Spectral analysis methods in Matlab; what are the differences?

Hi,

I'm a Sports Science Student, focusing on cycling performance. Part of my interest is in the power output of a cyclist during a cycling session and over a whole a season. For example, when looking at a 40 km time trial, the power output shows slow changes over time (known as a pacing strategy), but also fluctuations on a shorter basis. Therefore, spectral analysis seems like an interesting way to analyze the data. In MatLab, I've both used the fft function and pwelch. I do get a graph and I can calculate mean and median frequency. But I have two questions: Firstly, am I using the right method, as there are other methods available in matlab. What are the differences between them?
Secondly, what does the spectral graph and mean and median frequency tell me? Can I simply do statistical tests on the mean and median frequency? Your help is much appreciated.

Regards,
Marco Arkesteijn,
Centre for Sports Studies
University of Kent, UK Start a New Thread