Power is an output. Just like speed or pace, it’s a result of the effort, or stress, that you put your body through. And similar to all outputs, it’s absolute. In fact that’s one of the talking points that the uber powermeter crowd touts. A watt is a watt. I would agree. Most outputs are. A pace is a pace, a mph is a mph. BUT, and this is a big but, your body’s ability to produce that watt is variable. And therin lies rub #1.

A lot of the discussion out there is that a power meter is more accurate than a heart rate monitor, so just training via power  alone is a better way to go. I gotta say, that statement doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me. That’s like saying the fuel gage in your car is more accurate than the temperature gage. They measure 2 entirely different things. Powermeters measure the power that your body has generated. Heartrate measures the stress your body is under while you produce that power. So if you leave the heart rate monitor at home for your next ride or race and simply go by the goal wattage that you have calculated for the event, you may be setting yourself up for a tough day. This is because 250 watts in hour 1 in comfortable weather is much different that 250 watts in hour 5 in the heat. It’s these slow changes over time that make it so critical to have an eye on your body while you have the other on the power.

Another problem you run into is the need for constant testing if you want to do it right. Since a watt has no connection with effort of the body, your improvement will be tougher to recognize without constant testing. For instance, lets take our fictional athete Joe. He does a threshold test for power and comes up with a wattage of 100. So he builds a training plan around that wattage and follows it to the T.  After a couple weeks of training though, his body has adapted and improved. So now his effort level has dropped well below what it was intended to maintain the test goal power. Because of lower effort levels his improvement stagnates some. The next test shows that his power has increased to 150.  So somewhere along the way he should have increased the ride wattage to keep up with his improvement. Without testing though, it’d only be a guess. 

Now take Larry who trains wattage and heart rate, but does his threshold tests based on heart rate. So Larry finds that at his threshold heart rate of of 150 he is crankin out 100 watts as well. Larry follows his plan just as religiously, except Larry’s wattage increases througout the training cycle as he maintains the goal heart rates. The next time Larry tests he finds that his his threshold heart rate has increased to 152, but his wattage at that effort level is now 165. Larry’s rate of improvement is faster because he’s monitoring both the stress of the work and the output of that stress.

The other big problem with training exclusively with watts has less to do with the technology and more with the approach. If you look through the training practices, you’ll see that there are goal and average wattages that tested for. So Joe buys a powermeter, tests for his functional threshold power (ftp) and finds an average or goal power for any given distance. So far so good, but the next part is the problem. Once given the average power, Joe tries to stay at that average regardless of terrain. So he ends up riding  easier than normal up the hill and then harder than normal on the descent.  On the surface, not a big deal, but add in aerodynamics and wind resistance and the worm starts to turn. The air resistance on the climb is much different than the descent not to mention the gravitational resistance.  So while power is much more important on the climb, Joe eases up, and when aerodynamics are much more important on the descent, Joe pushes harder. Need an example? Where is the Tour de France won and lost? The mountains. An not just the mountains, but the climbs. If you have 2 riders exactly the same size, and both average 250 watts for a ride, they should have the same time, right? Wrong.

Take rider A, who does just as I mentioned earlier. His goal for average watts is 250, so he keeps that wattage across the entire ride. Up hill, downhill, flats, whatever. His effort is balanced and his ride seems strong. Well done.

Now take rider B, who rides the exact same course and averages the exact same wattage, but takes into account all aspects of the ride. On the climbs when he can get the most power bang for his buck, he pushes 350 watts instead of 250. While this is a bit more tiring, he also makes huge ground on rider A. With little air resistance climbing, all that added power translates directly into speed. Then, rider B only puts up 150 watts on the descent, and at times, even coasts. Why? because the air resistence is exponentially stiffer as speed increases, so with a focus on aerodynamics and rest, rider B only loses a small amount of time to rider A and is able to fully recover.

