Originally Posted by
Redbullet
Hello,
I can’t find a way to reasonably use my HR monitor for training. My max. HR is somewhere between 175 – 180 and the minimum is around 80-90. While cycling, I can’t lower my HR below 130 (unless I really stop pedaling for 5-10 minutes). I use a 4 zones monitor (60-70%, 70-80%, 80-90% and 90-100%). The final result is that, for any 70-90 km ride, I “spend” some 2-4% in zone 4, some 92% in zone 3, and some 4-6% in zone 2. Nothing for zone 1 - it would mean almost stop pedaling.
Overall, I can see that training plans normally spread between 50-100% of max HR, but I can’t use such a plan – my HR is in zone 3 (80-90% of max HR) for most of the ride and I can’t pull it below without a lot of stops. Should I change the 60 – 70 – 80 – 90 - 100% percentages on my HR monitor to a higher scale?
Thanks,
R.
are you saying that your monitor limits you to four zones? I use five zones with zone 1 (55-65%), zone 2 (65-75), zone 3 (75-85), zone 4 (85-90), zone 5 (90-95). These are custom zones and not exactly traditional. I find that I can roll along pretty well in zone 2 "forever". For me that is 100-115 bpm. As I get to the top of zone 3 I am starting to work but can hold that pace for long time without stress. As i move into zone 4 I am at anaerobic threshold and would do a 10 mile tt at that rate if I were ever inclined to do a TT (which I am not). I deliberately set my zone 4 and 5 zones to be narrower than most use. I intend never to go over 95% which for me would be a HR of 146. My max is 154 but why would I ever ride at max? I am 70 and not racing anyone. I find that when I compare my average HR and Max HR for a ride with my friends my numbers are quite a bit lower than theirs at the same speeds they are riding (and I am not sucking wheel either).
For you I think you will find that if you do your very long rides at 60-70% that you will get faster in that zone over time. It will be very economical of fuel (glycogen) use as well. I don't think riding along at 80-90% for 90% of your riding is good and may result in over training. I am wondering if your max is not higher than you think. When you say your minimum is 80-90 bpm that sounds high to me. Mine is 49-52. Is that your true resting heart rate when you are well recovered? I have some friends, mostly the women, who have high heart rates all the time. I call them the humming birds.