The power duration model (PDM) is an estimate of the relationship between time to exhaustion and work rate during both anaerobic and aerobic exercise. The main benefit of the PDM is having a robust mathematical description of your power-duration relationship. This provides quantitative in-sight into your unique abilities and paves the way for other useful analyses.

This two-week training plan will guide you through the process of establishing your PDM and includes quantification of the following:

1) Neuromuscular Power: 5-15 seconds. The lactate anaerobic metabolism is the basic energy system ensuring motor activity (phosphagen system).

2) Anaerobic Capacity Power: 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Motor activity of high intensity is primarily supplied with energy by the anaerobic lactate system (anaerobic glycolysis).

3) VO2 Max: 3-8 minutes. From this period on, the aerobic system is dominant, but the portion of anaerobic lactate metabolism can still be large (anaerobic and aerobic glycolysis).

4) Steady State/Endurance Power: Approximately 10 minutes to several hours. Motor activity is ensured by the aerobic energy system from more than 90% (oxidative system).

WHY ARE THESE TRAINING PLANS SO CHEAP?
Relatively speaking, cycling has a high cost of entry in terms of equipment required, insurance, licence / race entry fees, training software, training applications and indoor training equipment. Elitism is prevalent in cycling. Cultural conditioning and economic circumstances should not be a barrier to personal improvement and mental wellbeing.

As such, the costs of these training plans have been set with inclusion and accessibility as the highest priority.

Everybody matters.

CHOICE OF TARGET DURATIONS
Index efforts of 5 s, 1 min, 5 min, and at functional threshold power were chosen as those best reflecting neuromuscular power, anaerobic capacity, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max), and lactate threshold (LT), respectively. This should NOT be taken to imply that, e.g., a 1 min all-out effort is completely anaerobic (in fact, roughly 40-45% of the energy during such exercise is derived aerobically) or fully utilizes anaerobic capacity (which generally requires 1.5-2.5 min to deplete), or, e.g., that a 5 min all-out effort entails exercising at precisely 100% of VO2 max (most athletes can sustain a power that would elicit 105-110% of their VO2 max for this duration). Rather, power output over these target durations would simply be expected to correlate well with more direct measurements of these different physiological abilities. Secondarily, the index efforts were chosen in an attempt to increase reproducibility (e.g., use of 5 s vs. 1 s power as an indicator of neuromuscular power), and for convenience.

The only place to start (and finish) is by testing – If you are not assessing, you’re guessing.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/power-profiling/