"Old" style training with HR zones.



AMRcycling

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Nov 27, 2008
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I had a good look around and found that mos threads under Cycling Training relate to the use of Power Meters.

That's the way I would like to go too (can't afford it atm...) but I still believe that training with HR Zones to be effective.

I am a MMAS 4 (45-49) road cyclist, racing in Brisbane, Australia, and about to put a program together for 2009.

So, if anyone out there have any thoughts or ideas on the latest in training with a HR monitor, please let me know.

Cheers,

AMR

http://AMRcycling.blogspot.com
 
Well, there really is no 'latest' in HR training...it essentially has not changed in at least 5 years, some may deem it obsolete. Anywhoo, what are your goals as a competetive cyclist? What are your physiological strengths and weaknesses?

There are some basic things that I can give you withouth knowing any of that:

To train your Lactic Threshold Power, do longer intervals at 85% Max HR. anywhere from 3 x 10 minutes with 5 minute rest invervals to 3 x 20 minutes with 7 minute intervals.

To train your aerobic system, it's harder to know where your threshold lies. Mine is at around 73% of my Max HR, but it can vary a lot depending on what part of the season it is and whether I'm training for Road Racing or Mountain Biking. Typically my aerobic threshold gets lifted in road racing moreso than mountain bike racing, but my anaerobic power is higher in mountain biking.

For working on sprint power and hill climbing, you can often do that without the use of a HR monitor. Just go balls out for whatever time you choose; 30s sprints up to 1 minute sprints, as hard as you can. Your HR monitor is usesless for these, the amount of pain and suffering you experience is a much better tell of how effective your intervals are. For hill climbing, just maintain proper pedal technique through the entire hill, and repeat several times. Four 6 minute intervals or six 4 minute intervals are good for these. Just find the nicest long grade you can and work with that. This will help build hill climbing power as well as solid attacking power for road racing.

Hope this helps. I've been racing with a HR monitor for ~5 years now. These are all the things that I have learned and that have helped me acheive a good fitness level for racing. Post anymore questions if you've got any.
 
Also, training principles are the same regardless of the method used to measure intensity (ie, HR, power, perceived exertion or something else). I think there's still a lot to be gained by a HR-only user by studying the various training threads, and the chart here gives a rough translation between HR zones and Pwr zones, to help understand the discussions.

BTW, many of the older threads (>1 yr old) do center around HR. You could also try browsing further back in time.

Good luck! :)