“We don’t need to do what we think we need to do,” Henderson told me when I asked just how hard he was going to be working me over the coming weeks. “The psychology of that is important. People try to do more than they can. You want to set your workouts so that you’re getting the maximum benefits.” To do that you need an objective Replica IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Cousteau Divers IW378203 Mens Watch measure of effort and performance. Time doesn’t work, because, for example, one hour on a flat road isn’t the same as one hour in the mountains. The same principles make distance an imperfect measure of training load. Heart rate is better and is still used by high-level athletes. But things like temperature, mood, caffeine, or even what you ate for breakfast can alter your heart rate.
Also, it takes your heart a few seconds to reflect what you’re body is actually doing. Step on the pedals for a brief sprint exercise, and your heart might not speed up until after you’re already finished.Power doesn’t lie. It’s a direct measure of the energy you are transferring to the pedals (PowerTaps are built into the hub of your rear Replica IWC Aquatimer 353804 Mens Watch wheel, with the data displayed on a small handlebar-mounted computer). That’s not to say that 300 watts on a bad day won’t hurt more than 300 watts on a good day. But regardless of how it feels, your power readout will tell you exactly how much work you’re doing.
Ideally, I would have done a full field test for Henderson to establish my threshold number (the highest power output I can sustain for one hour). But, as I explained on Tuesday, my test was a bit of a disaster. So, based on my six weeks of data, Henderson has estimated my threshold at 225 to 230 watts. For comparison, elite pros my size (5’11 and 152 lbs.) will hit somewhere close to 400. Regardless of what your threshold number is, though, once you’ve got it Replica IWC Aquatimer Automatic IW354807 Mens Watch, setting training zones and staying in the fat part of the bell curve is fairly . Henderson uses six training zones, listed here in ascending order of difficulty, with my target power numbers.
