Carmicheal field test
 

Hi,
I have the Time Trial dvd by Chris Carmicheal, and before the workout starts it says to do a feild test of
2x8 min. maximum sustainable efforts (on a trainer), and take the highest average heart rate for the two. The video then uses the heart rate and has you multiply it by .92. That new heart rate was used for a 12 min steady state interval.
My question is would the heart rate found in the field test be my Lactate Threshold Heart Rate? I did the test today, and for the first 8 min. I averaged 188, and the second interval i averaged 189 min. I decided to throw in a 3rd interval, in which i averaged 191. Would 191 be my LTHR?

P.S. the warm up i did was 10 min. and included 2x1 min. maximum effort sprints, and the rest between each interval was 10 min.

the .92 of the average is your LTHR, so 172. The assumption behind the test is that most people can maintain their LTHR for 1 hour (that's your functional 1 hour threshold, which is essentially intechangeable with LTHR) In an 8 minute effort, on average people can do 110% of their LT or functional threshold. Hence you take the 8 minute HR, and mulitiply by .92.

I did a CTS field test this winter 2 days after having a LT test done in a performance lab, and for the me my LTHR came out exactly the same.

By the way, you might try it again on the road doing 2 3mile TT's. The HR shift from heat on the trainer can affect it, and I think the road field test is a little more accurate.

hey thanks for clearing that up for me. I wasn't sure because i knew LTHR was around 80% of your max, and 8 min. seemed to short of a test. I think in a few days i will try it again outside like you said. 172 was however still higher than i expected, because i had done the Foster Talk Test from Sally Edwards book Heart Zone Cycling, and my LTHR came out at 165