(Heart rate based) Training zones?

[Bruco]

Have been reading and surfing and found that everybody seems to use different heart rate based training zones. Formula (Karvonen, %MAX, etc.), thresholds (recovery, endurance, etc.)--all vary.

I am a serious cyclist (but don't race), who does two 25 km (15,5 mile) daily commutes and one 100 km (62 mile) plus club ride per week. I have recently bought a heart rate monitor (Sigma PC1600) and want to use it to get as much--physically speaking--as possible out of the time spent in the saddle. Vary the 'training' intensity (from recovery to intervals), enhance 'toughness' and gain speed, that kind of stuff.

What works for you?

[djpluv]

Sounds like you're already in pretty good shape...Try putting together a training schedule starting with good 'ol enurance miles (seems like your foundation is pretty well set)...For me, my HRmax is 192...so I use the following HRzones:

Zone1 - 115-132 Recovery Training
Zone2 - 133-150 Endurance Base Training
Zone3 - 151-167 Aerobic Capacity Training
Zone4 - 167-185 Lactate Threshold Training
Zone5 - 185-Max VO2 Max Training

I typically keep my Endurance Mile rides within Zone 3, trying to keep my HRavg for the ride under 163.

Mix in some Steady State intervals once a week to raise your lactate threshhold. For me, I will ride 2 X 8-10 minute intervals around 168-170 bpm @ 85 rpm.

[Bruco]

Thanks, djpluv! I appreciate your suggestions and will start experimenting with them soon.

What I like about your zone set-up is that the zones are quite 'broad' (9% or so?), as opposed to schedules where the 'bandwith' of a particular zone is only about 4%. For me it is next to impossible to stay within such a narrow range.

Yep, I have been doing some 'endurance' so far. It's the nastier types of training that need more attention...

Happy pedalling! :beer:

[BikeInMN]

Bruco

Check out this link for a great HR Zone calculator

http://www.xsystems.co.uk/machinehead/heart_rate_zone_calculator_abcc_bcf.html

[lotek]

Bruco,

I'm surprized that Koffee Brown super moderator :D ,
hasn't commented on this thread.
She teaches the Sally Edwards method.
Check out Heart Zones (http://www.heartzones.com/index.shtml)

Marty

[Bruco]

Thanks for the URLs, BikeInMN and lotek!

I was just reading some of Koffee Brown's indepth treatment of the subject matter in other threads. Very informative indeed!

[Guest]

Actually, I was getting there- was gonna recommend going to the Heart Zones website, but Marty beat me to it.... :D

Sally Edwards/Sally Reed stuff is pretty good reading, and easy to read, too.

Koff

[Joe Gardner]

I need to tag on here. My resting heart rate is 62bmp, and yesterday I reach an all time high of 193bmp. On most of my ride, my HR hovered between 162 and 168bmp. I pushed a bit hard on that ride, as it was windy, and only 12 miles long. For long distances, I can keep my HR ~145 - 150bpm for hours...

What does this tell you, am i over training? Am i un-fit as a cyclist? It looks like i can more or less fallow djpluv's HR zone's with little change.

I'll pick up Sally Edwards book in the near future. I just received a $20 donation via Amazon.com GC! :)

[Guest]

Well, it was windy, so maybe you just pushed a bit more than usual, which brought up your heart rate. Have you experienced the same conditions and kept your heart rate at the 145- 150? Or under the same conditions, have you gotten your heart rate that high before?

I wouldn't necessarily say over training. Do another ride tomorrow and watch your heart rate. If it easily gets to those higher heart rates and you're not doing much effort and you're still low intensity, then I would say take a few days off. It may be overtraining.

If you do another ride tomorrow and your heart rate is in the usual lower ranges, attribute the higher heart rate to the weather conditions.

Let us know how your ride goes tomorrow (or whenever the next time is that you ride).

Koffee

[Joe Gardner]

I'll watch again tomorrow. When should i make note of my HR when riding? I have seen 145 - 150 on most rides, no wind, cruising along ~18 - 20mph.

The 193 figure came at the end of my 12 mile ride, I sprinted as fast as i could (38mph) against a small headwind until i thought i would die. Before that sprint, my max HR seen last year was 192. I think it is VERY close to that number.

[Guest]

Oh, if you hit that number in a sprint, that's quite different than just suddenly looking down and seeing that 193 when you're exerting yourself a bit against a wind for 12 miles.

Note your average heart rate during the ride- like at least 10 minutes into the ride, when you're warmed up and riding a good clip. Then just monitor your heart rate throughout the ride. You'll know if your heart rate is back to normal- if it's shooting up in the 160's consistently, there could be a problem. If it's as normal with the 145- 150 range throughout your ride, don't worry.

Sounds like you did an unofficial max hr type test yesterday.

[Joe Gardner]

Yeah, I wanted to find my max, as well as avg. I kinda figured the avg HR would be skewed due to the wind.

[Guest]

All right, report back after your next ride! And no all out efforts at the end to skew the results! ;)

[Joe Gardner]

Ok Koffee, I did not ride at all yesterday, and when i took my resting HR this AM it was at 56bmp. As for the ride, my HR stayed right around 146bmp, based on previous notes over the last two weeks, that is just about avg, 145- 150.

[Guest]

Yeah, I get the feeling it was weather conditions and a more intense ride that got your HR elevated. You sound fine.

You go boy!

