My heart does (not) beat for (t)rain(ing)

Well. Just long enough for me to hop on my X-bike to go for a quick ride of two hours. Since I have no powermeter on the X-bike I just rode on heart rate which I wanted to have around 155-160 at a fairly steady pace. I ended up with average heart rate of 157. What does that imply?

Although I try to write about power I make an unusual side step now to heart rate. Many of us who train to improve (and want to measure improvement) probably use heart rate as a measure, because unfortunately power meters are just not cheap (although the market is becoming quite booming with a lot of new entrants which is of course good for price decreases).

 

If you look on the internet there are a lot of different ways to set your heart rate zones. Based on Karvonen, Zoladz, Dr. Coggan, Friel, Edwards, British Cycling Federation guidelines, and so on. I will show my zones based on two methods: Karvonen and Coggan.

Based on the Karvonen method you take your maximal heart rate and your heart rate at rest. Based on that your heart rate zones are calculated as follows:

HR reserve = HR rest + (HR max - HR rest) * X%

 

X represents the percentage bounds of the heart rate zones. Based on my powerfiles I have seen that my maximal achieved heart rate is 189. My rest heart rate (lying down or sitting and not doing anything) is 40 (I have had lower, but 40 is a reasonable average).

 

Dr. Coggan which is a leading author on training with a powermeter and the analytics which defines the heart rate zones based on the lactate treshold heart rate. This heart rate comes with an FTP test. Based on on hour tests I have done my FTP heart rate comes around 168 on average.

 

 

Interesting isn't it? To make things more complicated a few years ago I did a lactate test and I turned out my lactate treshold (LT) heart rate was in this area. Knowing what I know now about training I should have asked him: what was the testing protocol (in relation to wattage) and what level of mmol/l he used to get the number for my heart rate at LT. My lactate heart rate came out at 150...how nice that it is exactly 150......;) Based on that I got 3 zones:

115-128 Extensive Endurance (for building period and recovery rides)

128-142 Intensive Endurance (for increasing aerobic level)
142-165 Interval training long (for resistance)

How can I place my rather steady state effort today with an average heart rate of 157? Seeing it black and white I have done Lactate Treshold effort based on Karvonen, a ferm Tempo ride based on Coggan and a resistance training based on the lactate test zones.

In perspective I do not see it too black and white. These zones are just some guidelines, nothing more nothing less. Basically zones do not exist. It's rather gray.

But then, which zones do I prefer? To be honest if I have to use heart rate a training guide I prefer to use the Coggan scale, because I think it is better to relate it to treshold heart rate than to maximal heart rate. This is same argument as defining power training based on treshold power instead of power at for example VO2max.

I keep it at: I have done a nice Temporide with parts at Lactate Treshold. And that quite matches my feeling ;)

2h03m, 67km, AS 33.2km/h, AH 157, IF 0.8, NP (est) 235, TSS 135