Bike Forums - Will a Power Meter help me?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JetBadger (Post 19204323)

Andrew Coggan (of TrainingPeaks) consults for stride.

Just an FYI: I don't work for TrainingPeaks, and never have. You are correct, however, in stating that I am a consultant for Stryd.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan333SP (Post 19199602)

You're holding over 180 bpm for 2.5 hours at a time? That's insane.

i do this. 3 hr ride, 175-180avg, 200+ peak. prob 185 RMS.

im not fast but my ticker is

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy (Post 19199827)

Everyone's HR is higher running than cycling. There's more whole-body muscular activity when running and that increases HR at the same intensity, intensity being measured compared to LTHR. LTHR is higher running. Whether you get a power meter or go by HR, you have to go through the same process of examining your data to set training zones or targets. Your running experience is of little value for that, since your HR will be different and you don't measure power when running.

Personally, I've found HR to be a fine measure for incorporating varied training activities Though each different activity uses different HR zones, I can set up the various zones vs. activities in TrainingPeaks to give me comparable numbers for training stress. IME measuring training stress is the most help when trying to modulate training. Joe Friel's Quick Guide to Setting Zones | TrainingPeaks

That said, I believe you can also figure training stress similarly between running and cycling by using power for cycling and pace for running, though running pace in hilly terrain will be very inaccurate, while HR will be quite accurate.

It can seem difficult to get one's HR up when one is very conditioned. I've found that it helps a great deal to do some early ride spin-ups/power intervals, say two 1-minute hard high cadence efforts with 5 minutes between.

Other commenters' admonishments about maintaining a high cycling cadence are well taken. 85-95 is usual for the flat and 75-85 usual when climbing. I'm not a tri guy, but I think 90 cadence is common for the bike leg.

More tri information in the Triathlon Forum.

About 15 years ago due to back problems, I had to transfer from running to biking. For the first probably whole summer (and that was riding at least 5 days a week), I couldn't get the same level of cardio workout in because my legs were the limiting factor. I found my most efficient cadence in cycling during those first years was around 110 rpm where as these days, I feel 90rpm is my sweet spot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicmaster (Post 19204492)

..
I think with cycling, there's a clear use for power and a clear correlation for both your fitness level and for training goals. With running, it just isn't that clear right now. As you stated, more power isn't always better, and less power isn't always better either. So when it's not always either or, then how do you write a training plan based on a power number? I think as time goes on, there will be a lot more analysis on the subject. But in its current state, I really don't think it's worth the $$$ right now until they can reliably create a training plan focused around the power numbers.

I think there are enough canned training plans that you could basically pick from a menu of objectives and level of fitness. But in your case there are certain things that need to happen physiologically for your cycling fitness to catch up with your highly trained running ability. I'd guess, and there are some here who could tell you for sure, that you could set up a plan based on total stress to keep you from trying to get up to speed too quickly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetBadger (Post 19204323)

I will be interested to see how run power gets integrated into programs like TrainingPeaks and onto head units like Garmin to provide realtime feedback and post run analysis. Once those principals start to become better understood I think we will see run power meters take off.

I know that Suunto watches have supported running power for years. Garmins still don't. You can go for a run and record it as a bike ride, and your Garmin watch will record power, but then not record other run-specific metrics. There are third party apps for Garmin watches to work with Stryd, but Garmin's API is limited from what I've heard. That might have been fixed, I really don't know. They don't support it natively though.