Robb Wolf’s Power Output Calculator
Robb Wolf is a strength & conditioning coach, formerly a research biochemist, who writes for Performance Menu, Journal of Health & Athletic Excellence. He has devised a wonderful little tool called the Power Output Calculator. You enter in your height, weight, some exercises you did and how long it took you to do them. *BAM!* out comes your watts, horsepower, etc.! It’s awesome! It’s also a useful tool for seeing the differences in athletic performance that are sometimes more important than just your time. For example:
Speal has a 2:05 Fran.
He is 5’4″ and weighs 134 pounds
This gives him an output of 326 watts, or .44 horsepower
…now see what happens when we plug in CFATL’s MikeG’s stats:
MikeG has a 2:27 Fran.
He is 5’10″ and weighs 180 pounds
MikeG’s power output is over 360 watts, or .49 horsepower!
His time might be 22 seconds longer than Speal’s, but he is generating significantly more power. Time is only part of the answer when it comes to the question of “who beat who.” In seeing the situation through the power calculator, it is not so obvious who is the “better” of the two athletes.
