OBN Cycling Tips: Training with Heart Rate vs a Power Meter

If I could pick one tool that would have the biggest benefit for you maximising your performance on the bike in training, it wouldn't be a new bike or new wheels, of course these are going to help. But, the biggest bang for your buck you can get from any investment into training is buying a power meter and using this with a heart rate monitor.

If you are a rider looking to improve your cycling performance and starting to take training more seriously, then this post is for you.

Most riders starting out will already have a heart rate monitor and a cadence sensor, two great tools to help you understand your level of exertion and revolutions per minute respectively. Both of these tools will take you a long way to improving your performance and will provide you with consistent data that you can improve on.

There is one thing missing however, and that is your power output. One tool that many riders will not invest in when starting to take their training more serious. They will often buy a new bike or set of carbon wheels before investing in a power meter. If you have €400-€500 to invest right now in a cycling related piece of equipment, buy a power meter. The benefit you will get from having live data on your power output and also data post ride to analyse will significantly improve your performance far more than a new set of wheels.

Why a Power Meter Can Transform Your Performance.

Training with power will give you a large amount of valuable data such as:

The ability to understand how to pace your ride - if you're struggling with pacing during a long ride or effort, you will now be able to understand how to balance your power output more effectively once you start to use your power meter over these distances.

Developing Power Training Zones - while training with heart rate and cadence is useful, combining these with a power meter will truly help you gain an all round understanding of your current cycling ability. The ability to set power zones from a threshold test for example will help you understand your current zones for your next block of training and also when you retest, if you have seen any developments in power output.

Power-to-Weight Ratio - one of the main benefits of training with power is being able to understand your watts per kilogram (W/Kg). This is one of the most direct ways of understanding where you stack up against riders similar to your category or ability and a wider range of riders who may be currently more advanced.

Optimising your on-bike Nutrition - a power meter will measure kilojoules (KJ), a joule is a measure of energy, or work, like a calorie. There are roughly four kJs per food calorie. Cyclists don't transfer 100% of their energy to work. Generally the efficiency of a cyclist is between 20-25% depending on their level, so for example 400 Kilojoules would equate to 100 calories if the riders efficiency is 25%. This helps you understand the total amount of energy used and put an individualised plan in place for fuelling specifically for your own body. Over time, you can analyse your 3-4 hour rides and gain an understanding of your total work, which is a very beneficial attribute of owning a power meter.

There are some more benefits, which I'll be happy to discuss if anyone has any specific questions. What are the cons ? There's always a con right?! Well in this case, the only con to owning a power meter in relation to your cycling performance is the hole in your pocket initially. There are far more benefits to investing in a power meter than any other piece of equipment for your bike.

If anyone has any questions on specific models, I'd be happy to advise you on the most suitable power meter, just get in touch.

I'll put it this way, if you own a carbon bike between 7-8kg, buy a power meter next instead of a new set of wheels. Thank me later.

Next time.

Graham

OBN Performance