What is a normal "Watt"

[svm75]

Hi,

I'm pretty new to Power Training. Thus, I have no idea what a normal/good power range is for a normal athlete (e.g. my pb in an Ironman is 10:45 and I did a fairly tough bike split with a 34km/h average).

I understand that it is always depending on the individual, the individual's threshold etc. However, for the sake of an example: let's say if I train with 200W for 90mins and do that easily with a heart rate of 120 pretty steadily, does that mean that I'm super-fit or does that mean that I just did a nice warm-up session?

Anybody having any comparables?

Thanks for the help.

svm

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Sustainable power in watts or better yet weight scaled watts per kilogram varies, but unless you're very light I'd guess 200 watts for 90 minutes is a modest workout for someone who averaged 34kph for an ironman bike leg.

Check out the information here: Power Profiling

In particular download one of those Excel power profiling charts. They're built for bike racers, but give weight scaled sustainable power for various durations of interest from world class cyclists down to untrained cylists so you should be able to get a handle on where you fit. The last two columns, 5min and full hour power are the most relevant for multisport athletes, especially the last.

There's plenty of good info on power training, levels and how to work with power data on other sections of that same site: Power 411, How to train with WKO+ Software and a power meter

FWIW, I'm a mid level masters racer and don't do any multisport but do a fair number of time trials each year. I have reasonable success with a bit over 4 watts per kg for my FTP (hour power) during the season. Last season that was roughly 305 watts at 71 kg racing weight, my best 25 minute training interval of the year was 317 watts with typical hard 20 to 30 minute repeatable Threshold intervals in the 275 to 310 watt range.

Anyway you can look at the power profiling chart for comparison of weight scaled FTPs across a range of fitness levels but in the end you've got to set power targets for training based on what you can do and what fits your overall schedule. Read through the great info on the TrainingPeaks site and get a copy of Hunter and Coggan's book (or wait a month or two for the upcoming second edition).

Good luck,
-Dave

 

[RChung]

I did a fairly tough bike split with a 34km/h average

 

[frenchyge]

A normal watt is one that is expended perpendicular to the plane of reference.

 

[Fightin Boba]

Hi,
I understand that it is always depending on the individual, the individual's threshold etc. However, for the sake of an example: let's say if I train with 200W for 90mins and do that easily with a heart rate of 120 pretty steadily, does that mean that I'm super-fit or does that mean that I just did a nice warm-up session?

Anybody having any comparables?

Follow Dave's advice and read the references that he posted. Also read what you can on NP - normalized power. If your 200W average (AP) was on a rolling course, then your normalized power was likely higher than 200W.

Communicating your question in terms of W/kg for a given duration and whether the Watts value was AP or NP can help put the numbers in better context.

Nevertheless, here are some cherry-picked numbers from 2009:
253AP / 265NP x 4h34m (long training ride)
290AP / 293NP x 1h30m (tempo ride section within a 4h33m ride)
281AP / 306NP x 1:59:33 (race - NP was 97% of my FTP or maximal 60min power at the time)

Let's just say that I'm more than 70kg.