hr training

rod905 · July 2012

I am a 34year old male and I started cycling relatively recently. I do have a max hr(tested on field) of 188bpm, resting hr of 56, lactate starts producing at 170bpm.

Now to do base training many websites and guides suggest it should be done in the 70-80%hr range, that brings me in the 131-150bpm. Now thing is not only I feel like I'm doing nothing below at those ranges (feels like Im watching a movie or something), but I have to struggle (to no avail)to keep it lower than 150bpm, in fact I am tending to ignore the monitor because it is always beeping at over 150.

Now i found another formula which might be more realistic based upon the heart rate reserve which classifies my 70-80% as 148-162bpm.

Which one should I use? if you take the 148-162bpm as indicated by the heart rate reserve formula they will be 80-85% of the max heart rate, a zone where it is advised not to train in, as it is too low for anaerobic training and too high for aerobic.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Escher303 · July 2012

I train zone 2 base miles at a lower intensity than that. At least 1.5 hours at 65-75%. I generally do that training on the flat as it is easier to control your heart rate without too many inclines. I can sustain that effort for hours and am not breathing hard at all, that's kinda the point, you are training your metabolism and efficiency and not aerobic effort. For recovery rides I keep my HR below 60%. At first I found that really hard and struggled to keep my heart rate down but as I got fitter it is easier as I can now average 15-16mph without raising my HR above that level, on the flat anyway.

So you might be finding it difficult if there are too many hills. You might find it easier to keep your HR down when you are fitter as you can cycle quicker and more efficiently (though that is a bit chicken and egg), but also have train really, really hard on your hard days it will be easier to keep your HR down on your zone 2 and recovery days as you should be knackered already and not want to push on. Training in those zones takes some discipline and practice to keep your HR down, sounds like you are just eager to push on. Nothing wrong with that, if you are enjoying your rides going faster then why not.

rod905 · July 2012

yes, as a matter of fact there are many hills around I live in a small island Malta which is just 27 km in length (bird's view) and hilly for all that matters, so finding a large plain is impossible. Thing is that I find it to be over relaxed at hrates below 150, at the moment I am trying to improve my cadence, I am in the 70-80 rpm range at the moment but Im getting past the 80, and I'm all the time like pedalling with no load (feels stupid).

So in a nutshell you would stick to the zones based directly on the max hr, and not the ones based on the heart rate reserve.(descibed here) http://www.active.com/fitness/Articles/ ... _zones.htm

dubcat · August 2012

There was a famous marathon coach from Malta who has now sadly passed away. His name was John Walsh, also known as Hadd. I follow a thread on runners world which is full of people who are dedicated to training the way Hadd recommended. They swear by it and many are extremely accomplished runners. This training involved spending a lot of time below 70% mhr and then some time at sub lactate threshold. Many (all) of the people following the plan report that in the early days they are almost walking at times in order to fit within hadd's hr recommendations. Hills are a complete killer. Those that have the faith to stick with it though find that after a few weeks they are able to go faster without their hr going up. You can find hadd's plan here. Maybe it will help you stick to the right hr for cycling if you know that what yu are experiencing is normal and should eventually improve. http://www.angio.net/personal/run/hadd.pdf

hr training

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