Watts and power

Amprodude

We had this Watt challenge at our workplace where you pedal as hard as you can on a turbo trainer for a period of time i e 30 secs with heavy resistance. We have 2-3 almost semi pro cyclists who didn't win competition surprisingly but were in top 6. The one that won competition wasnt a cyclist at all. Is there only a certain amount of natural power one can deliever no matter how good a cyclist you are?

VR46

Amprodude wrote: »

almost semi pro cyclists

Sure aren't we all?

12 sprocket

A good rugby player or powerlifter would probably beat most endurance riders on this kind of test, a track sprinter would probably annihilate the lot of them

thebouldwhacker

Where do you work, can I have a job?

Amprodude

VR46 wrote: »

Sure aren't we all?

Well these guys are A1 racers but they train like semi pros.

Amprodude

12 sprocket wrote: »

A good rugby player or powerlifter would probably beat most endurance riders on this kind of test, a track sprinter would probably annihilate the lot of them

Guy that won it is a bodybuilder funny enough.

Inquitus

Amprodude wrote: »

We had this Watt challenge at our workplace where you pedal as hard as you can on a turbo trainer for a period of time i e 30 secs with heavy resistance. We have 2-3 almost semi pro cyclists who didn't win competition surprisingly but were in top 6. The one that won competition wasnt a cyclist at all. Is there only a certain amount of natural power one can deliever no matter how good a cyclist you are?

Cycling is largely about watts per kilo and endurance, the worlds strongest man competitors would annihilate this sort of 30 sec high intensity power output, but they weigh more than a car and wouldn't be any good for much else on a bike.

Amprodude

Inquitus wrote: »

Cycling is largely about watts per kilo and endurance, the worlds strongest man competitors would annihilate this sort of 30 sec high intensity power output, but they weigh more than a car and wouldn't be any good for much else on a bike.

They would be good for 30 secs.

ryan_sherlock

Yeah - 30 sec is about where the average strong non-cyclist would top out. Yeah - a strong rugby player etc... would clobber me, but all that starts to change after 20ish seconds.

Now, if you take weight into consideration as opposed to just plain watts, it could be a different story.

12 sprocket

Weight is not that much of a factor in this case, its about the type of dominant muscle fibre and type of training.... its very simple, its a test more suited to sprint/power sports than endurance sports like marathon running or long distance cycling. Its a very valid test, depending on the purpose of the test

Amprodude

12 sprocket wrote: »

Weight is not that much of a factor in this case, its about the type of dominant muscle fibre and type of training.... its very simple, its a test more suited to sprint/power sports than endurance sports like marathon running or long distance cycling. Its a very valid test, depending on the purpose of the test

Would a fast sprinter be good at this test?

Beasty

Amprodude wrote: »

Would a fast sprinter be good at this test?

As 12spocket has already pointed out - a track sprinter would be the best "type" of athlete for this sort of thing - their events range from 200m to 1km (excluding the kierin where the real action only takes place over the last 750m or so), with the fastest being able to put out 2000w+ hitting speeds of over 70kph on the flat. These events can be 10s or less (flying 200) to about just under minute (kilo) - a 30s effort would be almost ideal for this type of cyclist

Someone like Cavendish would do well, but would still be beaten by any decent (male) track sprinter