Training and racing with a power meter in 2019 with Hunter Allen | EP#184

​Training and racing with a power meter in 2019 with Hunter Allen | EP#184

In this Episode you'll learn about:

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About Hunter Allen

About Training and Racing with a Power Meter

Beginners to power based training

Advanced users of power meters

10:56 - 

• For the advanced user we have some really good concepts.
• For people who have been using power meters for years will even appreciate these advanced concepts. 
• Looking at things like gross power released on the left leg compared to the right leg if you're using a bilateral power meter. 
• For the advanced users, WKO4 really allows you to dig deeper. 
  
  There are new metrics such as functional reserve capacity which looks at all the work you do above your FTP. 
  
  There are also great stuff for left/right pedalling data, and scientific information about stamina.
• We have a mean maximal power curve once we've collected enough data which is a curve of your bests (e.g. best for 5 seconds, 2 minutes, 20 minutes etc). 
  
  We then came up with a curve that fits that, called the power duration curve. 
  
  It looks at all the points along what you actually did and works out where you could do more, to find the optimal place for you to train. 
  
  It looks at the change in the slope of the curve at different areas. 
• Stamina is the ability to continually produce power after an hour. 
  
  An hour is functional threshold power, but we want to know how fast your power degrades after this. 
  
  The faster your power degrades, the lower your stamina is. 
  
  If you had no degredation (which is impossible), your stamina would be 100 - as if you never fatigued. 
  
  So stamina in this software looks at every hour after your first hour, how much does your power decline and what does that slope look like.
• Most of us are in the 60-80 range. 
  
  Someone with incredible stamina, whose power doesn't decrease from 1 hour to 5 hours, they may be in the 87 range. 

Testing threshold for different durations

16:23 - 

• I really like the normal power profile test, which has stood the test of time and remains valid. 
• It is best to do the one minute test first.
  
  This is your anaerobic ability, the ability to go as fast as you can for a short period of time. 
  
  This is the greatest when you are fresh so you should do this as soon as you've warmed up. 
• Once you've got rid of some of your anaerobic ability, you want to do some sprints. 
  
  Short, small ring sprints, and slightly longer big ring sprints, and we then see your neuromuscular power.
  
  In our new book we call this P max. 
• Then you do the 5-minute test, which is your VO2max. 
  
  This helps us understand how much power can you produce at your VO2max. 
• Finally, you then do your FTP test. 
• Now the purpose of doing the shorter tests first is partly because you're fresh for those, but also to pre-fatigue you a little for the FTP.
  
  We know an hour is the gold standard for the FTP, but it's hard to do this on a regular basis, so we cut it down to 20 minutes. 
• If you do the 20 minutes and don't do at least a 5 minute test before hand, then you're 20 minutes will be really inflated - possibly as much as 10%. 
• If you've done the other tests directly before it, the 20 minute test may still need to be reduced by 5% but it's a much more accurate number, closer to what you'll actually be able to maintain for an hour. 
• If you just want to do the FTP, at least do the 5 minute test first and then minus 5%, it'll be more accurate than without it. 
• The recovery for the testing protocol varies. 
  
  You'll need at least 10 minute after the 1 minute, easy pedalling. You want the phospho-creatine system to recover. 
  
  I recommend usually 2-3 sprints with 5 minutes between each. 
  
  Then 5 minutes between the sprints and the 5 minute interval. 
  
  Once you've done the 5 minute interval you're well warmed up and you're probably in a good rhythm, so don't take more than 5 minutes recovery before starting the 20 minute test. 

How to use power and heart rate together

Cycling training for masters triathletes vs cyclists

27:13 - 

• We always focus more on recovery because when we age we don't recover as well. 
• Depending on age, we want to consider how many effective workouts you can do a week, and have you got enough time between them to recover. 
• I also want to make sure I'm giving them a rest week after 3 weeks, sometimes 2 and sometimes 4. 
  
  This is built into the training plan. 
• For triathletes, who are training 3 different sports, it's more difficult to ensure they're getting enough rest in. 
  
  We will plan the intensity at the start of the week when you're most fresh, and then taper this off throughout the week. 
• The acute training load is the training you have done in the past 7 days - it represents your fatigue. 
  
  We can adjust that to take into account your fatigue, and we have guidelines in the book on how to do this. 
• The constant can be changed directly in Training Peaks so masters athletes can follow the acute training load chart in the same way, but it will now be scaled to their different recovery needs
• During the week I like to do key workouts usually Tuesday, Thursday and weekends as people generally have more time here. 
• The type of sessions will depend on the athlete. 
  
