Power or HR - endurance sessions

YellaBelly
YellaBelly Posts: 130
Morning,

I've started riding with a power meter this winter, and I'm trying to adjust my training accordingly. However, I've been sticking with heart rate for my longer zone 2 endurance sessions, and using average power to determine improvement on those rides.

Is heart rate still the best variable to ride too for those long lower intensities, or should I be riding to power? During those rides my power zone starts off around low zone 4 to keep my HR in the right area, dropping into zone 3 average for the course of 3.5 hours. That's quite a discrepancy so riding to power zone 2 would have me in recovery heart rates.

That said I am due testing next week so that may bring my zones closer together.

Any advice appreciated.

Comments

  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    I never really analyse rides on HR data anymore - ok useful for comparisions .. but your power zones should be the zones really nailed for accuracy.
    However,
    Dont ride to DATA ride to FEEL.

    Analyse afterwards.
  • I ride to HR for longer endurance sessions and power for intervals as I just find it works better for me but I appreciate everyone has different preferences.

    I struggle with power to keep at a steady state (on longer rides) as my tendency is to go harder on climbs and I end up with a big discrepancy between AP and NP (on a hilly ride there is often 40-50 watts difference) so I know I am not getting a consistent effort which negates the purpose of a longer endurance ride for me.

    I personally find RPE the worst metric for me as that (rather than HR) tends to be more susceptible to other factors like general mood.

    Over the years I have found that I tend to be able to ride to a given heart rate for a longer period and that overall it just works better for me in terms of improving speed and endurance over longer distances. To give an example I have not ridden to power over the summer, just zone 2&3 HR. I did a 105km loop last week with 1000m of climbing which I last did in April. On my winter bike with a fair headwind for a chunk of the ride I was 3.5km/h faster than earlier in the year which highlights that riding to HR has had some positive impact on my aerobic fitness over the last few months.
  • jrich
    jrich Posts: 278
    If you've got a PM then you can forget about your HRM completely! It's not needed.

    For an endurance session I would be looking at power zones 2 and 3, certainly not zone 4 because then it's not really an 'endurance' session any longer.

    BTW 3.5 hours in power zone 3 is a pretty epic ride! Even for a fit racer that's a hard ride. I would suggest that you need to test your FTP and set zones accordingly. Sounds like your FTP is currently too low.
  • Thanks for the info chaps. Must admit I'm certainly not of the mindset that HR is useless now I have a powermeter. To my mind it gives a more complete picture, but that's a different debate altogether! After a few years training to heart rate, I just can't bring myself to sit in power zone 2, and see my HR at low zone 1 levels. I'd feel like I was just pootling along and getting no training benefit.

    Yes I certainly think my FTP needs adjusting. I tested about 9 weeks ago, straight after a layoff from last season. I'd kept active, but wasn't close to being "fit". 9 weeks of training since, I'm expecting (hoping) it's improved.

    Thanks for that jrich, it certainly feels like a tough ride! I'm well done in by the time I get home, just hope it shows in my racing this season ;)
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    YellaBelly wrote:
    Thanks for the info chaps. Must admit I'm certainly not of the mindset that HR is useless now I have a powermeter. To my mind it gives a more complete picture, but that's a different debate altogether! After a few years training to heart rate, I just can't bring myself to sit in power zone 2, and see my HR at low zone 1 levels. I'd feel like I was just pootling along and getting no training benefit.

    Sounds as though either your HR zones were wrong, or your power zones are wrong. Or both.
  • YellaBelly wrote:
    Thanks for that jrich, it certainly feels like a tough ride! I'm well done in by the time I get home, just hope it shows in my racing this season ;)

    Yes, you'll be fatigued.
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles