The muscular power (in Watts) of the man

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Grelinette
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The muscular power (in Watts) of the man




by Grelinette » 21/03/18, 14:40

That's it, spring is here, it's time to come out, bikes, rollers, scooters and other wheeled vehicles that use muscle strength to get back in shape : Cheesy:
old bike.gif
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So I come back to the power that can deliver a man and its use to move.

To summarize the commonly used data:
- a normal person without special training is able to provide 200 watts easily for a few hours,
- a normal person with a medium training can deliver up to 300 watts of power,
- a great sportsman can provide 500 watts over several hours (note that it is 2 times more than the legal power of electric bikes!), or more than 800 watts over a period of a few minutes.


As far as I'm concerned, on my bike (without engine, history to maintain the 300 W of my powerful calves : Cheesy: ) when I pedal on a steep climb, I cling to the handlebars to strenghten, and I notice that the more I force with the legs and the calves, the more I also force with the arms and the back, and even the hands that clench on the handlebars.
Every time I tell myself that if I could use this force that I "consume" with the back, arms and hands to help my calves and legs to propel the bike, I would surely be more efficient!… .

This is undoubtedly what makes the interest of the bike-lying on which one is comfortably lengthened, with a reduced resistance to the air, and without having to force with the hands, the arms and the back: we would gain 25% pedaling power compared to a conventional bike ?? !! ... (it seems to me a lot : Shock: ).
bike couché.gif
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The performance of the recumbent bike, in terms of restitution of energy provided by the pedalist seems to me still better because only concentrated on the parts of the body that participate directly in the pedaling. To have...

Here are the questions I ask myself:

1 °) What do 300 Watts of human power commonly known mean?

Is it theoretical power and maximum, knowing that depending on the mechanism that will recover (transform) this energy, for example a bike, we will exploit more or less these 300 watts? (which depend on the friction forces and the efficiency of the system, ...)

2 °) By using another mechanical system that makes better use of all muscular strengths, and not more than calves and legs, will the energy delivered be higher than the 300 watts admitted?
In other words, would a more efficient mechanical system be able to exceed the 20 25% muscle power output that restores the 300 standard human power watts?

Un elliptical bikefor example, because it also makes the arms and back work directly to rotate the wheel, does it not allow to restore more than the 300 standard watts? (Even if pedaling on an elliptical trainer is less effective because the point of support on the pedal arms is deported).
Eliptic bike muscles.jpg
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... and here is where I am coming from: I recovered a very simple very basic elliptical trainer but which seems rather "effective" because I feel that using it I sweat all over my body (especially under the arms : Oops: ), and that the force that I devote to turn the central wheel comes from the legs, arms and back.

My idea is to fix it on a big 3 skateboard or 4 wheels (4 would be more stable but there is still this p ... differential to manage : Evil:) and put a chain drive (or gear) from the large central turning wheel of the elliptical trainer to spin the skate wheels. A gear system with derailleur seems relatively simple to transpose and would improve much efficiency, especially uphill.

There are already various models of elliptical trainers but they are rare and expensive and I do not have the impression that their mechanics brings more efficiency to the displacement. (rolling elliptical bike video)

In fact, apart from a few variants of the classic bicycle, such as the recumbent bike, there is still no efficient machine to exploit human energy to move.

What do you think ?

I'm waiting for your remarks and advice before going on a wild ride, even in sauerkraut and freewheeling, in this interesting elliptical bike project rolling ... but maybe a little adventurous.

Thank you

Some models of elliptical trainers that I found:
Eliptical Bike 1.jpg
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Eliptical Bike 2.jpg
Eliptical Bike 2.jpg (8.26 KIO) Accessed 49854 times

Eliptical Bike 3.jpg
Eliptical Bike 3.jpg (52.39 KIO) Accessed 49854 times
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Re: The power (watt) of the man




by izentrop » 21/03/18, 14:59

200 W is already sporty, if it's supported : Wink:
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Re: The power (watt) of the man




by Did67 » 21/03/18, 15:13

I seem to remember that Pantani had developed more than 350 W in the climb of the Alpes d'Huez. And that for specialists in "sports medicine", that was the signature, that without knowing it of his own accord as his friend Virenque would have said who was chasing him, he was loaded like a mule (well, more than the average runners).

But it's from memory ...

What I also know is that a friend, quite sporty and quite "raw", pedaled at 300 W for 30/40 minutes in his gym, where, cardiac, when I was training, I had to draw 110/120 W for 25 to 30 minutes.

These are benchmarks.
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Re: The power (watt) of the man




by Did67 » 21/03/18, 15:17

PS: The easiest way is to give it a try on an exercise bike; any self-respecting model has a "wattmeter" ... You will quickly be fixed on the powers ...
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Re: The power (watt) of the man




by Christophe » 21/03/18, 16:30

Did67 wrote:I seem to remember that Pantani had developed more than 350 W in the climb of the Alpes d'Huez. And that for specialists in "sports medicine", that was the signature, that without knowing it of his own accord as his friend Virenque would have said who was chasing him, he was loaded like a mule (well, more than the average runners).

But it's from memory ...


Also from memory, on a test bench and with I do not know what "load" (hihihi), Miguel Indurain could develop 1 horse (740W) but I do not know for how long ...
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Re: The power (watt) of the man




by Christophe » 21/03/18, 16:31

Here are some internal links on the subject of the energy of the human body:

Consumer-durable / calories-regime-and-sport-balance-on-the-human-energy-t10108.html

With an interesting graph: you can not ask for more 100W continuously for most people!

Image

https://www.econologie.com/file/technol ... _corps.pdf

https://www.econologie.com/file/technol ... 4mai04.pdf

And did you know that the muscle yield was, also, of the order of 20%? That is, if 100W is provided muscularly, the body must be cooled by 500W ... this is called sweating : Cheesy: ...

I also say because it is the efficiency of the engines ...
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Re: The power (watt) of the man




by phil53 » 21/03/18, 16:54

Having done a stress test at the cardiologist, he made me pedal gradually to a level of 200W during 10 mn.
I think I could have kept 1h at this rate but in 10mn sweat was already beading.
I am not a great sportsman but still someone who moves
50 km of bike in several times
Quick walk from 10 to 12km
Footing from 10 to 12km (10km / h average)
this by week
This confirms the figures given before me
The elliptical bike is very tiring, I doubt that the performance is good.
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Re: The power (watt) of the man




by Ahmed » 21/03/18, 18:27

The recumbent bike is probably the best way to optimize muscle effort. The elliptical trainer was designed to spend energy, not to use it the best, and the rolling models are just gadgets.
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Re: The power (watt) of the man




by Did67 » 21/03/18, 18:30

But because of the position, it's not where we have the most power ... I have a friend who has had one for a long time. When I spoke about it with him, he admits that he gets "scratched" by his friends on the slopes (he cannot use his weight to "press" on the pedals; there is only the muscle) , but if not, it drops them very widely ... So this is probably the best performance, because of the comfort. But not the highest power!
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Re: The power (watt) of the man




by Ahmed » 21/03/18, 18:46

The slopes are probably more problematic, but the weight argument surprises me: vertically, the power is limited by the weight of the cyclist, since when the effort is greater than the latter, it is no longer useful for propulsion ... In the recumbent bike, the effort of the legs can be supported on the backrest.
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