WHAT’S WATTS PER KILO ALL ABOUT THEN??
The days of cyclists using power meters to measure effort and improve training and pro riders data post races its all we hear about ….But what is it and why is it important?
In cycling, energy transfer is the pushing of the pedals by the cyclist, transferring mechanical energy to kinetic energy (speed/movement) and potential energy (from gravity when going uphill).
wk/g is a power to weight measurement. We get the number by dividing the watts by the weight of the rider at the time of the effort. The ratio is a ratio of watts produced per kilogram of bodyweight and this determines how fast they can go uphill.
When the road is flat, power and drag are the factors deciding the speed of a cyclist. Due to gravity, power becomes a more important factor on a climb with drag still a factor on lower gradients where the speed can still be fairly high.
NOT ALL W/KG ARE EQUAL….
With higher speeds and shallow gradients heavier riders fair better than lighter riders as aerodynamic drag is a greater force to deal with than gravity. As the road goes upwards it is easier to produce higher w/kg at lower weights.
One reason why you can see a bigger rider like Ganna smashing it up the early part of a climb where the gradient is say 3 or 4% but once over that his 90kg frame is working against him with the gravitational pull.
HOW TO INCREASE YOURS…..
In short you are trying to get the max power output for your weight so, want to push more power on a climb then you can do it three ways.
* Increasing your power output whilst keeping a constant weight,
* Keeping your power output constant whilst losing weight,
* Increasing your power whilst also decreasing weight,
Losing body weight but keeping the same power output is generally more beneficial than staying at the same weight and simply working on your aerobic fitness.
If new to cycling then do more aerobic work as this will help you shed some weight an improves your aerobic fitness. Add some max power bursts on climbs allowing sufficient recovery between efforts will also help improve your power. Adding in some strength work will help loss of power during weight loss. Interval, hill and strength training will also help you to improve your VO2 max, which in turn allows you to perform outside of your lactic threshold for longer durations, as increased oxygen efficiency helps the body to buffer lactic acid, so you’ll spend less time in an anaerobic state before your next sprint or big push. So, by concentrating on your power to weight ratio, not only will you be building a more efficient body for cycling, but you’ll be building a much healthier and more efficient body overall.