MEASURE YOUR FITNESS!
So you are training for the Etape - those 120 miles over
the mountains - and you want to see how fit you are. You may want to chart your
progress from month to month. How do you do it?
The
traditional method is to measure your resting heart rate. It is supposed to
become lower as you get fitter. This is really a rather vague method, and only
relates indirectly to your fitness while cycling.
A
more appropriate method is to measure how much power you put out when
exercising. To be more precise, to see how your power output goes up as your
heart rate increases.
The
following chart indicates how training improves your power output at a given
heart rate. By following a good training program, you will probably find that
you will be able to deliver more power to your pedals at a given heart rate.
The exact figures on the graph are not important - they vary from person to person.
