Are you intense enough? - Page 4

PDF | Print | E-mail

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 00:00

User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

The final straw of measurement

Power meters are the last intensity measure currently available. Although they are expensive, they are now commercially available for cyclists and are popular for monitoring of training programmes. Power means the amount of work performed in a given time and is an excellent assessment of intensity of effort applied to the bike. Like speed, in a time-trial situation, the rider with the highest average power (assuming similar bike components and aerodynamics) will be the winner. Power has the advantage over speed in that speed will be affected by hills and wind whereas power will always reflect the work rate of the rider. Additionally, power gives a far more accurate indication of effort than heart rate when doing interval sessions. Power will immediately change when the interval is started and stopped, whereas heart rate will have a significant lag-time in its adjustment. Like speed, however, one limitation of power monitoring is not knowing whether an increase in power is due to improved fitness or simply an increase in effort. Combining the use of heart rate or RPE with power readings will give a truer picture of effort versus fitness.

Summary of Intensity Assessments

If you are training or racing on/in a surface that is very consistent and free from significant wind resistance (such as a swimming pool, a running or cycling track), speed is a very fair indication of intensity. In order to understand physiological effort, heart rate and/or RPE complements the information nicely. If you are training or racing on/in a surface that is inconsistent such as a rolling terrain with gusts of wind, power is a more reliable indication of intensity. Just like speed though, in order to understand physiological effort, it is best to also assess heart rate and/or RPE. Even if you have chosen to use up-to-date technology though, it does generally pay to master the ‘art’ of intensity by being able to interpret the signals emanating from your own body.

Ian Craig
Exercise scientist
(B.Sc., M.Sc., CSCS),
www.craigcoaching.com

Originally published in Go Multi issue 13.4 (November/December 2009)