"The Look"

Now the real world example (although admittedly a bit extreme). Watch a mountain stage of the Tour de France. All the moves are made on the uphill because the power output most directly influences the pace. Once you’re dropped, it’s pretty much over. Sure, riders can make up some time on the downhill, but it’s incredibly small by comparision, even if the wattage is considerably greater than your compeition. You could even call it return on investment.  So while you kill it on the downhill and get a small return, your competition is banking that effort for the uphill, where they will get a huge return by comparison.

So if you get more bang for your buck generating more power on the uphill, how can you tell when more power is too much power for you to handle? That great big red thing between your boobies. Strap on a heart rate monitor my friend, and find out how much stress your putting on yourself.

Power on Wayne. Power on Garth.

Dryland Exercises

• Dips – A dip bar in a weight room is the most obvious choice, but if you are at the house then a bench/chair will work great. Position your hands at the edge of the bench with torso straight, bend only at the hips and legs straight. Start with straight arms and lower your body until your elbow is bent to at least a 90 degree angle. Be sure each rep is done with a full range of motion. As you progress and you need more resistance, place a weight in your lap.
• 
• 
  
• Jump rope – If you are thinking this is the same type of jumping rope as you did in elementary school (Cindrella dressed in yella..), think again. This is the Rocky Balboa version. Start with a leather rope and jump for 3 minutes with 2 minutes rest, or 500 successful jumps for time. As you progress, add a weighted rope or a thicker rope to add resistance.
• Medicine Ball – Use your own judgement on what size and weight to use. There are dozens of exercises to do with a medicine ball. Here are a few I prefer.
  • Lay down flat on your back and with both arms throw the ball straight up and then catch. Reps of 15-20, or just before failure if you’re feeling brave. Start slow as accuracy is very important. The first time you throw it a little off and the ball lands on your face, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
  • Pass ball back to back with a partner in both a sitting and standing position. Great for the core
  • Sit ups with ball. Another great core workout. This also helps to immobilize your arms, which often start swinging to give you some momentum to ease the workload on your abs.
• Backstroke kick – Great workout for your lower abs. Lie flat on your back and with your legs straight lift them about 8 inches off the ground and begin kicking a flutter kick. Build up to 60 seconds at a time without dropping your legs.
• Push ups – Two types to try. Traditional, with your hands about shoulder width apart and elbows pointed outward, and a variation of that with hands positioned slightly closer with elbows kept right at your side. This will work over your triceps.
• Leg throw-downs – You should do this with a partner. Lie flat on your back while holding the ankles of  your partner who is standing right above your head. Keeping them straight, lift your legs upwards toward the chest of your partner. Your partner wiill then throw your legs down towards the floor. Your goal is to stop them (without bending at the knees) before they hit the ground and immediately send them back up at your partner. Try 25 of these. As you get stronger have your partner throw harder.
• Lunges- nothing groundbreaking here. You can do them in place or walk a certain distance, just make sure you are consistent in your form. I make sure that my knee touches the ground each time so that I don’t cheat as I get tired. Hold weights (dumbells, etc) to add difficultly as you progress.
• Static arm raises – The explanation is simple. The exercise is hard. Keeping your arm straight lift both arms out to your sides forming a “T”. Keep them in that position for 3-5 minutes. Works your delts and all supporting muscles in your shoulders. Great for injury prevention in the swim.
• Plyometrics – this is sort of a category all by itself that is primarily used to work on explosive type actions. There is one great exercise in this category that I found that helps with the footspeed in your running. Stand infront of a bench or chair and place one foot on the bench. With the other foot, jump up and bring your heel all the way up to your bum and back down again to land. Do sets of 20 or so on each leg. Next try the same drill, but with the bench in front of you.  I have found it really helped the foot recovery in my running gait.
• 
  
• Stretching – If you’re a poor swimmer, put this at the top of the list. Stretch the triceps, lats, and core. Also be sure to stretch your legs for cycling and running.
• Shadow boxing – Sounds crazy I know, but this is one of the roughest dryland workouts I’ve done. As a swimmer I thought my upper body was well developed. The day after I couldn’t lift my arms. An entertaining way to do this exercise is Wii boxing. Just be sure that you’re using a full range of motion while playing  and not just flicking your wrist when using the Wii remote.