Which Heart Rate Monitor do you wear and what device or software do you use it with?
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I only go off of what MFP says which I think is insanely high. MMR is even higher! IE- if I ride for around 2 hours @ 16-20 mph, MFP says I burned close to 2700 cals. Whenever I log it, I almost always deduct 500 calories from the total. Give or take depending on the duration of exercise. I also tend to not eat my exercise cals back. Been working so far.
Archon, your struggles with the HRM, in part, prompted this discussion about the PM. I like the idea of the HRM for indoor training as I tend to not push myself as hard. I have to watch a structured video with HIIT while training to really 'push' me.0 -
I think I climb better without knowing that my heart is doing all it can or not. I suspect the same kind of psych trap might happen a power meter too. If you know what your thresholds are, and you see immediate data showing you are exceeding that, you might feel the pain a little more or more quickly decide to back off. While better awareness is usually a good thing, maybe it is better to just focus on the work and approach your limits by your subjective perceived effort. At least that is what I have noticed for myself. Fitness gains are generally made by pushing boundaries.
It's entirely dependent on what you're trying to accomplish. If you just want to ride your bike, then by all means go ride your bike and only worry about data to the point you care about it. If you're trying to structure your training to get faster and more fit in a more efficient manor, this approach won't work very well for very long unless you can spend 15+ hours on your bike per week. Even then it'll likely leave you with deficiencies in your fitness or abilities.
The primary purpose behind training (distinct from just riding) with an HRM or power meter is not so much to tell you how hard you can go but to help you ride in the training zones you're supposed to be riding in that day. The different training zones are used to provide different training stimulus to the body, and the HRM or PM help you hit the ones you intend to hit. As a very simple example of what I mean, beginner cyclists often (usually) fall into the trap of spending all their time in Zone 3 "No-man's land." Essentially, they go out and ride hard, thinking they will get faster, but they are riding too hard for aerobic improvements but not hard enough for threshold or anaerobic improvements. The net result is that they get faster at first, quickly hit a plateau, and then get frustrated because they can't seem to make any more gains. A HRM or PM, along with some knowledge, understanding, and discipline, can help a lot in these kinds of situations. The PM just removes a lot of the ambiguity and external factors a HRM comes with.
The secondary purpose of both of these devices, in my mind at least, it to allow you to clearly see improvements. When you see some climb or whatever you did a month ago at an average of 200 watts and 140 bpm, then today you did it at 220 watts at 135 bpm, that's a pretty clear sign of improvement.0 -
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The secondary purpose of both of these devices, in my mind at least, it to allow you to clearly see improvements. When you see some climb or whatever you did a month ago at an average of 200 watts and 140 bpm, then today you did it at 220 watts at 135 bpm, that's a pretty clear sign of improvement.
I agree with that aspect of it...I might still use my HRM outside if it wasn't even more finicky than my cat --who might like a flavor of cat food one day and then turn the bowl over with disgust for the same thing the next week.0 -
Garmin 500 for cycling/920 for running and swimming with a soft chest strap. Power2Max power meter. I generally ride to power but have a HR ceiling I won't go over.0
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