Wednesday 19 November 2008

Wednesday Training

Hi

Computrainer

Good steady L3 work continues with no major problems. Did this session a bit differently and decided to make some more use of the SpinScan feature of the CompuTrainer and run a report on it at the end of the session.

Session went fine and produced some interesting data which is shown in the report below. I was pleased with what appears to be a pretty reasonable balance in the relative power outputs of my legs, it's just a shame I don't have 4 of them!

I guess I must have developed a reasonable leg balance as they both appear to be "firing" at about the same time with the ATA (Average Torque Angle) being virtually identical. Might be worth thinking about trying to bring the ATA down as in theory an ATA of 90 would make best use of the crank leverage.

Anyway, I'll give that some thought but think I will use this facility more than perhaps I have for my L3 work and see if I can make any small improvements. A spin scan of around 70 isn't bad but I think I can perhaps improve that though the results depend a great deal on the loads applied, higher loads will tend to produce lower SpinScan numbers in most riders. In the end you can do what (or is it watt) you can do!

The HR data was higher today as I was messing about a bit and trying different things just by way of a bit of a change but I generally did a 2x20 L3 session and overall it was an interesting and worthwhile session.



[Uploaded 20/11/2008 08:03:01]

4 comments:

  1. That's interesting - I would have thought that an average spinscan of 69 was very low? My spinscan average is 78 - and I don't think I am especially talented in this department!

    Aren't most roadies expected to have a spinscan be in the high 70s low 80s ????????

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  2. Hi

    I think 70-80 is sort of "normal" as you say. I find that getting a higher SS is quite easy if I ride with a lower load, say 180-220W, but as the load gets higher the SS figure drops off, at the extreme when standing it's obviously very low.

    Some people looked carefully at pro riders and the "smoothness" of their pedaling and how much they pulled up as well as pushed down to see how it was related to output, it wasn't. What they found was that the best riders just pressed down harder on the pedals than the others when the going got tough!

    Cheers,

    Q

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  3. so do you reckon spinscan scores are or are not useful?

    take care,
    Mark

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  4. Hi

    I think SpinScan is interesting and I think it is useful, I don't think high SpinScan scores are essential to excellent performance.

    I think it is particularly useful for the following:

    1). Identifying right - left imbalance as this I believe has the potential to cause injury problems, can probably be corrected, and may be the result of poor positioning.

    2). Identifying the ATA. Since 90 is the most mechanically efficient ATA it makes sense to me to try to get as close as possible to this to take greatest advantage of maximal pedal leverage, if this can be achieved without compromising overall power output.

    I terms of souplesse, I don't think it wins races though it may if it makes a rider more comfortable and efficient.

    So, FWIW those are my views, SpinScan is I think a valuable tool but, like so many things, it isn't the be all and end all. It needs to be viewed with some caution and comparisons are in many way meaningless as conditions are not standardised.

    In my experience the higher the % of FTP a rider is working at the lower the SpinScan score.

    Hope that helps!

    Q

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