Training and Racing with a Power Meter brings the advanced power-based training techniques of elite cyclists and triathletes to everyone.
A power meter can unlock more speed and endurance than any other training tool - for those who understand how to interpret their data. By quantifying exactly how much energy a cyclist expends, power meters lend unprecedented insight into a rider's abilities and fitness. With the proper baseline data, a cyclist can use a power meter to determine workouts, long-term training, and even race strategy, pacing, and tactics.
Training and Racing with a Power Meter is the pioneering, cutting-edge guide that makes it possible for any rider to exploit the incredible usefulness of any power meter. Coach Hunter Allen and exercise physiologists Dr. Andy Coggan and Stephen McGregor show how to use a power meter to profile your strengths and weakness, how to measure fitness and fatigue, how to optimize your daily workouts, how to peak for races, and how to set and adjust your racing strategy while you are racing.
Training and Racing with a Power Meter is the definitive, comprehensive guide to using a power meter. Armed with the revolutionary techniques from this guide, cyclists and triathletes can achieve lasting improvements and their best performances ever.
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Joe Friel
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Abbreviations
Why Train with Power?
Power Tools
Power-Based Training: Where to Begin?
Determining Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Using Power for Optimal Workouts
Interpreting the Data
Beyond Average Power
Shifting to the Power Duration Model
Using Power to Manage Performance
Developing a Power-Based Training Plan
Tracking Changes in Your Fitness
A Powerful Triathlete
Racing Faster with a Power Meter
Power for Other Disciplines: Cyclocross, Track, Ultra-Endurance
Epilogue: Putting It All Together
References
Appendix: Workout Guide
Glossary
Index
About the Authors
About the Author :
Hunter Allen is considered a foremost authority on using power meters to excel in endurance sports. Over the course of his coaching career, he has analyzed thousands of power-meter files and consulted with companies to further the capabilities of power-meter software and products. Having taught USA Cycling power certification courses since 2005 and traveled to more than 20 countries, Hunter has equipped thousands of coaches and cyclists with the principles of training with power. A USA Cycling Level I coach, founder of the Peaks Coaching Group, co-founder of TrainingPeaks Software, and a former professional cyclist with the Navigators team, Hunter has been coaching endurance athletes since 1995. His Peaks Coaching Group athletes have achieved more than 2,000 victories, numerous national and world championship titles, and Olympic medals. Hunter was also the BMX technical coach for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Hunter holds a B.A. in Economics from Randolph-Macon College. He resides in Bedford, Virginia, with his wife, Kate, and their children, Thomas, Jack, and Susannah.
Andrew R. Coggan, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized exercise physiologist. Formerly a national-caliber masters cyclist and time trial record holder, Andrew is also widely recognized as one of the leading experts on the use of power meters in training. Many of the concepts discussed in Training and Racing with a Power Meter and featured in WKO4 and other desktop or online software are the result of Andrew's work with cyclists and coaches. He is the originator of the normalized power, TSS, power profiling, quadrant analysis, and the Performance Manager concepts. As a result of his contributions, in 2006 he was honored by USA Cycling with their Sport Science Award and named a Finalist for the US Olympic Committee's Doc Counsilman Award. He is an Associate Professor in Kinesiology and Cellular and Integrative Physiology at Indiana UniversityPurdue University Indianapolis. He has published numerous scientific articles on a diverse range of topics, including the physiological adaptations to endurance training and the effects of aging on muscle metabolism during exercise. Most recently, his research has focused upon the effects of dietary nitrate on muscle contractile function. Andrew Coggan earned his PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Texas and an MS in human bioenergetics from Ball State University. He lives in Brownsburg, Indiana, with his wife, Angela (a former elite national champion track cyclist), and children, Madeleine and Gavin.
Stephen J. McGregor, PhD, is a pioneer in the development of training concepts and software designed to maximize the benefits of training with technology. Most notably, Stephen created the normalized graded pace (NGP) algorithm and the run training stress score (rTSS), specifically designed for running. He has also developed the Dynamic Training Load (DTL) system for quantifying training load in dynamic team sports. Stephen is the director of the Applied Physiology Laboratory at Eastern Michigan University and has published and presented numerous research papers examining muscle injury, performance modeling, running physiology, and performance quantification using technology. He earned a doctorate in exercise physiology and has served on the science and education faculty for USA Cycling since 2005 where he presents Power and Elite Level 1 Coaching certification clinics. A former intercollegiate soccer player, triathlete, and elite competitive cyclist, Stephen has coached endurance athletes for almost 25 years and serves as a coach/consultant to numerous international and Olympic-caliber cyclists and runners. In 2016 he was the recipient of the Order of Ikkos as the coach of an Olympic medalist in cycling.
Review :
“Training and Racing with a Power Meter is the ultimate guide to training with power. Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan are, without a doubt, the most knowledgeable people on the planet when it comes to power meters.” — Joe Friel, world-recognized endurance sports coach and author of The Cyclist's Training Bible
“Training and Racing with a Power Meter is a comprehensive look at the technological and physical aspects of power and fatigue-based testing. It also includes coaching and training sessions to target weaknesses highlighted by the data. It’s essential reading.” — BikeRadar.com
“Training and Racing with a Power Meter presents useful information on how to delve deeper into the numbers and recognize patterns that surface over a season. Every triathlete can benefit from the book’s in-depth info and detailed graphs showing the numbers you need to kill the competition.” — Triathlete magazine
“Training and Racing with a Power Meter has enough scientific detail and analysis to satisfy even the most demanding numbers junkie while remaining readable and useful to even the casual power enthusiast.” — Canadian Cycling magazine
“By far the best instruction manual I’ve seen is Training and Racing with a Power Meter.” — Stephen Cheung, PhD, PezCyclingNews.com
“Training and Racing with a Power Meter is the most logically structured and comprehensive manual in print on how a rider can get maximum performance improvement from this device.” — Active.com
