Training HR

StillGoing

When I started road cycling I went at hell for leather from the start. That had several effects chiefly being I was knackered before I was even half way around a route, hills were harder to tackle and it made me less enthusiastic especially when I bonked for the first time.

I do cycling to try and regain some fitness and lose a bit of weight as I near the end of my career, and read somewhere that your best results on long rides are achieved by trying to stay in the moderate or 60%-70% HR. Rides have been so much easier and I'm finding I have enough energy to attack hills since trying this. Keeping the cadence at a low 60 to 70 rpm somehow means I spend most of the time in the big ring and my times aren't much different to when I was head down all the way.

What HR do some of you train at? I'm just curious to understand why this seems to be working for me. My times are still crap taking me 2:40 to do 42 miles yesterday but I felt better after it.

Anonymous

Depends what type of intervals I'm doing :?

daviesee

I voted moderate (65% last ride) but I am assuming that you mean average for the whole ride?

I don't cycle according to my HR and I don't do intervals, at least not intentionally. Hills make me do it
This is the road beginners forum so I am assuming that you are cycling for recreation rather than racing.

I concentrate more on keeping the cadence between 80-100 in a gear that requires a wee bit effort but is comfortable.
Your feet should feel as though they are doing circles, not mashing up and down (Major hills can be excluded).

The only time I pay attention to the HR is when it beeps at me for trying too hard. I have heart issues :evil:

Airwave

It depends on how long the ride is.On short 20-30mile rides my HR would be 80-95%if it's training,but only 60-70% if i'm just out to spin my legs.On longer rides say 70miles i'll do the first 40 around 75% then the last 30 at 75-90% if i'm feeling good.Where as intervals on the turbo are 85-98%.It's all about pacing your self&what you want out of each ride.Of course when the sun shines on beautiful day it's nice to leave the the computer at home and just enjoy a day out on the bike.

masterchef

most rides im going all out when im by myself, when im with my club id say its 50-70 not hard at all lmao most of the time i try do a hill aswell to get my training more intense:)

StillGoing

daviesee wrote:

IThis is the road beginners forum so I am assuming that you are cycling for recreation rather than racing.:

I only really started around February and for work reasons am confined to weekend efforts with Friday afternoons included. I'm certainly not racing, which my times demonstrate, but I do treat it seriously as a means to regain my fitness and lose weight accepting I'll never have a 32" waist again at my age. I also want to build up my distances so I get more out of what limited time I have each week.

My rides are all typically over an hour and half. I'm staying the moderate zone for weight loss i.e fat burning. I raise the HR for any hills finding that this regime is improving my fitness allowing me to spend more time standing on the pedals maintaining speed. If I get the opportunity to do a quick 5 miles after work then it is done at full power or in the high HR range.

gareth2134

philthy3 wrote:

When I started road cycling I went at hell for leather from the start. That had several effects chiefly being I was knackered before I was even half way around a route, hills were harder to tackle and it made me less enthusiastic especially when I bonked for the first time.

I do cycling to try and regain some fitness and lose a bit of weight as I near the end of my career, and read somewhere that your best results on long rides are achieved by trying to stay in the moderate or 60%-70% HR. Rides have been so much easier and I'm finding I have enough energy to attack hills since trying this. Keeping the cadence at a low 60 to 70 rpm somehow means I spend most of the time in the big ring and my times aren't much different to when I was head down all the way.

What HR do some of you train at? I'm just curious to understand why this seems to be working for me. My times are still crap taking me 2:40 to do 42 miles yesterday but I felt better after it.

I interesting really because I look at it like doing weights, it doesn't matter how much you weigh but how well you look in the mirror that matters as some ppl are obsessed with what the scales tell them.

So on the bike I prefer to go at a rate where I'm not breathing heavy but I am sweating slightly and know that when I come to a hill I can tackle it at the same pace as I'm doing already, obviously withing reason if the hill is long and steep then I will achieve the best pace I can get but not to a point where when I reach the top I can't cycle properly for 1-2 minutes because my legs and lungs are shot.


I think listening to your body can achieve just as good results without the computers if you listen to it properly.

softlad

philthy3 wrote:

What HR do some of you train at?

none of the answers you get will mean anything at all. Heart rate is a component of an individual's fitness and physiology - you won't learn anything by establishing how someone else performs...

danowat

softlad wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

What HR do some of you train at?

none of the answers you get will mean anything at all. Heart rate is a component of an individual's fitness and physiology - you won't learn anything by establishing how someone else performs...