:)

[lotek]

hey koffee send him the 2x20 ride, that should
get his HR up, and give a good indication of max etc.

you know I think your recommending the 2x20 test
is just that velodominatrix streak in you coming out.


Marty

[Joe Gardner]

2x20? :)

[Guest]

Oh Joe!

And here I was, thinking you were reading all my posts. I thought you were my biggest fan! :cry: ;)

Anyway, it's an anaerobic threshold test. For you, I will copy and paste it here in case you really didn't read it, and you can take the test and check on your lactate threshold (also known as anaerobic threshold). Here we go!!

________________________________________________________________

I'm going to reprint the lactate threshold test I posted a few months ago. It can accurately predict your lactate threshold within a few beats, and from there, you can plug and chug the numbers to get the rest of your numbers for your heart rate ranges by assuming your lactate threshold is at the 80%. Once you've done that, run through a high intensity workout and see how easy it is to get to 90%. If it's easy, redo the test, and try to more accurately rate your anaerobic threshold. You may have to do a little adjusting, but generally, people seem to be right on the mark every time they do the test.


________________________________________________________________
THE TEST:

Here's the test for anaerobic threshold. You can get it from Sally Edwards/Sally Reed book- "The Heart Rate Monitor Book for Outdoor and Indoor Cyclists", pp. 92- 94. The test is done on a stationary bike or indoor cycling bike.

The top of Zone 3 is 80%. The top of Zone 2 is 70%. The bottom of Zone 2 is 60%. The bottom of Zone 1 is 50%.
______________________________________________________
2X20 Anaerobic Threshold Test

This is an anaerobic heart rate test designed by David Martin, Ph.D. at Georgia State University. The goal of this workout is to sustain the highest heart rate number you can for 20 minutes, followed by a 5 minute recovery and then sustain the same number again for 20 minutes. After completing both 20 minute intervals, answer the question: Was that hte hardest I could work for the duration of time (40 minutes)? If the answer is yues, then that heart rate number is an excellent estimate of your anaerobic threshold heart rate.

Purpose
Anaerobic theshold is one of the ways of measuring fitness. The higher the percentage of maximum heart rate you can sustain for the duration of the test, the fitter you are. This translates into being able to cycle faster for a longer duration. If you have never done this test before ou may want to be conservative the first time until you get the feel for what is happeniing and what is expected. Retest in a month or six weeks to see if you are getting fitter. It is important that you are fully rested before doing this test and that you give yourself a minimum of 48 hours of rest from riding above heart Zone 3.

Workout Plan
Warm up for 5 minutes to the bottom of Zone 2, then gradually increase heart rate for the next 5 minutes until you reach the heart rate number that you thinnk you can sustain for 20 minutes. Sustain that number for 20 minutes. You may choose to use cadence, resistance/gearing or any combination you wish to sustain the heart rate. After 20 minutes, recover to the bottom of Zone 2 for 5 minutes. Make sure you drink plenty of water and allow your legs and body to relax.

After 5 minutes of recovery begin to increase your heart rate agian over the next 3 minutes until you have reached the same heart rate number that you sustained for the first 20 minutes. Sustain that heart rate for a second 20 minutes, then warm down over the next 7 minutes to Zone 1.

________________________________________________________

Keep in mind, you are looking for ONE NUMBER.... not a RANGE OF NUMBERS... Often, I'll run through the first 20 minutes with my students, then when I talk to them in the 5 minute break, they say something like, "oh, I was between 156- 160". Aaaaaaaugh!!!!!!!!!! You are looking for that one number, not a range. So if it's 160, it's ONLY 160... not a range of different numbers that's "around" 160.

This is just a taste of the test, but there's a performance based heart rate chart that you can look at to find that number for anaerobic threshold (80%), and easily read the chart for the rest of the numbers in your heart rate ranges. That's why I suggest you get the book. It's also a great book because it gives outdoor and indoor training exercises you can do to improve your fitness level. If you don't have the book and you want to do the test right away, go to the website: http://www.heartzone.com/index.shtml
Over there, click on the link that says "HEART RATE CALCULATOR". About halfway down the page, there is a heart rate calculator that you can use that will break your heart rates down into zones. You will have to fiddle around with max heart rate, since you didn't test for max hr, but if you keep entering numbers in the max heart rate, you'll eventually find the correct numbers to use. I used my example of 160 as my anaerobic threshold (80%), and I started by entering 195 as my max (guessing). It was a bit low, so I entered 200 as my max hr, and this time, I got correct numbers, because the 80% on the chart came out at 160. I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't, get the book.

________________________________________________________________

The actual link to the description I gave about lactic acid and anaerobic threshold is: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthrea...own+lactic+acid

_________________________________________________________________

Let me know if you need more explanation.

Koff

[Joe Gardner]

Thanks, I need to spend alot more time reading this forum! :)

[Guest]

Ha! Nah, you just need to take more time to read MY responses....

;)

Just concentrate on your new projects. Didn't you create this forum so that people who had questions could get the answers they were looking for anyway? Even Joe needs questions answered every now and then.

Joe needs love too!

[lotek]

Koffee,

I thought the forum was to find answers to questions
you hadn't even thought of yet.

and to help maintain bike lust. . .

Joe, this is a great workout and guage of fitness.
It is also really painful, and then there's koffee in
her leather and lycra :D with whip (no not chain whip).

Marty