Normalized Power: What It Is And How To Use It In Cycling Training

Written by:

Jim Rutberg

CTS Pro Endurance Coach

Updated On

June 29, 2026

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Normalized Power: What It Is And How To Use It In Cycling Training

by Jim Rutberg and CTS Cycling Head Coach Adam Pulford,

Normalized Power® (NP) is a valuable training metric used to account for the variability of power output during different types of rides and races. It is also used in calculations for other common training metrics, including Training Stress Score, Intensity Factor, and Variability Index. Here’s a closer look at NP to understand its importance, how to use it, and how it relates to Average Power.

What is Normalized Power?

Cycling is a stochastic sport, meaning that during a free-ride situation, power output fluctuates widely and unpredictably. Second-by-second power data is so variable that most head units default to a 3-second average power to make the data more usable. Across the duration of a whole ride or race, the variability of power output makes it difficult to determine how hard the ride really was.

Andrew Coggan introduced Normalized Power, and it is a trademarked term by TrainingPeaks, to provide a more accurate picture of the metabolic cost of a workout, ride, or segment of a power file. It does so by deemphasizing periods of lower power output – and hence lower metabolic cost. It does not, as cyclists erroneously believe, just remove all times when power equals 0 watts.

Normalized Power vs. Average Power

You can see the value of Normalized Power when you compare it to Average Power (AP). When you calculate AP, all power values have the same weight. As a result, periods of low power output or coasting can dramatically reduce the average. And it’s easy for zero power moments to add up, particularly in group rides, criteriums, hilly rides, mountain bike rides, etc.

Calculating Normalized Power

The only reason it is useful to explain the formula for calculating Normalized Power is because it helps cyclists understand what NP is and is not. You don’t need to calculate NP on your own. TrainingPeaks does it for you, as do several power meter head units. Behind the scenes, here’s the calculation:

1. Determine the 30-second rolling average power for the data segment (whole ride or race, specific climb, interval session, etc.).
2. Raise all these values to the 4th power (i.e. x4). This is how those higher power efforts are emphasized. Thirty seconds at 5 watts goes to 625 watts but 30 seconds at 300 watts goes to 8.1 billion watts!
3. Calculate the average of raised values.
4. Take the 4th root of that value. This brings the numbers back to reality.

The key takeaway from the math lesson is that Normalized Power weighs the higher power efforts more than the lower power efforts. Why? Power efforts are weighted differently because they “cost” your body differently. Riding in Zone 2 “costs” your body LESS fatigue than time in Zones 5-6. Higher intensity elicits higher strain and fatigue, and NP takes this into account.

Normalized Power by Other Names

“Normalized Power” is trademarked by TrainingPeaks. This means other apps and software companies use a slightly different calculation and a different name to present a similar concept. Strava, for instance, uses “Weighted Average Power”, and Today’s Plan calls theirs “Adjusted Power”. This explains why you see small variations in your “normalized” power data if you use more than one app or training software.

How Normalized Power Influences TrainingPeaks Metrics

Normalized Power is so engrained in TrainingPeaks formulas that it shows up in a range of other metrics cyclists rely on, including Training Stress Score (TSS), Variability Index (VI), and Intensity Factor (IF).

Training Stress Score (TSS) and Normalized Power

Training Stress Score is a way to evaluate the difficulty or stress of your daily rides, and it is the basis of Chronic Training Load (CTL). As you can see below, it’s calculated by using ride duration and intensity (NP and IF), both relative to your current Functional Threshold Power (FTP).

By definition, 100 TSS equals 60 minutes at FTP. You can rack up TSS points by riding longer at lower intensities or by riding shorter at higher intensities. At the end of the day, TSS provides a good way to compare the training stress of rides of varying durations and intensities.

Variability Index (VI) and Normalized Power

You can use the comparison of Normalized Power to Average Power to characterize a ride and get a better picture of its variability. This is where another metric you can see in TrainingPeaks – Variability Index (VI) – comes from. Credited to Charles Howe and described in Training and Racing with a Power Meter, 3rd Ed., VI is the ratio of NP to AP, or NP/AP for a workout, race, or segment of data. A VI of 1.0 means NP=AP, which describes a perfectly steady effort. There were no surges in power substantial enough to raise NP.

