“I first discovered powerWatts in Tel Aviv”, Dan Martin says. “Two hours of training never passed so quick on the trainer as the competitiveness in the room between teammates and banter made what was really hard training a hell of a lot of fun.”

The Irish climber is one of the few lucky Israel Start-Up Nation-riders who use Powerwatts. Along with him: Rory Sutherland, Guillaume Boivin and James Piccoli, all with pleasure.

PowerWatts is the brainchild of ISN’s Performance Director Paulo Saldanha (former professional Ironman triathlete). It is an indoor group training system that uses a unique form of games using power, speed, cadence as tools to engage the user and improve performance.

Fun and focus

Saldanha offers the ISN-riders a unique system called cpX. It allows riders to use PowerWatts at home, in a single user format.

He says: “cpX is an acronym for “critical power X” – which means that all power (X) is critical. What cpX and PowerWatts do is creating “gamified” ways of working across all critical powers in the power curve of riders from seconds to hours. Having these game infield concepts within the PowerWatts methods benefit riders, as it’s easier to keep focus.”

Irish climber and ISN-star Martin fully understands what Saldanha means. “There is something extremely engaging about the Powerwatts system. It requires concentration but you also need to immerse yourself in the effort and that focus makes the time go by really quickly. The closest I’ve ever come to throwing up on a bike is thanks to Powerwatts. I am sure it gives us an advantage during this time training indoors.”

Rising to high levels

Saldanha continues: “PowerWatts is the result of research and development of dozens of physiologists, hundreds of coaches, and thousands of athletes to build a unique system of group training.”

“The principles embedded inside the PowerWatts training system were used to help build Michael Woods capacity as an athlete”, Saldanha explained. “Michael came to the sport late and rose to a high level using this methodology. Simply put, PowerWatts is the most comprehensive and time-efficient indoor training system on the planet.”