Power Output - respectable?

tomUK

Hi,

I was wondering if someone would mind giving me advice. I recently borrowed my friends bike and he has a SRM power meter fitted and has just been tested for accuracy.

I'm 28 with a max HR of 184. Just recently I did a 45 minute ride and kept my HR between 110-120. My average turned out to be 119. My average wattage was 230W. What sort of figures do professionals get? I've been training for 8 years now and would like to know if my hard work is getting me anywhere close to the guys at the top!?!

cheers,
Tom.

J-MAT

Tom:

Sounds good to me. You averaged 230 watts and you still had 74-64 beats of HR left. You must have a lot of wattage potential.

You should borrow the bike again and do at least 30 minutes, preferrably 60 minutes and ride at a maximal pace for the duration. Look at your average heart rate and watts. That will really tell you where you are at.

A good pro can hold 400 watts for an hour and 300 watts for hours.

Better yet is a 10-25 mile TT. 19-20 minutes for a 10 or 48-50 minutes for a 25 would be a solid pro effort.

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VeloFlash

You can find researched comparative power outputs over various periods of effort from novices to world class riders at -

http://www.cyclingpeakssoftware.com/profile.html

yash

Dear Tom!

What you've written sounds impressive to me. 230W at 64,6% of your MHR means that you're able to sustain a lot larger load over a period of time. But how large exacly? As others say, must check if you wanna know. But you didn't mention your AT weight, which are very important. My HR at 230W would be bout 73% (checked) and my max power output is about 350-360W - can hold for few mins maybe 300-320W for an hour. I did measure it with a tacx ergo so it may be a bit innacurate, i did write it only to give a general idea. I train for three years about 10000km/year and i race XC and marathons. Check the TACX website,

http://www.tacx.nl/frameset.cfm?l=en&id=100

there you can find some intresting info. When you do more measurments, let us know. Its always intresting to talk about watts :-)

CHEERS
yash

sanmi

Dear Tom,

Those parameters sound good. But remember that after all your testing time was 45 min, and you´ll have to see your physiological behaviour in longer periods. It is very important to look at your Lactate metabolism during any test in order to find out your full potential. BTW. What is your weight?. It is important also, since in that kind of test you performed weight is very important. If you are 80Kg chances are you will do much better than someone who is 60 kg.

However I would tell you that those parameters look good. In laboratory tests, I have recorded data from many pro european cyclists and if this helps you, at a 64% of max HR, they are usually performing at an average of 50-60% of their Watts Max. Top pros usually in their low 50´s %.This tests are done in my laboratory and with an incremental protocol. Do an incremental protocol and find out your maximun wattage and find your Max Watt % at your 64% max HR. It would not be a decisive test to find out your full potential, but it would be a nice comparation with top pros.

Good luck

J-Law

Can you explain this protocol in more detail. I am interested in trying it and I don't understand exactly how you perform it. For example, do you take a raw figure for max wattage (off a PowerTap etc) or are you talking about the highest value in a ramp test, and if so, for what period of time etc. Then what do you compare?

Thanks

ric_stern/RST

I'm not sure of the exact protocol that Sanmi uses, but i recommend the mean average power of the final/best 60-secs of an incremental test to exhaustion, see http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=powerstern

Ric

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tomUK

Too add to my first post - I'm 67Kg.

I would like to get a accurate test done in lab conditions, where is the best place in the UK that anyone here has used?

Also, prior to this test - what should my week before training be? mostly 60-65% work? what should I eat and how much sleep should i be getting.

Cheers,
Tom.

ric_stern/RST

The nearest university with a sports science department that has accurately calibrated SRM cranks is a good starting point.

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2LAP

Send an e-mail to coaching@britishcycling.org.uk they have a list or you could contact BASES who also have a list of labs.

sanmi

Tom,

Nowadays many laboratories have new electrically braked cyclergometers like Lode (consider #1) or at least they should have friction braked cyclergometers like the famouse Monark. SRM system was validated in laboratory settings with both Lode and Monark cyclergometers.

About a protocol,

there are many. A simple one would be the typical ramp protocol which consists on increasing 25W every 3 min until exhaustion. In my opinion is not the best protocol but is good enaugh to get what you want.


good luck

J-Law

Thanks, but I still don't understand what you mean by

"at a 64% of max HR, they are usually performing at an average of 50-60% of their Watts Max."

J-Law

Thanks Ric- I had actually read that before and have that figure, and those zones. I was curious about the 64% reference and wanting to compare myself to the pros to see how badly my figures differed.

Congrats on your recent event btw !