Watts vs. Pace chart

General discussion on Training. How to get better on your erg, how to use your erg to get better at another sport, or anything else about improving your abilities.
Post Reply
tdebert
Paddler
Posts: 8
Joined: December 24th, 2006, 10:05 am
Location: PA

Watts vs. Pace chart

Post by tdebert » February 7th, 2007, 9:25 pm

Does anyone know where I can find a chart which converts "watts" to "time per 500m pace"? This would be helpful in knowing how much additional power is needed to advance from one level of performance to another.

Thanks.

Nosmo
10k Poster
Posts: 1595
Joined: November 21st, 2006, 3:39 pm

Post by Nosmo » February 7th, 2007, 9:49 pm

If you want the formula I think it is in the general training guide somewhere: see http://www.concept2.co.uk/guide/downloads.php
Or I can dig it out if you have trouble.

The following chart is from (get any interactive program): http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/interactive.php

pace Power
(secs) Watts
90 480
91 464
92 449
93 435
94 421
95 408
96 395
97 383
98 372
99 358
100 350
101 340
102 330
103 320
104 311
105 302
106 294
107 286
108 278
109 270
110 263
111 256
112 249
113 243
114 236
115 230
116 224
117 219
118 213
119 208
120 203
121 198
122 193
123 188
124 184
125 179
126 175
127 171
128 167
129 163
130 159
131 156
132 152
133 149
134 145
135 142
Last edited by Nosmo on February 7th, 2007, 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

tdebert
Paddler
Posts: 8
Joined: December 24th, 2006, 10:05 am
Location: PA

Post by tdebert » February 7th, 2007, 9:55 pm

Perfect. This is just what I needed. Thank you.

Orc
Paddler
Posts: 26
Joined: January 8th, 2007, 3:53 pm

Post by Orc » February 8th, 2007, 12:34 pm

tdebert wrote:Perfect. This is just what I needed. Thank you.
If you don't have the chart handy and want to estimate the change in power needed, a 1% reduction in split/500m takes about 3% increase in power.

So, if you take 105" per 500m and want to increase speed 5% to 100" / 500m (1:40 pace), you need an additional 15% in power.

on the chart provided above, a 1:45 pace takes 302W and 1:40 takes 350 W.

using the 1:3 rule, 302W x 1.15 = 347.2W

marc

User avatar
michaelb
2k Poster
Posts: 469
Joined: March 16th, 2006, 12:10 pm
Location: Burlington, Vermont

Post by michaelb » February 8th, 2007, 1:45 pm

Same information in an easier to read format for me:

1:10 pace=1020 watts
1:15 pace=830 watts
1:20 pace= 684 watts
1:25 pace= 570 watts
1:30 pace= 480 watts
1:35 pace= 408 watts
1:40 pace= 350 watts
1:45 pace=302 watts
1:50 pace=263 watts
1:55 pace=230 watts
2:00 pace=203 watts
2:05 pace=179 watts
2:10 pace=159 watts
2:15 pace=142 watts
2:20 pace=128 watts
2:25 pace=115 watts
2:30 pace=104 watts
M 51 5'9'' (1.75m), a once and future lightweight
Old PBs 500m-1:33.9 1K-3:18.6 2K-6:55.4 5K-18:17.6 10K-38:10.5 HM-1:24:00.1 FM-3:07.13

User avatar
gregory.cook
6k Poster
Posts: 771
Joined: October 21st, 2006, 10:17 pm
Location: Bainbridge Island, WA

Post by gregory.cook » February 8th, 2007, 3:08 pm

If x is the number of seconds per 500, then watts = 2.8(500/x)^3
Age: 54, Weight: 154 lbs, Height: 5' 9"

The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. -- Albert Camus

User avatar
RowtheRockies
6k Poster
Posts: 853
Joined: March 22nd, 2006, 3:21 pm
Location: Colorado

Post by RowtheRockies » February 8th, 2007, 4:22 pm

This Chart comes in handy for converting pace to watts. Someone on the UK forum pointed it out to me but I don't remember who.

http://www.triton.studver.uu.nl/ergometerscores.pdf

Rich
40 YO 6'1" 180 lbs. Rowing at 7,000 Ft.
SB's
[img]http://www.c2ctc.com/sigs/img1213378765.png[/img]

User avatar
Byron Drachman
10k Poster
Posts: 1124
Joined: March 23rd, 2006, 9:26 pm

Excel 101

Post by Byron Drachman » February 8th, 2007, 9:15 pm

May I join in on flogging the dead horse? If you have Excel,
In cell A1 enter 60
In Cell B1 enter =2.8*(500/A1)^3
In cell A2 enter 61
In cell B2 enter =2.8*(500/A2)^3
Now highlight the four cells, grab the little +sign at the lower right hand corner with the mouse, and scroll down, filling in your table. The first column is 500m pace in seconds, and the second column is watts.

More flogging(easier:)
click on tools, then Macro, then Macros. Give the macro a name such as temp, then create. The following should appear:

Sub temp()

End Sub


Now insert a for-next loop so the code is :
Sub temp()
For i = 60 To 230
Cells(i, 1) = i
Cells(i, 2) = 2.8 * (500 / i) ^ 3
Next i
End Sub

Now click on run. You'll have to minimize the window showing the code so you can see the spreadsheet.

For example,
A 6:28 2K corresponds to a 1:37 pace, or 97 sec pace.
A 6:16 2K corresponds to a 1:34 pace, or 94 sec pace.

The first is at 383 watts, and the second is at 421 watts, a huge increase for most people, especially aging lightweights.



Byron

Dreadnought
1k Poster
Posts: 154
Joined: October 20th, 2006, 10:07 am

Re: Watts vs. Pace chart

Post by Dreadnought » February 8th, 2007, 10:08 pm

tdebert wrote:Does anyone know where I can find a chart which converts "watts" to "time per 500m pace"? This would be helpful in knowing how much additional power is needed to advance from one level of performance to another.

Thanks.
There is a formula to convert 500m pace to watts:

Watts= 2.8 x velocity cubed

The velocity is expressed in meters/sec. So you take 500m and divide by the total pace time in seconds (1:30 would be 90 seconds). Take that number cube it. Then multiply by the constant 2.8.

tdebert
Paddler
Posts: 8
Joined: December 24th, 2006, 10:05 am
Location: PA

Post by tdebert » February 9th, 2007, 9:44 pm

All great stuff folks. I think I'll find the .pdf file posted by Rich (RowtheRockies) particularly helpful. I'm on a quest to do a 7 minute 2k and wanted to know how much of a stretch this will be. This helps a lot.

And, by the way Byron, if you are an "aging lightweight" and can row a 6:28, I'm impressed.

Post Reply