Technique

The features of three top training analysis programs and how they can help your riding

What the data can tell you

You’re probably collecting data on every ride you go on, likely with a heart-rate monitor or a power meter. A Garmin head unit recording heart rate and uploading to Strava is common, but what are you doing with all that information? Strava is a great social site, but unfortunately lacks any real analytical capabilities, which is what you want if you’re to learn anything useful.

There are truly only three good analytical services available: Trainingpeaks, Today’s Plan and Xert. Trainingpeaks was the first to take data storage and analysis online, but Today’s Plan and Xert offer similar functionality with some new ideas.

When you are collecting data, you want to be consistent: consistent in collecting it and consistent in uploading it. Now, some people might roll their eyes at the mention of data junky-like behaviour and how it is ruining the sport. But, just because you are collecting data, it doesn’t mean you have to crunch numbers after every ride. A Garmin or phone in your pocket will collect the data without ruining your ride along a gorgeous vista. But afterwards, you have the data to maintain and track the overall picture of your fitness.

After you have a lot of data, consider looking at three things: the difficulty of the events you are taking part in; your pacing; and your long-term development.

Xert does a great job of defining the focus that you need

“Now, some people might roll their eyes at the mention of data junky-like behaviour and how it is ruining the sport.”

to be successful in your key event. The software will tell you the “focus duration” of the event, whether it’s a gran fondo or a time trial. For example, let’s take a local weekly crit that you want to do well in. You might think that the focus duration of the event is short, say one minute, because the race comes down to a big effort at the end. There is, however, more to focus duration than your bouts of big power. The focus is actually a ratio of the different levels of work: there’s low, medium and high power all packaged together. Xert looks at the levels of work you can do for a set amount of time, and what you need to be able to do for a particular event. With that crit, Xert will likely have you working toward an eight-minute focus duration. You’ll then see your fitness progress for that target event.

Trainingpeaks allows you to home in on specific efforts within a ride by zooming in on a piece of it. You can use this feature to look at your pacing on that piece of the ride. It might be a local hill or part of a ride that everyone always jams on. You can check whether you are pacing your effort correctly. Consider your heart rate: does it spike to your maximum right away or build? Does your speed peak, and then drop off? Or, if you have a power meter, is there a massive spike in wattage and then a tapering off? All are indications that you could re-assess your pacing.

Finally, Today’s Plan introduced an interesting graph this past summer called the performance index (PI). PI takes your power curve – the maximum power you can sustain for times ranging from one second to one hour – and converts it into a value between one and 1,000. Over time, if you see this number increasing, you are getting fitter. PI also breaks down the power curve information into seven relative strengths: peak power, sprint, long sprint, lactate tolerance, maximum aerobic power, sustained aerobic power, short distance and long endurance. In our experience using the software, PI and its analysis of fitness has tracked very well with the fitness and results of our clients.

Now that you are collecting the data, make sure to take the time to look at and manipulate it within one of the analytical software options. You might be surprised by what you learn and how it improves your riding.