So was doing a deep dive into my Kickr Snap and the SUF app mid-ToS, and decided to turn off all of the power smoothing options after noting in the FAQ that it was mostly aesthetic and not required. Felt like I had quite the eye-opener on Stage 6 with it gone - in a good way.
Never again power smoothing! I feel like raw power data (even with my Kickr trying to do it’s business in ERG mode) could be a great training tool for me going forward. The power graph really helped me see when/where my pedal stroke is…not good. I can see using this in training going forward to really work on smoothing out my pedal stroke and spinning circles at higher and higher cadences. Was also able to see that I over-utilize my quads in the downstroke attack. By the end of The Cure, I was already seeing improvements in my muscle-switching and power transfer, with a smoother power curve (though not in sprints - ugh!).
Is it me or does switching off power smoothing result in a harder workout? Does power smoothing apply more gradual transitions between power levels, during a workout?
Having recently turning off PS, and doing two workouts - Team Scream and Fight Club - with lots of short power bursts, I swear they are harder. Am I right in saying that with PS you spend less time at your target power level, because it takes longer to reach that target?
Of course this could just be me trying to find a reason for being punished in training!
Selecting Power Smoothing in the Wahoo app will ensure that your graphs in The Sufferfest app are crisp and clean.
It literally does nothing other than smooth the appearance of power application on screen. I actually hit the minions up about this when I started, as I was curious.
Placebo effect, maybe? All those spikes making things look worse than they are? If you look in app or in the FAQ, they specifically mention that PS is basically just eye candy. I think there’s one other thing in there that’s similarly only a visual, but I can’t recall what it is.
I don’t use PS because one thing having raw power displayed DOES help with is in my neverending effort to smooth out my cadence and work on pedaling efficiency.
While I’m no biomechanics expert, I thought of another benefit of no power smoothing, while suffering through Igniter and The Chores today: it really helped me dial in my seat position. If you’re seeing a lot of spikes, that’s an indicator that your power output is uneven - like between downstroke and upstroke.
Over the course of a few efforts, I raised my saddle until my positioning for my upstroke smoothed out and eliminated dead spots. Now, at a steady effort, I generate a graph that looks a lot more like the PS smoothing graph.
once for this post. Have 10 