Higher HR but lower RPE?????

bigpikle

The last few rides I've done on the turbo and finally today on the roads again, are showing a slightly odd pattern. It seems my HR is up noticeably but my RPE is unchanged or even slightly less, and I'm not sure what this might be indicating? My training has been a little sporadic and less than most of last year so I am wondering if its a loss of fitness or something else?

What I mean is for example that today, on my usual lumpy route when I was climbing hills seated as usual, I'd get to the top and see my HR on the Garmin was 5-10bpm more than usual but my legs weren't screaming at me and my breathing etc was far more relaxed than I would expect at that HR. Its unusual for me to see my HR >180bpm very often, and when it does I REALLY know it, feeling like I'm going to cough up a lung etc, but today I crested a couple of hills and saw my HR just over 180-182 yet I felt fairly fresh.

My only thought is that perhaps the cold temps are elevating my HR as I work to keep warm. My turbo is in an unheated garage so its been hovering around freezing in there recently as well. Any other ideas of what it might mean?

ozzzyosborn206

it may mean you are starting to get tired or ill, how have you been sleeping recently? or it could mean you have lost a bit of fitness with less training recenntly?

Karl2010

Im no expert but if you where coming down with a bug/virus wouldnt you be struggling to get up a hill?

If it was me i would be thinking i was fitter. Like you said it could be the cold keeping your body cooler.

SBezza

I would go with Ozzy and say tiredness or drop in fitness.

If you were fitter and more powerful, you would expect your HR to drop not get higher for the same RPE.

I wouldn't worry about it on 1 or 2 rides, but monitor it over a longer duration. It could be just a small blip and nothing to worry about at all.

bigpikle

I got confused as well, as my performance was OK, and certainly didnt feel slower. Its a little hard to say as I'm also on my CX bike now converted for winter, so gears etc are a little different.

Funny sleep was mentioned, as I havent slept well for a week, so that may be it. Will be interesting to see what happens next week as I'm off to Gran Canaria for a week with lots of riding, so hopefully it will be a good way to kick start my fitness again for the new year...

Alex_Simmons/RST

SBezza wrote:

I would go with Ozzy and say tiredness or drop in fitness.

If you were fitter and more powerful, you would expect your HR to drop not get higher for the same RPE.

I wouldn't worry about it on 1 or 2 rides, but monitor it over a longer duration. It could be just a small blip and nothing to worry about at all.

When I get tired (as in training fatigue), my HR on climbs is lower than normal (at same power), not higher.

Everyone's HR response is different. It's one of the problems with relying on HR. Could simply have had a strong coffee, or be thinking of other things, stress, hydration level, etc.

OP: If power output is OK, and you feel alright, I wouldn't be concerned. Monitor how you feel over next couple of days.

bigpikle

Thanks Alex

I have a PT wheel on order now so hopefully will be able to gather more data and build a more complete picture of performance moving forward.

SBezza

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

When I get tired (as in training fatigue), my HR on climbs is lower than normal (at same power), not higher.

I am the same with regards to training fatigue, but I was thinking of more general tiredness, like the lack of sleep, or poor quality sleep.

jgsi

My own response is a sign of 'reduction in condition'
After 2 1/2 weeks layoff, a 20 mile loop yesterday was at Zone 2 pacing (slow) but at Zone 3 levels of exertion according to HR.
3 weeks to get things back on track before the first of a series of pacy reliability runs at end of Jan.