Originally Posted by
hamster
Personally I'm incredulous that the person reporting this actually had a VAT of 114 BPM. (Unless he's over 70 years old?)
To the OP: your power to weight and your gears are barely enough to spin up this hill at ~70 rpm. It is quite normal to experience signs of failure as described in this situation. Your best options are to get a 12-32 cassette and to lose weight.
Yes, my heart rate at my Ventilatory Anaerobic Threshold (VAT) is 114. It was determined by an MD during a "metabolic stress test" at the Cleveland Clinic -- where I wore an oxygen type mask and they measured the volume and type of gases entering and leaving my body (at least gases coming from ABOVE the waist!)... It was measured by an MD and checked by another MD as well as an exercise physiologist. I have no reason to not believe it.
I think that the VENTILATORY part of that is key: it measures essentially the same thing as the lactic acid threshold -- but it is different.
As they described it, for my age (63) my VAT of 18.9 ml/kg/min is 50% of my VO2Max of 38.1. Average for that is 60% and they want to see 70%. So, while my VO2Max is high, my VAT is low -- but it's not out of the normal range... And, with a BMI of 29, I could improve both numbers simply by losing some pounds (as well as improving my hill climbing!). (Unfortunately, losing that second 20 pounds has been inexplicably hard to do...)
Further: I suspect that my heart rate at my actual 'lactic acid threshold' would be higher than 114 -- but since that has never been measured, I do not know how much higher. But since I do not experience ANY burn or other noticeable ill effects at 114BPM, I think it is clear that my Lactic Acid Threshold is somewhere above that.
Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
With a number like that, I advise backing it off and not doing so much hill work. Just ride and don't worry about it. Getting your body converted over to a cycling machine is a slow process. I've heard 7 years for complete adaptation, and I think that's probably about right. On the good side, that means that you'll keep getting better and faster for at least 7 years, which is nice to look forward to. Your VAT will come up no matter what you do as long as you're riding lots. You have a lot of base work to do. You'll know when you're ready for hills, and if you keep doing 150+ miles/week, you'll make good progress.
And, Carbonfiberboy: The exercise physiologist did not tell me to stay away from hills. Rather he suggested that I get my average heart rate on a ride up to between 120 and 138 (from the current 112) so that I could build my VAT level and be able to climb hills without getting bonked. Or, in other words, he said I had been spending too much time at low levels of exertion and I needed to push my body harder in order to build my VAT up to where he wants to see it: 70% of the VO2Max. When he told me that, I asked him: "Are you telling me I've been dogging it? I road 4,000 miles this past year!" He just smiled and nodded...
But, I agree with you: I have spent the last 40-50 years abusing my body through too little exercise and too many BigMacs. 7 years seems reasonable in order to compensate for that. But, at the same time, I will be fighting the deteriorating effects of old age. So, I may never get there if I take it easy as you suggest. Instead, I've made cycling my top priority and try to get in about 1 1/2 or 2 hours of saddle time a day, 5 or 6 days a week -- with my heart rate averaging above 120.