Ritmo Power and indoor training: do you need it?
Ritmo Power is RitmoSync’s effort-weighted watt number — a single value that better reflects physiological cost than simple average power when your watts vary. It is most useful when watts swing a lot; on steady indoor intervals it is often close to average power. Here’s what it means and how RitmoSync shows and exports it.
What Ritmo Power is
Average power divides total work by time — fine for steady efforts. Ritmo Power uses a rolling 30-second average of your watt stream, raises it to the fourth power, averages those values, then takes the fourth root. The math weights surges and variability so a punchy ride “costs more” than the same average watts ridden smoothly.
Ritmo Intensity = Ritmo Power ÷ FTP. A value of 0.85 means the effort felt like 85% of threshold. Set FTP in the menu for accurate numbers.
When Ritmo Power differs from average power
Steady indoor intervals — especially on ERG — often keep Ritmo Power close to average power because the watt line is flat. Ritmo Power pulls ahead when you surge at interval starts, soft-pedal recoveries, ride over-unders, or hold watts manually without ERG.
A gap between the two means the session was punchier than the average suggests — useful for judging load and pacing discipline. For 2×20 sweet spot at constant watts, average power and Ritmo Power usually tell a similar story.
What RitmoSync shows
- During the ride — each zone block shows R. PWR (Ritmo Power) and R. Int (Ritmo Intensity) alongside live watts and duration
- After the ride — zone summary cards keep the same Ritmo Power and Ritmo Intensity per zone segment
- CSV export (Pro) — 30-second and zone CSV files include
ritmo_power_wandritmo_intensitycolumns per row - FIT export (Pro) — when FTP is set, session-level Ritmo Power and Ritmo Intensity are written to the FIT session record for upload to Strava, TrainingPeaks, and similar tools
Set FTP in RitmoSync before the ride for accurate Ritmo Intensity. See the CSV column guide for every export field.
Getting accurate metrics
- Set FTP in RitmoSync menu before hard sessions — see how to calculate FTP
- Complete the workout with Pro active so samples are saved
- Export CSV or FIT and analyze in your tool of choice
- Compare Ritmo Power to average power — large gaps mean inconsistent pacing
Set FTP, ride, export — Ritmo Power and Ritmo Intensity in CSV and FIT when you need them.
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