Originally Posted by
Dreww10
Now, putting rubber to the road, my next question: how do you translate %FTP values for a given interval over to HR (for those without a power meter)? For example, VO2max I often see is upwards of 106% power, but if I tried to do an interval at 106% of my LTHR, I wouldn't last more than a minute or two on my fittest day. Is there a more targeted %LTHR to utilize for those training with HR? If I wanted to do, say the aforementioned 6x5x1, or true VO2max, what HR values am I looking to attain to benefit?
In my experience with hr in correlation with power, you've got to wait for and expect a big lag. To give you my number, about 180-183 is what I'll hit for a full on 6-8 minute vo2 max effort. In my interval training, I may hit 178-179 by the end of the first 5 min repeat, 179-180 by the end of the second, all the way up to 182-183 by the end of the fourth or fifth (usually if I try a sixth it starts going back down because I'm dead).
At no point am I ever sprinting or going harder in the beginning to illicit that hr response, because as you've pointed out before (and I've experienced numerous times myself), it completely tanks the rest of the workout.
I think at the end of the day, you've got to realize that just because your hr isn't in a particular zone doesn't mean you're still not benefitting from an effort that will eventually put you in that zone. Your ultimate goal is to maximize time spent at that effort to give you the biggest training stimulus, so you've got to plan for that.
And 6x5x1 is not a vo2 max workout in my opinion. No way to continually hit vo2 after the second or third repeat with only one minute rest. You're going to be falling back towards ftp pretty quickly.