  For a triathlete it may be about improving their FTP, but for someone else it might be focusing on their sprint. 

Improving FTP

31:51 - 

• There are different times in the season when you do different sorts of workouts to improve your FTP. 
• Early on we get a tremendous training benefit from riding just below your FTP. 
  
  It's much more doable for a longer period of time and we call it the 'sweet spot'. It's usually 88-95% of FTP. 
  
  For this type of workout I'm trying to build up to at least 3 x 20, if not 4 x 20 minutes at sweet spot. 
  
  This should be doable, with a little break in between. 
• There are times when you need to do intervals at your FTP or above (105%), usually once you've built this nice foundation of sweet spot work. 
  
  These are shorter intervals, with 10 minutes minimum at FTP. 
  
  This is as you get closer to the athletes peak. 
  
  When doing FTP work, we aim for nothing longer than 60 minutes at FTP. 
  
  This may be 4 x 10 minutes, or 3 x 15, 3 x 20 minutes etc.
• You can also go and do 60 minutes at FTP, but there's a significant mental component to this.
  
  To build up to this you may need to start at 2 x 15 minutes of sweet spot. 
  
  Then go to 2 x 20 minutes, then move to 2 x 30 - you're now doing the 60 minutes. 
  
  From there you'd then move on to doing work at your FTP, and then extending to 30-40 minutes (3 x 10 minutes, 4 x 10 minutes, then 3 x 15 minutes).
• I then start to pull it up from the top by doing VO2max work. 
  
  This is another place that triathletes sometimes forget about, but it absolutely can improve your FTP. 
• We have a guideline in the book that helps us understand when we should stop doing intervals. 
  
  If you do 3 x 15 minutes and you do the first in 2:50, the next 2:46, and the third 2:30 - you've failed on the third one which means you really shouldn't have done it, or maybe you should reduce to 3 x 10 minutes. 

Science behind power training metrics

32:24 - 

• The power duration curve tells us about your individual abilities. 
• Early on Dr Coggan and I recognised that classic power training zones don't always fit everybody, especially above FTP.
• If you take VO2max Level 5, it's generally 106-120% of FTP. 
  
  For the average this would be doing a 5 minute interval at 115% of FTP.
  
  We found some athletes who can do 150% for 5 minutes - which blows away what we had set with the training levels. 
  
  This was a clear indicator that we needed to revise them and look at individual differences between the athletes, and this is where the power duration curve came from. 
• From this we were able to start figuring out the differences. Once you got those figured out, then you can start playing with new metrics. 
• One metric called functional reserve capacity refers to all the work you can do above FTP. 
  
  It includes a bit of VO2max, aerobic ability and neuromuscular power. 
  
  There is also stamina involved and P max. 
• Power meters and software are both better now so you can see P max more accurately, which is your best wattage for one pedal revolution of left and right legs. 
• The individual levels are called 'i levels' in WKO. 
• WKO4 is also a one time purchase, rather than a monthly subscription! 

Using the LEOMO Type-R in coaching

44:02 - 

• The Type-R is a great new device that measures the motion of your foot angular range, which measures how the foot moves and can look at your dead spots. 
  
  It also looks at your leg angular range, as well as your torso and pelvis movement. 
• I use this data to help understand where an athletes dead spots are within their pedal stroke. 
  
  A lot of athletes don't start producing power soon enough on the stroke - maybe they start producing it at 2:30, rather than 1 o clock on the pedal stroke. 
  
  Once we know this we can adjust for it, as well as identify some fit issues. 
• From the pelvic and torso data I can see how much rocking is going on - if they're rotating or if their hips are moving back and forth for example. 
  
  This helps me then quite that and reduce some of that wasted energy. 
• Just bringing awareness to the athlete of these issues can help to change it. 
• If we can get an athlete to start producing power earlier, you need to do 5 minute focused practice sessions. 
  
  I have the athlete start to visualise and use their intention to drive their knee to the handlebar - trying to hit your knee to it almost. 
  
  This gets the intention of hitting on the pedal stroke sooner rather than later. 
  
  This could be do during a 2 hour ride with 5 x 5 minute practice sessions incorporated. 
• For body movement you can look at the metrics, and through biofeedback you can start to prevent the pelvic rock and rotation and start to stabilise the movement. 

Links, resources and contact

Links and resources mentioned

• On his blog - the Hunter Allen Power blog

• On Facebook: Peaks Coaching Group
• On Twitter: @Hunterpeaks
• On Instagram: @Hunterpeaks