Thank you to everyone who took the time to come out and hear me speak about power meters last Thursday. In hindsight the evening went by quickly for me but I got the sense from the yawns that either people were tired due to their training or more likely bored due to information overload or that this was too much to bother with in their own training management.
My apologies for the information overload but as you can see there is more to a power meter than just a flashing wattage number on a small computer screen. There is a lot more that can be expanded upon and taught.
Since starting with a power meter almost 5 years ago, I have been able to learn more about the pursuit of performance and even more about the art of periodization. The Performance Management Chart (PMC) which is found in the WKO+ software is an amazing tool to compile information and see trends in your training over long periods of time using the concepts of Chronic Training Load (CTL), Acute Training Load (ATL) and Training Stress Balance (TSB).
I have created a dumbed down version in Excel which has allowed me to input what athletes have done in the past to get a sense of their overall training history or what their previous coach may have started with them using CTL, ATL and TSB. One specific example is when I took over a client from a coach who moved away and I inputted 6 months of their training prescription into my spreadsheet to see the evolution of the athlete's training in order to continue on without missing a beat. What came out after all the inputting was pretty much a flat line indicating no true increase in the fitness level of the athlete - also corroborated via performance time trials of 3 minutes and 20 minutes. Point being, just because you periodized something doesn't mean it is being periodized. Being able to graphical see this is educational and helps to challenge me in progressing an athlete.
At the same time just because the CTL rises the ATL falls and TSB will show good preparedness on a specific date doesn't ensure success for the athlete. One must do the specific training necessary for the goal event(s) in order to have a chance at a personal best. Simply doing massive amounts of LSD training will not optimize one's performance potential despite the assumed increase in CTL over time. Hence there is still an art to be applied to training prescription. Power meters help in developing and measuring the specificity of one's training or lack thereof.
Athletes still have to do the correct amount and type of work and in endurance sports they need to do a lot of work to see long term results and changes in their fitness. How much work is a question of how much time does the athlete have to devote to training and maximizing their recovery time. For many it may be an issue of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". This is one of the things that can be explored and determined in WKO+ so long as the correct information is compiled and the correct "anchors" like Functional Threshold Power (FTP)are used and referenced.
So remember to always "zero" the power meter for best results, get the unit calibrated each year or two in case something happens to it and make sure to download the files as that is where the real information is hidden.
For anyone interested in a Quarq Cinqo crank-based power meter I am on their coach program meaning I can offer these great units to clients in order to better facilitate the training process. Please contact me at jvdcoach@telus.net for more information and options.
JVD
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