TRIATHLON

The Benefits of Power - an athlete's perspective

By Jamie Whyte

Cycling power meters have been revolutionising the way triathletes train and race for the past decade.

Most triathletes are probably well aware of what a power meter is and if not, you wouldn’t have to look far to find stacks of advertising into why we should all be training and racing with power meters.

There is plenty of scientific evidence out there to suggest that, with the correct application, power meters can help us improve performance.

That said, there is lots of scientific evidence (or elaborate marketing) to suggest racing in compression socks improves performance by some outlandish percentage, although many of us race without compression socks.

So do we buy into the marketing and science behind power meters and invest thousands of dollars into a number we are going to chase around all day?

It will depend on the individual and the type of training they do, but in my opinion for Ironman athletes I would say yes.

But not necessarily because of all the scientific benefits and marketing that we are confronted with.

I believe that for every marketing spin that is used to encourage us to use power meters, there are just as many intrinsic benefits that can bring a new level of focus and enjoyment to training.

They also provide a forum for performance feedback and progression and encourage the development of sustained endurance.

So I am not about to probe you with any more marketing jargon about how a power meter can make you a better athlete, but share some of the positive experiences I have found with using a power meter.

The first benefit I found using a power meter was being more at ease chasing the power metric as opposed to heart rate.

Traditionally I would carry out a set of intervals based on heart rate zones.

I found heart rate to be variable from day to day in relation to perceived effort.

This often caused frustration while doing intervals as my heart rate was not always where it was supposed to be, either above or below the target zone.

I would tend to ride hard early in intervals to push my heart rate up into the zone and then ease back once the heart rate levels out.

But I have found working to a power window a much more natural way of completing intervals to a set effort zone.

From the first few pedal strokes you can quickly get a feel of the amount of effort required for that power range.

You can then settle into good rhythm and start to tap out a constant effort without having to chase your heart rate around.

The heart rate will then follow a natural and gradual increase in line with fatigue if holding a constant power range.

So a power meter can provide a more simple and constant metric to follow which has helped increase the quality of training.

A quality focus often means the training quantity can be decreased which is important for those that have limited training time.

A quality set of intervals in a three hour ride can provide as much endurance benefits of a general four hour ride.

But just slapping a power meter on your bike and riding is not going to make the improvements.

It needs to be applied correctly to have the positive effects.

This may mean you will need either a good coach who understands the application of a power meter into a training regime or a good understanding of this application yourself.

In my opinion a knowledgeable coach is the way to go, but if you choose otherwise, there is plenty of interesting reading out there on the use of power meters and how to use them effectively.

So a quality workout or race is completed while using a power device.

Now comes the fun part for the tri nerds out there who love looking at numbers and graphs.

A power meter provides a simple tool for measuring performance gains and tracking your progress towards a target race.

Same interval workout or time trial two weeks apart – same power output on both weeks but lower heart rate on the second week equals a fitness adaptation to the first session.

Pretty simple stuff really.

So I have found several positive benefits in both training with a power meter and receiving feedback from the data via a knowledgeable coach but the thing I have found most valuable is that it encourages the development of sustained endurance.

Sustained endurance is a very important part of any long distance triathlon.

180km is a long way and we need good sustained endurance to get ourselves through the last 60kms.

Fatigue and fall apart here, and it can be a slow grind back to T2.

But continue to sustain power all the way through to T2 and you will deliver yourself there faster and in a better state of mind for the run.

Of course there are many athletes out there that are naturally strong and do not require power meters to develop their endurance but for me the power meter has been an influential tool in developing extra endurance for the final push to T2.

In the initial phases of an interval, or set of intervals, a constant wattage goal may often be very achievable but as fatigue sets in, the perceived effort begins to increase.

If we were chasing a sustained heart rate zone, our power output would begin to diminish as the cardiac drift sets in with the fatigue.

But when using a power meter, we are encouraged to hang on to the same output and finish the interval off well.

This teaches the body to continue to stay strong and powerful when fatiguing.

This can only be a good adaptation both physically and mentally to carry across to Ironman racing.

Every now and then it is also refreshing to switch off from the power number.

Easy rides and bunch rides are good times to forget about power output and just ride.

Also during race day there may be times when you need to forget about power and race the race.

Race day is all about getting from A to B as fast as possible and as efficiently as possible.

Therefore it is still important to read the race situation as opposed to reading your power output.

If you do this, you can also gather some really useful information about the level of power you need to push during the different phases of the race which can then be mimicked in future build ups to prepare the body for race day again.

So in summary I think a power meter is a good investment if you are spending lots of time on the bike and looking for something new to bring quality into your training.

But at the same time you probably need to give some careful consideration into how you will apply it to your training programme.

It is the application of the device that makes it useful.

Hopefully this has been a useful insight into some more subtle benefits of using a power meter.

As mentioned earlier training with power meters might not be for everyone.

The cost is the first thing to consider and it is worth giving thought to how it will complement the type of training you do.

If you like bunch riding with a group the device is probably going to be less helpful.

Sure you will get feedback on your power output for a ride but the power meter is probably more suited to an athlete who is more goal orientated in their training, likes to track progress leading up to key events and particularly for those who like to drool over numbers and graphs!