Max H/R Test - How often

[Andrew Larigo]

I'm about to undergo my first Max H/R test of the season to gauge my training levels. Once this is done, how often during the racing season should I repeat the test, for example of obvously making progression on fitness & needing to alter H/R levels during the later training stages?

Thanks for any responses.

Andrew.

 

[Duckwah]

Your Max HR is not going to change a great deal over the course of a season however your power output at your LT should go up and your training zones might shift a bit.

You probably need to retest your LT etc whenever you have completed a major phase of your program

so you might test it after 8 weeks of base training, then after 6 weeks of LT or hillclimbing or whatever to assess the difference that each phase of training is having

I guess it depends on how serious you are

 

[ric_stern/RST]

Originally posted by Andrew Larigo
I'm about to undergo my first Max H/R test of the season to gauge my training levels. Once this is done, how often during the racing season should I repeat the test, for example of obvously making progression on fitness & needing to alter H/R levels during the later training stages?

Thanks for any responses.

Andrew.

Presumably, when you get your HR measured in the max test, you'll be getting other data too from a reliable source, such as VO2 max, max aerobic power. It is these data that predicts ability and need to be measured semi-regularly. Max HR tends to decline with increasing fitness.

I usually recommend testing about four 'max' tests a year

Ric