I’m interval Watt training with people much fitter than me and they are on 85 warm up, then doing 100-125, dropping cadence at max resistance on both dials to simulate extreme climbs. The trainer says if I can’t keep up 100-110min I shouldn’t be in the class 🙂
Think it is down to efficiency / HR zone over power output and how long you can keep this up. They use 20min / 1hr FTP tests to measure performance improvement over time.
I was on 85-95 starting out. If I ride without a proper warmup I will struggle at higher cadence from the off that they seem to handle with ease. As long as I warm up it’s fine which I guess is why you see turbo trainers at every pro cycle event.
Transfer this to the off-road and it really does help with the knees, endurance and speed
While no one outside of my watt group cares about my watts (they go up no matter your age if you train properly with diet), the people I ride MTB with wonder why I was always the slowest, but now close to the top 🙂
I’ll ask the trainer for a more scientific / accurate answer next week.