to make sure it happens.
