HR Zone Training

p4ulmiller
p4ulmiller Posts: 588 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm a keen cyclist and am trying (and failing) to make the most of HR Zone training. I've been riding for 10 months and have seen a 50 pound weight loss in that time.

For all my efforts on my ride today (a comfortable 51km, 32 miles), I spent my time trying to keep to below zone 4, which for me is roughly 150bpm. No matter how relaxed I tried to be, as soon as put any effort in, my heart rate rocketed to 160bpm+.

My resting HR is about 60 or so, but as soon as I get the bike out the garage, I'm at 100. Any kind of movement puts me at 120.

There is little to no correlation between my respiration and HR - I can be out of breath on a low HR and vice versa.

What's going on? Is this normal? It seems to me that my bike fitness is pretty poor - am I right?

Replies

  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Is there a particular reason why you're trying to stay in that specific zone?
  • cowbellsandcoffee
    cowbellsandcoffee Posts: 2,975 Member
    Your rate can be high but what was your AVERAGE for the ride? I can hit 200 on climbs but my overall average might finish at 160.
  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
    When considering zone training, you need to know your true maximum... do you know your TRUE (not 'predicted') maximum? If you're using any of the standard formulas, you may be WAY off.

    A formula would put my predicted maximum heart rate at about 172-175 bpm (depending on the formula used). Yet my maximum is actually 204 bpm. If I want to train at > 90% of my maximum heart rate, that's actually >180bpm.

    Heck, at 160 bpm I can still breathe through my nose and sing-along to the music in the gym . . . (OK, perhaps a slight exaggeration, but only slight... I can certainly carry-on a conversation easily and am not really working very hard.)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Agree with the comment about discovering your true max HR, 220 - my age estimate would give me 166 but my true max is 176 which has an impact on calculating my zones.

    Disagree on the average HR comment, time in zone is much more important than an average which could be a mix of too low and too high - HR zone training is about staying in the right zone so you have to be disciplined and try and keep in zone as much as possible (no attacking hills...).

    If your HR is jumping really quickly from rest to fairly high from moderate activity then it's either excitement or an indicator your fitness isn't as good as it could be. Is resting HR of 60 normal for you and how does it compare to your lifetime lowest RHR?

    Did you do any zone 1 / zone 2 base building?

    Worth a read for anyone wanting to know more
    http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/heart-rate-monitor-training-for-cyclists-28838/

    A simple zone calculator
    http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/heart_rate/heart_rate_zone_calculator_abcc_bcf.html
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Have you donated blood or had your haemoglobin checked ? If you're a bit anaemic (like me) your heart has to go faster to move the same amount of oxygen.
  • PixieAdele
    PixieAdele Posts: 102 Member
    Not sure if this is the same for cycling but i thought this article was interesting. I didn't know that really we should be working out our working heart rate and taking a percentage from that figure rather than max heart rate

    http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/heart-rate-training---the-basics/176.html

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