Hello, I am new to Intervals.icu so just starting to find out all it has.
I have searched but cannot find whether there is an option to estimate power values from files that just have heart rate. Something like Golden Cheeta’s “Estimate Power Values” option
Thank you
There isn’t currently. Are you interested in doing this for cycling or running? For cycling it is hard to do because wind is such a big factor. For running you can look at gradient adjusted pace as a power proxy.
I am not familiar with GC’s power estimation from HR data but will have a look. It might be better to just stick with training by HR zones if that is what you have.
Thank you for the fast reply. It is for cycling. I do have a power meter in one of my bikes which is the one I use for most of my training. I have an MTB with no power meter and I have been looking for virtual power options (that is how I got a hold of intervals.icu) that I know are not accurate as a real power meter but it is better than nothing. I was trying a power data field from the IQ Store in my Edge 530, but unfortunatelly it is not stable and often shuts down in the middle of a ride, loosing the information. I have had some success with Golden Cheetah with some tweaking and comparing to the power meter.
Is there a guide where I can see the terms used here? Load seems to be TSS but also TRIMP. In my ride today without the power meter, intervals.icu calculated a load of 92 that is the same as the hrTSS from the TrainingPeaks free version app.
Cheers
Yes Intervals.icu defaults to HRSS (from Elevate) for training load for HR rides. I have the same setup as you: PM and HR on road bike and HR only on MTB. I know from experience approximately how hard I am working on the MTB from HR so I use that.
When you have enough rides with power and HR you can consider switching to using “Time in zones” for load from HR. It works better for me than HRSS but you do need to feed it good data.
To add to David’s comment, “feel” is possibly the most under estimated way to gauge the effort of intervals; with and without a power meter.
IMO and some other top coaches, ERG mode is a limiter when using it all the time, but if it is used correctly, it is a strength. An example would be when doing 3x15m Tempo/Sweet Spot workouts; the first interval could be in ERG, then the last two done in Resostance/Slope mode.
Then when you’re riding on a bike without a power meter, you’ll know how it feels, especially in the latter part of the effort.
There were talks of banning power meters in the World Tour races, to prevent that robotic type riding. Almost all WT pros know what efforts “feel” like.
That would be annoying. I like the power and HR stats they put up sometimes, which there was more of that.
Luckily it was just talk (for now).
I think the link between HR and power is too weak - certainly if I look at my own HR / power decoupling the HR / power ratio and thus load if using power or HR can be really different even on a daily basis.
I think for outdoor rides you could ignore HR completely and look at gradiant + rider weight and bike weight + speed as a better proxy if trying to ‘virtualize’ power. Wind direction is probably possible to take into account depending on how accuarate your local forecast is.
Thank you all for your responses. So, if I understood it well, when there is no power data, the HRSS load number is used in the Fitness chart to continue tracking Fitness, Fatigue and form, is this correct? This seems to be so with a HR only ride I made last Tuesday.
Regarding power, as I mentioned before, I have been testing virtual power options on the bike as well as off. I am aware they are not the same as an actual power meter but a close estimate may help. I train Monday to Friday mostly on paved surfaces on a known loop route using my hardtail. I have used the power meter long enough to know the TSS load for different intensities and durations/distances in this loop, to the point that the power meter is just a confirmation tool. Mountain biking is a different story as there is more uncertainty on load than on pavement, depending on dirt conditions, climb grades, and so forth. So, from a few weeks ago, I am using the power meter on the full suspension mountain bike as it is harder to get an accurate estimate than on my paved loop. For now, using the FS MTB in both pavement and dirt to get the most of the Power Meter. My fitness has improved a lot as a result of using a power meter. It has been so good that I am writing easy to understand guidelines in my blog to help others start training with power and get the benefits.
Someday I will have a Power Meter on each…
I agree with you. Somedays my heart rate sky rockets in a certain amount of power and the next day it is hard to rise it in the same power values, even in power zones 3 or 4.
Strava give an estimated power but anecdotally it’s a bit pants.
I find the few rides I do without power quite liberating tbh
After using intervals.icu for a few days and going through the graphs and data, I realized it already has what I was looking for. The model to estimate load considering power/heart rate history results in very close values to actual load than any virtual power model or app I have tested. I set it up to HR average and time model and in 3 rides I got:
Actual/Est
94/91
60/57
89/78
Nice