Heart rate training

[Sublime99]

Does this look right? I want to train by heart rate right now to get more fit for longer rides. Currently i ride between 160-170 for 1 hour to as much as 2 hours. If i don't ride at this intensity i don't feel as if i worked at all i.e. breathing hard tired afterwards and sweat a bunch. I try and go out for zone 2-3 but i never can stay within the limits (feels to easy) i usually end up in 4 or 5. When i hit about 173 bpm i almost blow up but am able to recover in a few minutes or less 1-3 minutes, when i hit 178 and above i blow up and have to recover over about 10-15 minutes one time as long as 25 minutes. I love riding and i want to get faster so i try and push myself every ride and usually stay in zone 4 and bump 5 throughout the ride.


Age in years 26

Male



Maximum heart rate (MHR) 194









Recovery Below 115 bpm Short rides (non-training) for recovery



Zone 1
60-65% 115-125 bpm Development of economy and efficiency with very high volume, low stress work. Very long sessions improve the combustion and storage of fats. Combine with Zone 2 for practical unstructured low stress rides.



Zone 2
65-75% 125-144 bpm Development of economy and efficiency with high volume, moderate stress work. An important intensity for establishing a firm base for all riders. Combine with Zone 1 for practical unstructured low stress rides



Zone 3
75-82% 144-158 bpm Development of aerobic capacity and endurance with moderate volume work at a controlled intensity. Should be done alone or in a small group to stay in zone. Possible (but boring) on a turbo trainer for up to one hour in bad weather. 'Modules' can be incorporated into Zone 1 or 2 rides to increase intensity whilst maintaining volume.



Zone 4
82-89% 158-171bpm Typical 'mean' intensity of most road races. Useful for tapering and as preparation, to simulate race pace, rather than as training. Sessions should be ended when the effort starts to tell.



Zone 5 171-181 Raising of anaerobic threshold, improvement of lactate clearance and adaptation to race speed. Should be done alone and:-
(1) as a specific road or 'turbo' session or
(2) for controlled periods within a shortened Zone 1 or 2 session or
(3) in a 10 or 25 mile time trial.
89-94%



Zone 6
94-100% 181-194 High intensity interval training to increase maximum power and improve lactate production or clearance. Probably best done on hills or a 'turbo' trainer.
NOTE 1. Should be done only when completely recovered from previous work.
NOTE 2. Heart rates are not the best guide for this type of training. Intensity should be such that the effort can just be held to the end of the interval. Ride on feel and use heart rate for feedback.

 

[Sublime99]

nO ONE? I know you guys have seen probably a million of these threads. I just want to know if this is pretty accurate from a general standpoint. It says zone 2 is important for building a firm base, does this mean ride in this zone you can go further and for longer. My longest ride was 30 miles and i did it in zone 4 and i was dead at the end. Do you guys think if i would have stayed in zone 2 i would have been able to go further and for longer? I really want to reach 50 miles in one ride but it seems like a daunting task going at it in zone 4 the whole time.

 

[kennf]

I'm certainly no expert, but it sounds like you may be going too hard most of the time, and may be training in "no-man's land"-- i.e. going hard enough to break your body down, but not hard enough to train your VO2max. Check out some of the other threads on HR zones (use search). You may find that you're better off slowing down your average pace to upper zone 2/lower zone 3, then work on intervals at zone 4/5. But you have to remember to do recovery days if you've been doing a lot of time in zone 4.

 

[dhk]

nO ONE? I know you guys have seen probably a million of these threads. I just want to know if this is pretty accurate from a general standpoint. It says zone 2 is important for building a firm base, does this mean ride in this zone you can go further and for longer. My longest ride was 30 miles and i did it in zone 4 and i was dead at the end. Do you guys think if i would have stayed in zone 2 i would have been able to go further and for longer? I really want to reach 50 miles in one ride but it seems like a daunting task going at it in zone 4 the whole time.

Yes, you can go a lot further in zone 2 and 3 vs zone 4. 2 and 3 are where most people ride most of the time for longer rides, ie 50-100 miles or more. Harder on the hills when needed, into zones 4 and maybe briefly 5. The general advice for long rides is "don't go anaerobic"...ie, stay out of zone 4 & 5, since this intensity depletes your muscle glycogen at a high rate. A rider with high endurance can get away with lots excursions into these zones while riding a fast mountain century and still recover and finish strong, but that's not what you want to do on your first century.

Have to ask how you know your max HR is 194.....the 220-age formula? That seems to give a very conservative (low) estimate for athletic people. At age 26, your true max could easily be 204 or higher. This would of course bump up all the zone HRs.

Agree with keenf that you shouldn't be riding at a high intensity on every ride. Most training programs I've seen or read use a mix of intensities, with the majority of the mileage in zones 1-3, the aerobic range. That's not to say that high intensity training isn't important; just that it needs to be used carefully in training. A lot depends on your goals in cycling. A century rider or multi-day tourer needs a different training schedule than someone preparing for 30 minutes crit racing.

Suggest you might want to read some training books to learn the theory about training the various energy systems and see some of the sample training programs. Volume, intensity and frequency of training are the main variables. Unless you have a coach; you'll have to figure out what combination of these is best for you.