Over the next couple of days I will write another blog post about how I will utilize my FTP that I determined today to create a chart containing all of my target wattages for bike workouts over the next 2.5 months. This number is VERY important as I will base all of my subsequent workouts and training intensities on it from now until December (when I will taper and repeat this exact same test again). After cooling down I then calculated what I will take to be my FTP. I can live with this, but still have a bit of scepticism. I was very happy to discover that my Quarq Cinqo Saturn powermeter is only off by around 7w. Here is a graph of the CompuTrainer data for the 20 minute hard effort: As you can see the heart rate steadily crept upwards the entire time (Garmin 405 data): My average heart rate over the duration was 158 bpm, with the maximum of 169 bpm occurring right at the end of the effort.
![computrainer vs powertap computrainer vs powertap](https://www.martinhaugo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/DSC00352-300x225.jpg)
According to the CompuTrainer I averaged 408w for the 20 minutes. According to the Garmin 405 I averaged 415w for the 20 minutes. Once 20 minutes had passed I paused the course and lapped my Garmin 405, then saved the CompuTrainer data. From 13 to 17 minutes was quite painful, but I managed to keep the watts fairly steady. It started to catch up with me and dropped to around 411w by 10 minutes. I started off a bit ambitious and by 5 minutes was averaging around 415w.
Computrainer vs powertap software#
I chose to do it on a flat 10 mile strip (pre-made in the CompuTrainer Racer One Software package). After 20 minutes and a few accelerations I started the 20 minute max effort. At about 13 minutes into the warm-up my good friend Gary Hutchinson popped into my head and I realized I wasn’t wearing my heart rate monitor, so I hopped off for a second to put it on. During this time I ran the CompuTrainer calibration program to ensure utmost accuracy (afterwards there was 3.10 lbs of press-on force). I stayed up until 3 am last night tinkering around with the 3D Course Builder and other fun stuff…it reminds me of the days when I used to play video games…it is very addictive! Also, I ran a new in-practice 10k pb (with the help of my dad’s awesome pacing and encouragement!!) yesterday of 31:24, so I was expecting this to have at least a slight effect on my performance.įirst, I aired both front and back tires to 120 psi. Anyways, I am quite confident that the CompuTrainer Lab Model is very accurate and so today I planned on measuring the results of the test with both the CompuTrainer and the Quarq, and finding out once and for all if the Quarq on my bike is accurate.Īdditionally, I should mention that I was a bit overwhelmed by just how much the CompuTrainer has to offer. It doesn’t vary from day to day, so it is alright to use in training, but the numbers may not be meaningful for comparison. Thus, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to remain sceptical.
Computrainer vs powertap professional#
time from the race:īut, I have done some research on wattages from other professional triathletes ( Training Peaks has published many files) and know that this is on the higher side. It was good for the fastest bike split of the day. At Muskoka 70.3 I held about 335w for the 94k bike course (339w normalized).
![computrainer vs powertap computrainer vs powertap](https://www.insideoutsports.com/media/catalog/product/cache/b456f9c06a31f834e13ba33f49c2d862/0/-/0-3724_wxTRvUgNihHNKpJr.jpg)
![computrainer vs powertap computrainer vs powertap](https://3ubb7wtpd4l7tsui2prckg72-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Bike-Law-Kickr-Review-3.jpg)
I decided to repeat this exact same procedure today.įirst off, I should mention that I have been wondering about the accuracy of my Quarq Cinqo Saturn powermeter. This works out to an approximate FTP of 355w (.95×373=355). I then took 95% of the average wattage over the 20 minutes to be my FTP. In that particular instance I warmed up for 20 minutes and then held the highest wattage possible for 20 minutes. The last time I performed an FTP test was December 26 th, 2012. I decided I would alter this a bit to keep my training log consistent. In my last post I said that I would follow Coggan and Allen’s FTP testing protocol, which in a nutshell consists of a 5 minute all-out effort followed by a 20 minute effort holding the highest wattage possible, and then taking 95% of the average wattage of the 20 minute hard effort to be your FTP. I haven’t done any training since Muskoka 70.3 on September 8 th, so I thought it would be best to start with a test to determine where my Functional Threshold Power currently is. Today marks day one of my build up on the bike to the Ironman 70.3 U.S.