As many of you are now immersed in your bike strength training and are intimately familiar with watts, I thought I would offer a different perspective on the matter. We all know how 10-15 watts in either direction can make a huge difference in one’s pain-o-meter and how fast one ultimately goes.
Hence, our efforts are largely focused on increasing the wattage that we can generate within a sustainable effort. Well, what follows is a simple formula that will allow you to increase your effective wattage with no additional work effort.
Wattage simply measures power just as horsepower does. Thus, a 200 horsepower engine will propel a VW much faster than that same engine will move a heavier SUV. Same with body weight.
A simple formula equates one kilo (2.2 lbs.) to 7 watts of power. Thus, if you lose a mere 5lbs. you have effectively added 15 watts of cycling power! When one considers how hard (read-impossible) it is to simply dial up wattage by 15 and keep it there, a freebie like this is suddenly very appealing. Anyway, food for thought.
