Want to ride like a pro? Concentrate on watts, not weight

[Rob3rt]

Don't rely on Strava power estimates, they are not accurate. Weighted Average Power shown will be with a power meter of some sort.

Weighted average power is also not a true average power, it is not the average power produced, it is an estimate of what the athlete would have done, had they held a constant (steady state) power and is based on the Normalised Power concept afaik.

 

[50000tears]

Depending on who you are listening too it takes anything from 5 to 7 years to reach the physical peak of your powers in cycling. This is not just 7 years of cycling but 7 years of sustained and continual improvement. After that you can still improve for a few years by developing better race craft etc.

The reality is that Ben Swift and the other top pros have both the genetic physical traits that make up top performers and also the drive and structure around them to allow them to truly maximize their potential. Most of us, no matter how determined, will lack in some of the areas needed. Things like everyday work and family life will be a huge limiter, as will age for many, myself included. Having said that, whilst I have no idea what the power numbers would be, most guys given sufficient drive and commitment should be able to reach a very good level of cycling ability just by following some basic tried and tested training methods. As Robert said, it is the last few % of improvement that will always be hardest to attain.

 

[nickyboy]

Don't rely on Strava power estimates, they are not accurate. Weighted Average Power shown will be with a power meter of some sort.

Agree. But average 350W for 6 hours is a heck of a lot of watts, even allowing for rubbish Strava algorithms. I presume it is the same algorithm that gives me 175W so I guess he is pushing out double what I do. Either that or he was actually riding a moped.
I still suspect that there is a lot of relatively easy gain in terms of Watts output with a bit of structured training. Certainly easier than giving up beer and pies.

 

[Rob3rt]

Of course he is putting out impressive values, he is a pro tour rider.

That said, any comparison between measured and estimated power is utterly futile. Even comparison between 2 riders using power meters is more often than not misleading, due to calibration errors, type of power meter etc.

If he was riding with a power meter (likely) his weighted average power value is derived from measured data. The data estimated by Strava in absence of power data can easily be off by over 100W IME.

 

[Hacienda71]

One of the guys I ride with from here has just started using a power meter and he reckons Strava on average is about 25% to 30% out as a general rule. In terms of max efforts it is a joke. I did a ride the other day and Strava said I was putting out 850w for a minute plus. I wasn't.......

 

[zizou]

Of course it was ionly estimated by strava at 350 watts rather than measured then he might have been doing some motorpacing work before the world champs next week.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

Robert - I know you mentioned in an earlier post that increases in performance are very much an individual thing, but, without asking you to give away any 'trade secrets', how exactly were you able to increase your FTP figures so dramatically?

 

[GrasB]

One of the guys I ride with from here has just started using a power meter and he reckons Strava on average is about 25% to 30% out as a general rule. In terms of max efforts it is a joke. I did a ride the other day and Strava said I was putting out 850w for a minute plus. I wasn't.......

If you want a real giggle do a recumbent ride. At one point I was maintaining something like 3.9kW for a good 3-4 min. Only an order of magnitude out, I was in the high 300s.

 

[Rob3rt]

Robert - I know you mentioned in an earlier post that increases in performance are very much an individual thing, but, without asking you to give away any 'trade secrets', how exactly were you able to increase your FTP figures so dramatically?

I didn't do anything beyond employ traditional and well known sessions. Last year I just made sure I did 1 x Vo2 max session, 1 x Threshold Session & 1 x Tempo Session per week. I would also race ~2 times per week, a club 10 on a Monday and an Open event on a Saturday. On the remaining day's I'd either rest or do some relatively easy aerobic session, just riding on the turbo for 90 mins or so. This year my training was more structured and my individual training sessions different to last year, since I started working with a coach, however the basic premise remained the same.

I don't skip training sessions and when I train, I train, I don't piss about and if it is a hard session, I completely bury myself to hit the numbers, if it is an easy session, I take it nice and easy and don't let myself get carried away. I think this makes all the difference!

 

[jdtate101]

Hardest I ridden for a sustained period was 245W avg for 3hrs (recorded with a PM), so it's not impossible to put out good wattage as a "club" rider. However once you have reached a certain level it's much harder to improve without really targeted training and probably a coach. It is however easier to lose a few lbs which can make a MASSIVE difference to your speed especially in climbing and accelerations. The holy grail is of course to do both, lose weight and gain power.

 

[nickyboy]

Hardest I ridden for a sustained period was 245W avg for 3hrs (recorded with a PM), so it's not impossible to put out good wattage as a "club" rider. However once you have reached a certain level it's much harder to improve without really targeted training and probably a coach. It is however easier to lose a few lbs which can make a MASSIVE difference to your speed especially in climbing and accelerations. The holy grail is of course to do both, lose weight and gain power.

I wonder does a few lbs really make much difference? If you use the online calculators it suggests not. Of course if you're a hill climb competitor, then a second here or there really counts. But I still have the feeling that most cyclists (not the "well trained" ones") could gain most speed by focusing on improving Watts rather than reducing Lbs. Both is best of course, but I am talking about focus.

http://www.analyticcycling.com/ForcesSpeed_Page.html

 

[albion]

Don't rely on Strava power estimates, they are not accurate. Weighted Average Power shown will be with a power meter of some sort.

I quite imagine it was an estimate. It would have ignored any 30% gain slipstreaming and the same for tailwind. Strave might have even ignored his weight too.

For all we know the reality could have been 200 watts average.

 

[Rob3rt]

I quite imagine it was an estimate. It would have ignored any 30% gain slipstreaming and the same for tailwind. Strave might have even ignored his weight too.

For all we know the reality could have been 200 watts average.

Strava is explicit about what is, and what is not an estimate.

 

[Drago]

I think Nickyboy is wise. Too many eejuts obsess about component weight when it has zero impact on their performance, mainly because most riders themselves aren't themselves the prime weight for power and performance. If performance is your bag there are more important things to obsess over.

 

[50000tears]

I didn't do anything beyond employ traditional and well known sessions. Last year I just made sure I did 1 x Vo2 max session, 1 x Threshold Session & 1 x Tempo Session per week. I would also race ~2 times per week, a club 10 on a Monday and an Open event on a Saturday. On the remaining day's I'd either rest or do some relatively easy aerobic session, just riding on the turbo for 90 mins or so. This year my training was more structured and my individual training sessions different to last year, since I started working with a coach, however the basic premise remained the same.

I don't skip training sessions and when I train, I train, I don't **** about and if it is a hard session, I completely bury myself to hit the numbers, if it is an easy session, I take it nice and easy and don't let myself get carried away. I think this makes all the difference!

Looks like this equates to 5 hard sessions a week given that the two races you would presumably count as additional threshold sessions. If that is the case how did you prevent burnout?