As VI increases from 1.0 it indicates increased variability. A flat time trial or hill climb might be just slightly above 1.0, like 1.0-1.06, representing a very steady effort. In contrast, criteriums or mountain bike races, which feature repeated high-power efforts but also lots of coasting, could produce VI values of 1.15-1.50.

Intensity Factor (IF) and Normalized Power

TrainingPeaks also uses NP to calculate Intensity Factor, the ratio of NP to Functional Threshold Power (FTP) for a given effort or workout. Essentially, IF gauges the intensity of a ride or workout based on NP as a percentage of FTP. An easy recovery ride might have an IF of .65-.7. Endurance rides might range from .7-.85. Steady Zone 2 aerobic rides would be closer to .7. Group rides and rides that include climbing efforts would come in closer to .85. Interval workouts typically will push you to .85-.95, depending on the intensity and duration of the efforts and recovery times. And IF between .95 – 1.05 would represent a difficult ride or race, like criteriums and short road races.

All these metrics – TSS, IF, VI – are best used after your rides and races to gain insights on your performance. Even Normalized Power is better as a post-ride metric.

How NOT to Use Normalized Power in Your Cycling Training

Normalized Power is a component of important metrics we use to analyze training. But day-to-day, many athletes misuse or misunderstand how they should use Normalized Power. For instance, here are some ways you should not use Normalized Power:

• Don’t emphasize NP just because it’s a bigger number than AP. Normalized Power needs context, so looking at your average power, aligned with Intensity Factor, TSS, etc is best to gauge how it all went on a training day or race day.
• Don’t focus on NP for efforts shorter than 10 minutes. Because it relies on a rolling 30-second average power, NP is best used for efforts lasting at least 10 minutes (20 minutes or longer is even better). During rides, monitor your 3-second Average Power for pacing purposes or to stay in a training zone for an interval.
• Don’t use NP to estimate FTP. You need to do actual field testing of key power durations and use average power to set training zones and know your FTP. Normalized power provides better insights than average power about how hard the days were, but FTP and power zones should not be set by NP.
• Don’t believe you need a big NP to win races. Sometimes your greatest performances will coincide with huge NP values. But when you’re going for the win you want to do as little work as possible most of the day, and just go hard when you achieve the biggest bang for your buck. If you play your cards right, your NP for a winning ride could be lower than a hard training day.

Coach Adam exhausted by a big Normalized Power effort. Hazel is, as always, ready for more.

Coach Adam Pulford’s Framework for Using Normalized Power in Training, Racing, and Data Tracking

CTS Cycling Head Coach Adam Pulford has specific advice on how athletes should use Normalized Power in their training, on race days, and over time as they track data.

Best Practices for Normalized Power in Cycling Training

1. Display Normalized Power on Screen: Start riding with NP and Kilojoules on your cycling computer display. The point is to familiarize yourself with what 200W, 250W, 300W Normalized feels like. You want to start differentiating between “hard and hilly” vs. “steady threshold” vs. “punchy and variable” in terms of the cost you feel in your body. Displaying kilojoules during your rides also helps you get a sense for the work you’re doing per hour and how that changes in relation to NP. This is important because your fueling strategy for harder days should be linked to your kJ expenditure: in particular, aiming for  an hourly carbohydrate calorie replenishment of 35-50% of your hourly kJ work rate.
2. Review NP values from previous rides and races: Once you get a sense of your typical NP values for the ride types above, go back into your training data and look for hard rides with high peak NP for 1, 2, 3, and 5 hours. You’ll get a sense of your limits at these durations. This will help you design specific rides and training sessions to prepare for the next MTB race, road race, or gravel race.
3. Replicate peak NP values from past events: Identify the peak Normalized Powers from challenging events and then design training to replicate that, within reason. This is good for people who hit peak NP values in races (with the motivation of a group) but not in solo training sessions. Additionally, using NP from previous races helps gravel racers and ultraendurance MTB racers work on pacing for five-plus hour events. Don’t be afraid to design some key training sessions that are as intense or harder than your previous race performance. Once you can do that, you’ll be more resilient, durable, and confident in similar race situations.
   