If he was asking for heart rates in bpm's, then I'd agree, but asking it as a % of MHR is transeferable between other people.

I generally don't train to HR, but I tend to set myself a HR limit, depending on distance, its normally around 80% MHR.

One thing to remember is, in the heat, HR isn't a very accurate way of judging your effort level, my heart rate can be anywhere near 10bpm higher for a given effort level.

As an aside, anyone who is training to HR needs to know their ACTUAL MHR, not one churned out by a formula, as they are frequently incorrect.

softlad

danowat wrote:

If he was asking for heart rates in bpm's, then I'd agree, but asking it as a % of MHR is transeferable between other people.

no it isn't. MHR is an individual measurement, and your ability to train at a % of MHR will depend entirely on individual issues like age, weight, training history, etc. There's no point telling him to go out and ride at 75% of his MHR for 90 minutes if he can only currently train at 50% for 30 minutes...

danowat

softlad wrote:

danowat wrote:

If he was asking for heart rates in bpm's, then I'd agree, but asking it as a % of MHR is transeferable between other people.

no it isn't. MHR is an individual measurement, and your ability to train at a % of MHR will depend entirely on individual issues like age, weight, training history, etc.

Indeed, MHR is an entirely individual thing, however, training zones derived from %MHR are transferable between people.

Which is why many, many training plans specify training intensities as HR zones based off the individuals MHR.

Bobbinogs

To be honest, I only do the HR thing every now and again and it is mainly from a "oh, that's interesting" point of view. When I want to work I go up a load of steep hills hard, when I don't I take it easier

StillGoing

The HR zone training as I understand it will work on either fat burning, anaerobic or aerobic fitness depending on which level you train in. MHR is down to the individual, but a percentage of that MHR is always going to be just that whether it's low, moderate or high.

I do a job where I need some weight to be effective. I'm currently 2.5 stone over what the "experts" claim as average for my height using the flawed BMI measuring system. It'd be nice to lose 2 stone but realisitically, I'd need to lose a max of 1.5 stone for safety. I don't so much measure in weight, as when fat gets turned into muscle you're going to weigh heavier, but more on what was posted earlier; how I look and feel..

nmcgann

The answer I'd give is "all the above" depending on what kind of training I'm doing, but the poll doesn't allow all options to be ticked.

hopper1

nmcgann wrote:

The answer I'd give is "all the above" depending on what kind of training I'm doing, but the poll doesn't allow all options to be ticked.

Same here, and probably for everyone else who trains...

neeb

During the winter I use a tacx fortius indoor trainer (lots of snow outside for half of the year). I've always used an HR monitor on that but until recently always resisted using it for proper riding in the summer. I know it's old fashioned and discredited, but I've always liked going by "feel". Anyway, I've recently started wearing it all of the time and it's been very interesting.

One thing I immediately noticed is that my winter training is completely different from most of my summer training in terms of HR profile, which (amongst other things) explains the problems I always have adapting in the spring. During the winter I counteract the boredom of the trainer by doing long, simulated uphill sufferfests during which I maintain about 90% HR for 20-45 minutes. I also do occasional interval type sessions where I push HR up to near maximum for short bursts. In summer I am doing rides varying between 25 miles and 70 miles several times a week, but I find it very difficult to push my HR up to anywhere near those levels, even on the 25 mile rides. During a typical strenuous 40 mile ride I am at about 75% most of the time. I have my HR monitor set to beep when I clip the bottom of zone 5 (89% of max), but this only happens at the crests of some hills when I am pushing as hard as I can, and usually only during the first half of the ride. No way can I push HR up to 90% and keep it there for more than a few seconds.

So I guess I need to intersperse those zone 3 rides during the summer with some more relaxed longer rides as well as some high intensity shorter ones. The thing is, I simply can't force myself to go slow on longer rides when I am on my own. I just get bored, think WTF, and ramp the speed up. I have found the best way to do it is to go on group rides or with a friend who is slower, then the chat makes up for it. Unfortunately I don't have as many opportunities to do that as I would like. As far as maintaining the really high intensity stuff during the summer is concerned, I'm hoping to start "proper" racing very soon (as opposed to occasional sportive-type events), so I guess that will take care of it..