Road Bike Racing - Heart Rate Zones vs Power Zones

I was wondering if there is supposed to be a correlation between the heart rate zones and the power zones? I'm going to grab some books on training with power, but I was hoping someone could clear this up tonight. The zones I am talking about are the 5, not the 7. My question is when working "Zone 2", is my heart rate supposed to match my power zone? When I downloaded my data, I noticed that I was 70% in Zone 2 and 30% in Zone 1 for power, but my heart rate was way in Zone 1 for the entire ride (99%). Are my power/heart zones set up incorrectly or is this typical?

How did you determine you HR and power zones? In general, if your HR is mainly in Zone 1 and your power was mainly in Zone 2, you either have your FTP set too low, or you have your threshold HR set too high.

As Yep said, it really depends on whose zones you're comparing.

If I ride Coggan L2 (Endurance) - since his L1 is active recovery - my heart rate will always be in Friel's HR zone 1. If I ride Coggan L3, then my heart rate is Friel zone 2-3, etc...

Another reason why I like Stern's zones, because active recovery is active recovery - in both worlds. Here's my ride from Friday - nice and steady rhythm, not a lot of stopping or moving around, just steady pedaling. The yellow dash lines would represent the lines at the top of Coggan L1, L2, and L3. The red lines are the tops of Friel HR Zone 1 and Zone 2. This was the first time in two weeks I'd even ridden with the HR strap on.

Edited to add: To further be a shill for the Stern zones, here's the distribution charts for the two (power/HR). I don't normally pay these much mind because they can be very deceiving (not accounting or steady time in zone), but when comparing over a whole ride they can have their use.

(should also add that the zones for Stern in Cyclingpeaks don't account for the Zone overlap as he defines them, but .. well. like I said, I don't really pay much attention to the distribution charts.)

If I ride Coggan L2 (Endurance) - since his L1 is active recovery - my heart rate will always be in Friel's HR zone 1. If I ride Coggan L3, then my heart rate is Friel zone 2-3, etc...

This seems to be what is happening to me. I will check out Stern and his zones and see if they work better for me. What I really need to do is setup a good set of tests to determine my MAP, FTP, and max heart rate properly. Right now I was doing a real generic estimate as this was only my second powertap ride.

Thanks to both of you for the replies. I will post back an update when I get this sorted.

It never correlates for me. I did 10 x 5's the other day at 280w(high Z3/low Z4) and my HR stayed at 145-150bpm(high Z1/low Z2) for each interval. My FTP is 310. If it weren't for my coach, I don't even think I would wear my strap.

It never correlates for me. I did 10 x 5's the other day at 280w(high Z3/low Z4) and my HR stayed at 145-150bpm(high Z1/low Z2) for each interval. My FTP is 310. If it weren't for my coach, I don't even think I would wear my strap.

So typically when a coach says "go ride zone 2" is he referring to power or heart rate? I know that my race team (where most do not train with power) are referring to heart rate. I would think that these zones would correlate otherwise it would lead to confusion. I'll do some more reading and see if I can come up with an explanation for why.

This seems to be what is happening to me. I will check out Stern and his zones and see if they work better for me. What I really need to do is setup a good set of tests to determine my MAP, FTP, and max heart rate properly. Right now I was doing a real generic estimate as this was only my second powertap ride.

Thanks to both of you for the replies. I will post back an update when I get this sorted.

My recommendation is to ride for about a month just like you normally would to get a feel for riding with the PT. It'll help you have a better idea of your capabilities in wattage terms so when you do test for FTP or MAP, you'll have a better feel for what to expect. A large portion of testing is mental, as well.