Advantages of wattage based training

To followup on my previous post.

Wattage based training looks to provide significant changes in the way we train. However, they tend to be cost prohibitive. The polar and powertap meters are $900-1000 and the SRM is well over $2k. There is a new watt meter that is about to be released. It's called the ibike pro (www.ibikesports.com) and it only costs $350. It is suppose to be released at the end of the month. I'll give you a review once mine arrives.

Here's how the wattage based training can give you an advantage. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was able to maintain 221 watts for 20 min 36 seconds. 221 watts was my previous CP20. Now, based on calculations, my cp20 is 222 watts. I plan to do my next cp20 workout tomorrow night. I'll set the computrainer to 222 watts. It will be my goals to complete and exceed 20 minutes. If I do, I'll recalculate my cp20 and raise the bar for the next workout. If I'm not about to complete 20 minutes, I'll keep it there until I do. This should sound familiar to you if you have lifted weights.

This same format could be used for CP3, CP5, CP30 etc. Once you know your Critical Power levels for different durations, you can manipulate the training to meet your needs.

I'll keep you posted on my progress. I plan to do 1-2 CP20 workouts per week.