Power training: where do we start?

What power meter do I choose? Which one is more suitable for my characteristics? What do I need to know when starting to use it?

 

Surely at this time of year, with the season already started by almost all the Duathletes and Triathletes, we already know how we are going to organize the season and there will be many who will have decided that on the bike, in addition to the heart rate and the subjective perception of the effort (RPE), they will use the POWER TRAINING after seeing what are its characteristics that define it and endow it as a better tool in most cases than the rest as we saw in the previous article of the training by power . Surely more than one has been in doubt as you are:

"This power training seems to be very good but I still have the following questions: What power meter do I choose? Which one is more suited to my characteristics? What should I know when I start using it? What will be the gain in time that I will have when going from training by power to training by pulse? Will it be complicated to use? "

"POWER WITHOUT CONTROL IS USELESS, APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE "

Throughout the following articles we are going to give you a series of tips (which in the first part are personal opinions and therefore debatable, we encourage you to comment and debate with us !!) where you can make the election easier, help you start using it and solve your doubts regarding performance. Go for it.

Power training in cycling and triathlon

 

Power data to be in the TOP10 of Hawaii extracted from publications in SRM, TP and Strava post Ironman '14. Photography @ trimarket.com

 

First of all, what power meter should I choose?

               With this question it is obvious that the first answer should be that we have to choose the one that fits our budget since we can find a power meter from 500 € to more than 2000 € therefore the first choice will have a good part economic

               Once we know the investment we want to make we must know that we have different options and, without mentioning brands, we will say that we can choose between different options depending on the location of the same on our bike:

1-. Hub power meters: those that we all know and that are installed inside the hub of the rear wheel measuring the amount of force that we transmit through the assembly Pedals-Chain-Cassette, to the core of the rear wheel and that will be measured so that we see in our cyclocomputer (either of the same brand or compatible). It would be the well-known Powertap system of the company Tamalpais that incorporate its Joule computer.

2-. Power meters in connecting rods: are those used by commercial teams such as Team Sky (Stages Powermeter), Etixx Quick Step (4iiii) or Lampre Merida (Rotor) whose reading is done by measuring the deformation of the rod (Stages) itself or its bottom bracket (Rotor) a precise way and in some occasions contributing even the balance between legs and even the moment of forces during the pedaling (Rotor Power cranks). These data, if we know how to use are of great importance because they provide the balance that exists between our pedaling left and right, a priori, a marker that the more balanced there is a lower risk of injury and better performance (although I do not know if there are studies to support it).

3-. Power meters in the crank spider: also used very often in the cyclist squad by teams like Movistar Team (Power2max) or Giant Alpecin and Team Lotto NL-Jumbo (Pionner), here we also have an option that measures data from both legs although the budget is higher than in the previous options.

4-. Pedal power meters: perhaps a system that was expected much more, with which the major brands of FC measurement as Polar and Garmin overturned at the beginning but that may be one of the least used, not in itself by bad measurements but by the price because it can cost more than double that of a connecting rod or bushing. It is a meter that also travels the cycling squad with equipment such as the Garmin Cannondale (Pedal Garmin Vector) and that, if we adapt both taste and economically, gives us very good data since it measures balance between legs.

Also through a new Shimano system that takes relatively little time in the market we can even adjust the cove and check the direction of the ascending and descending forces that we apply in each pedalada (in this case started to be used by some biomechanics to improve the feedback of the what the athlete is doing on the bike).

5-. Other measurement systems: less known but also provide us with this fact that we seek and can be installed from a screw that is placed on the thread of the crank with the pedal (Limits), a force detector system used between the calla and the sole of the shoe for Speedplay (Brim Brothers) or even in process in the shoe itself (Luck). In the coming months and years, we are sure that the evolution will be brutal in this sector (and hopefully also the drop in prices).

Power training in cycling and triathlon

 

Photographs illustrating the different systems chosen by professionals

 

Found the power meters, also knowing their characteristics and having seen several models that would adapt to our budget, which is the most appropriate to our characteristics?

               Well, here once again we can make a new division that brings us closer to the most performance we will get, this opinion is completely subjective but perhaps more valid than that we can provide those who live on their sale or dimes and diretes de los grupetas.

               CASE 1: Cyclists who only have a bicycle, exclusive short-distance triathletes or triathletes who only use goat to train since "they are long distances" (undesirable thing, by the way).

The most convenient are those that are installed on cranks, spiders and / or pedals since with this choice they will have no problem when changing wheels either by the fact of training on the roller, or by using an exclusive game to compete either by choice based on the weather or orography.

For them, cranks, spider and pedals will be, in my opinion, the most suitable.

               CASE 2: Cyclists who live outside the home and have several bicycles, triathletes that compete in both short and long distance and long distance triathletes who also do road bike training.

In this case the best options are the most interchangeable systems such as pedals that with a torque wrench can change in minutes of bicycle or wheel with power hub to change between bikes because, honestly, a change of cranks weekly I do not think we want the majority.

Another option for those who do the training at home on a roller and who only use a bike to train on the road and compete would be using a roller with power measurement, advising a proper zone adjustment that we will discuss in a following article.

For them, pedals, hub and / or roller with own power measurement.

 

Summarizing…..

At this point, the choice of the power meter should be easier than before and we leave you with honey on the lips to continue reading in the next article where we will explain a basic configuration of your watch, what data are the first about those who work and how we see our training in the applications that we usually have available.

This will be the previous step to get into the world of TRAINING FOR POWER that we will see embodied in a series of articles as a guide to follow indicated from beginners to experts in the subject who want to remember or expand knowledge.

And remember, if you have doubts or do not enter within the proposed cases, do not hesitate to comment and we will help you!

 

J. Luis Caballero

Triathlon Coach - FTCV

Email: contact[at]behealth[point]es

 

Photo: blog.zitasport.com

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