   Workout Example: Let’s say you had a past race with a period of ~300W NP for an hour that featured short, punchy hills (30-40 seconds each). A simple workout would be to warm up for 20-30min, then hit it hard for one hour with some random 30-60s efforts thrown in. Punch the hills, throw in attacks, pedal on the downhills, ride steady hard in Zone 4, then attack again. Just make it up as you go, ride hard and watch the NP, especially after 20 minutes. Attack more or go hard to drive it up; do a little less if you over-pacing This ride should feel hard but not max, 8-9/10 RPE or close to what you were doing in the race. Aim for ~280-300W NP for 1hr. Why does the training session sometimes have a lower NP compared to the race? Because motivation can be harder to come by during a solo session. Not for all, but for many competitive athletes. Learning to push yourself when no one is around is a skill and art that taps into the human psyche, and using data like Normalized Power could help you break through it with workouts like this.
4. Use Normalized Power to get out of “Interval Mentality”: Remember, you can derive NP in many ways… shorter and higher intensity effort, or longer and steadier efforts. So, thinking about NP can help get riders out of an “interval mentality”, or thinking that every hard effort must be balanced by a prescribed recovery period. A high NP ride can be constructed from hard efforts that include 10-30 second sprints, 30-60 second attacks, or maybe 2-5 minute hard VO2max efforts, and a mix of upper Zone 2, 3, and 4 throughout. The beauty of hard NP-focused rides is that they can help teach you to pace stochastic efforts like you see with undulating courses and surging pelotons.

Best Practices for Normalized Power in Bike Racing

The best way to use Normalized Power in a race situation is as a ‘gut check”. If you know your typical NP values for hard days in a variety of conditions, you can take a quick look at NP during a race and compare it with how your legs and body are feeling. If you’re having a great day, pushing the pace, and racing like you’re on fire, check in with NP every 30-60 minutes. If you’re way over your previous NP values, you have to consider whether you’re burning matches you need to save for later (to keep NP from falling off a cliff). If all your other cues (RPE, heart rate, fueling, etc.) are telling you that you’re on an epically great day, push on! If the constellation of cues says you’re overdoing it too early, then play it smart and save some gas for later.

Best Practices for Normalized Power in Data Tracking

Three key ways to measure performance improvement include:

1.     Increased Power-Durations
2.     Increased Speed
3.     Standing on the Podium

One of the big adaptations we see from endurance training is an increase in peak power outputs at numerous points along your power-duration curve. This chart in TrainingPeaks uses Average Power. At different times, you might focus on improving power at shorter efforts vs. longer efforts, but overall, we want to see your training push portions of that curve higher. Tracking Peak Normalized Power for key durations is also helpful so you can see context for your hard days. It can also be good to track your Peak Normalized Power for key durations year over year or at different times of the season so you know when you were going the hardest during the year and whether you’re Peak Normalized Power durations are going up or down from year to year.

The Bottom Line

Normalized Power is an important  and valid metric on its own and it’s nested deeply into other metrics you already use (TSS, CTL, IF, VI), so it’s useful to know what it is, how it works, it’s limitations, and how to use it (and not use it).

Remember, though, that there’s never just ONE metric or thing you should look at or rely on for decision making about training or performance. Normalized Power provides great context and insights about how you are applying your efforts in terms of intensity and duration. Looking in a forward direction, it helps you plan a pacing strategy or keep tabs on your efforts during races so you know how  close you are to giving your all.

Additional resources on this topic:

• What is Normalized Power?
• Understanding Normalized Power Calculations to Coach Cyclists
• The Science of the TrainingPeaks Performance Manager 
• Estimating Training Stress Score (TSS)