1min power confusion

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i started working on my 1min power today and have found it dismally low. my W/kg was 5.62!!! granted, it was up quite a bit from two months ago (about 430W) but today was 452W on the first interval. now i understand that this is the first time i have done an "official" workout involving 1min interval and that i will improve with time, but how much time? the way i understand things, the anaerobic system is the easiest energy system to train. by "easy" i mean a little bit of training goes a long way. unlike the aerobic energy system that takes a great deal of time to improve significantly. so...........do all you folks experience rapid gains in 1min power ofter a few weeks of intervals? i have been told not to do more than 1 day a week of this type of training. thoughts?

I agree that anaerobic capacity is highly trainable. FWIW, I raised my 1min power from 375W to 576W in 4 months last year. I do L6 intervals about 4x per week. If I felt like pushing it, my max 1min power is probably 600W now.

i read (and posted) on a discussion about setting up a training schedule. but this kind of intensity 4x a week???? damn you must be a machine. since we all get stronger during recovery (not when working out), you must recover exceptionally well. do you think it is genetics? any other atheletes in your family? i remember you stating you are a cat4/masters, you must blow away a cat 4 field, why not go up a few cats? i would rather be cat 3 fodder than a cat 4 superman. thoughts?




I agree that anaerobic capacity is highly trainable. FWIW, I raised my 1min power from 375W to 576W in 4 months last year. I do L6 intervals about 4x per week. If I felt like pushing it, my max 1min power is probably 600W now.

i read (and posted) on a discussion about setting up a training schedule. but this kind of intensity 4x a week???? damn you must be a machine. since we all get stronger during recovery (not when working out), you must recover exceptionally well. do you think it is genetics? any other atheletes in your family? i remember you stating you are a cat4/masters, you must blow away a cat 4 field, why not go up a few cats? i would rather be cat 3 fodder than a cat 4 superman. thoughts?LOL. You're not the first to voice this sentiment, but my old training buddies in Boston would be rolling on the floor with laughter right now. When I started riding, within a month I was training with a pretty elite bunch of guys in the Boston area. We rode 60 miles/day M-F, ~20-25mph on the flats and attacked all the hills. If I didn't ride hard, I rode home alone. We sought out a race every weekend and if we couldn't find one we headed to NH to find some long climbs. Later, I realized I was riding with some of the best cyclists on the East Coast, but I was clueless at the time. Then I was off my bike for ~30 years due to life and when I started riding again last year I just wanted to push myself and find my limits. It turns out I have a high capacity for training. I have no idea where it comes from. Neither my parents nor my two brothers were exceptional athletes. I actually attribute it to my curiosity. I'm very curious to find my limits and I'm convinced that my mind is my main limiter rather than my body. I think the human body is an incredible machine, capable of more than probably any living person has ever attained. I think the most powerful performance-enhancing drug that will ever be invented will be the one that causes our brains to turn off the discomfort of intensity of effort. Then, we'll see 500+W FTPs.:D

I agree that anaerobic capacity is highly trainable. FWIW, I raised my 1min power from 375W to 576W in 4 months last year. I do L6 intervals about 4x per week. If I felt like pushing it, my max 1min power is probably 600W now.
Are you mixing different types of intervals in one workout?

Are you mixing different types of intervals in one workout?Sure, all the time. I tailor my high-intensity efforts to the terrain of my routes. I do L4s on the long climbs and long flats. I do L5s on the shorter climbs and flats. I do L6s on the shortest climbs. And I usually do a few L7s at the end of the ride. I know I should do the L7s when I am fresh, but I just don't much feel like it until my muscles get warm. Anyway, doing them at the end of a multi-hour ride is sort of fitting because that's when I will have to do them in a race. Also, my max 20sec power is sort of puny (~900W) and it doesn't seem to matter much whether I am fresh or tired. I try for a mix of 60/20/20 (L4/L5/L6), but due to the terrain I usually end up with something closer to 50/25/25.

I think the most powerful performance-enhancing drug that will ever be invented will be the one that causes our brains to turn off the discomfort of intensity of effort. Then, we'll see 500+W FTPs.:DAAHHHH! We may see 500+ FTPs, but also lots of exploding hearts!:eek:

Oh, and to add a constructive contribution to the thread....

When I began familiarizing myself with power training, my 5s, 5min and FTP were at similar points on power profile charts. My 1 min, however, was nearly 2 cat's lower!

Through more and more testing, I realized this was a matter of technique. The 1 min effort is described as hammering out of the saddle to get up to speed, then maintaining a maximum effort for the remainder of the 1 min. As a smaller rider, I have difficulty maintaining high wattages in the saddle. I employ a different method that results in higher average wattages over 1 min.

My 1 min max effort consists of a series of jumps...maybe 4 to 5 (i.e., I jump for 8-10 seconds, hammer in the saddle for 5-7 seconds, and repeat 4-5 times). IIRC, my 1 min average increased by about 15% using this technique.

I'm not sure what this says about me as an athlete. Maybe I have a weakness in high-intensity in-the-saddle efforts that, if addressed, could result in a much higher 1 min max.:confused:

Maybe try it on a hill, with fewer jumps.

As a smaller rider, your weakness will be developing this power on the flats. I know where you're coming from. But it is trainable, and you must train it if you're going to follow the attacks in races. I'm starting to believe in breaking efforts down into components, so if you're doing sprints and longer (1-2 min) L6 efforts you will improve your 1 minute power.

Now, we don't train simply to register a number over 1 minute so that you can brag about it over the internet (BTW I'm 590W, 8.7w/kg :-). But I have found that bringing this up (I had a TTer's profile...without being a good TTer!) made me a much better racer.