How To Train With A Power Meter

Get your training dialled with Dan's tips on training with a power meter, covering zones and typical training sessions.

Pro cyclists live and die by their power meters. If you want to take your training to the next level, a power meter and the increased training accuracy that one offers, is the way to do it.

In this video Daniel goes through the zones and training sessions that he used when he was a pro racing the Tour de France.

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[TwoWheeledTokyo]

Thanks for that Dan. I've been using a power meter for a few months but never quite got round to sorting out my power zones. I tend to just grind myself into the ground until I reach the top of a climb. Once at the top, I fall off the bike like a sack of tatties and curl into a small ball, repeating the words "Find a happy place" until the ambulance comes.

[PaulJakma]

That Training Peaks uses the same zones as set out by Andrew Coggan shouldn't be a surprise. Coggan was involved in Training Peaks at an early stage, and helped design WKO.

[richieontwowheels]

Nice movie. For zone 4 it is probably important to mention your sweet spot training in lower zone 4 compared to training in upper zone 4. You do 3 X 20 min in upper zone 4 and you'll be in a body bag the next day.

[Reado]

Can you do a video on how to pace yourself using a power meter on hills, in time trials and race?

[leedorney]

Who else better to do this than Dan. The class of him', is amazing. Would love to meet him one day. I'd like him to write a book, from a domestiques/clombers p.o.v: it would be quite a read!

[MitchB]

Are you guys going to be at the NEC cycle show next week? Would be great to meet you all!

[SandraJsAdventuresOutdoors]

Just came across your Channel and enjoyed your video, thank you, new subscriber here, 🙂

[pp]

4:55 passing random cyclist like a boss.

[MagliaNera]

1:15 now that's a world global galaxy superstar!

[AndreasCarlsson]

when i rode two hours on my trainer today i had a heartratemonitor and my average heartrate was 196bpm which is not normal. The strange this is that i rode the same route a few weeks ago with much larger gears and my heartrate was about 170bpm and i couldn't walk afterwords but on this ride i felt just fine when i got to the finish. (i also beat my personal best with 15 minutes)

[kwacker]

Interesting but I think way above my level of interest I'll just keep jugging along but total respect to those dedicated cyclists

[planttheseed]

How do I set up these training zones on my Garmin 810? I would like to see which zone I am in (as opposed to calculating on the fly while riding) on my training page. 

[coraks]

could you do a epesode with fixed gear bikes?

[torysmith]

I never realized how tall the head tube is on that Cervelo. Holy shit.

[nope]

Perhaps Friel and Coggan's Test Protocol is different, if i recall/understand correctly Friel's HR test is a 30min with the average for the last 20 seconds used to set LTHR and the Power test is 20 min TT - 5% which i think is perhaps what Coggan uses for LTHR.

It is a bit confusing as these would seem to give different LTHRs?

Thanks for the informative, and entertaining videos.

[kiwisteve]

Dan, I'm confused on the 10 second effort, you got off the seat to sprint but actually seemed to slow down? What gives? Is that a tactical trick?

[TheAce]

Dear GCN! Why is my heartrate so high even on low efforts? Even if I go jogging just for reovery, my HR is above 180-185. Even if I try to go REALLY slow it's around 180. The same goes with cycling: I can't ride in zone 1 and 2 because at the lowest effort my HR is around 160. Why is that? What can I do?

[mathieudgl]

How can I calculate my THR? I'm looking to buy a Garmin Edge 500 or 510 with heart rate monitor and GPS, to help me training for the Ventoux.

[PatriciaMcManus]

I have started to ride 6 mo ago after a decade hiatus. I am over 45 years of age . But i have never did proper training . I have always been active though . Anyway I tend to use % of Max HR instead of THR. What are the differences or befits of using THR over % of Max HR? And what areth e best value for money power meter for an enthusiast of the sport ?

[tomogorman]

Where can I start with a basic power meter setup? It all seems to be ridiculously expensive!