Heart rate training

[gazza81]

Can anyone explain it to me, ive had a Google but still don't really understand.

I bought a strap more for curiosity to what my heart rate was doing but not sure how to use it to get the best from my training.

My max hr is 181 (220-age)
All ive been doing is staying under 130bpm if i feel a bit beaten up
How offen should i push max and when to train in what zones etc is what id like to know really.
👍🏻

 

[Slick]

I reckon the 220 - age has been well and truly debunked now and whilst 130 is my average maintenance rate or thereabouts, it may be different for everyone. Ride harder or higher and your heart rate will rise, although I'm very much the amateur, training in zones is well publicised on Google.

 

[berty bassett]

i have always gone mainly on heart rate but its apparently not as good as power
once you know what you can do at certain rates it becomes a lot clearer , although its not instant like power
on long climbs it helps if you know say you can keep 170 up for 30 mins then just crank it up till your there - if you can go higher go higher
if on a long ride , know what you can do and keep the av hr around there but its all about knowing what you can do
and just to complicate things if you push harder then the zones will change
unless you push hard and keel over then you have pushed too hard
sometimes when you get on bike not feeling too good - your heart will show it up
power alone doesnt do that , you wonder why you cant hit normal power and kill yourself trying
just my opinion and sure there will be others more tech minded
heart rate in my mind is easier to get head round than power but power gives more info

 

[Racing roadkill]

Heart rate and power are related, but not equivalent. It’s a good idea to use HR training for activities where power is much more difficult to measure directly ( running for example ). But directly measurable Power is king for an activity like cycling, where it’s easier to get power readings, from power meters. If you also have something like a latest generation Garmin, it will display your current power zone, based on it’s calculation of your FTP, as you’re riding, so you don’t need to think too much.

 

[OldShep]

As above , the first thing to do is drop your age minus 40.
Find your max

warm up thoroughly for at least 15 minutes. On a long, steady hill, start off fairly briskly and increase your effort every minute. Do this seated for at least five minutes until you can’t go any faster while seated. At this point, get out of the saddle and sprint as hard as you can for 15 seconds. Then, immediately check your HR reading

Once you’ve got MHR an RHR then you can calculate your zones.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

In order to train according to heart rate, you first have to:
1) Know your maximum heart rate
2) Understand the various zones.
3) Understand that HR is a delayed proxy for power.
4) Understand what HR reserve is and how to measure that.
5) Understand the body's various energy systems.

The only way to know your max is to test it (for the intended activity, e.g cycling or running or rowing) and that's a very unpleasant test because basically you have to be pushed to failure and then some. You'll need a helper to spur you on, whip you and, most importantly, conceal your HR from you as you push yourself, otherwise you will cheat based on your perceived, prejudicial limit.

Most people use HR just as another gadget to produce yet more data that goes nowhere and does nothing. An extreme minority of HR monitor users will actually train with it, using the data to their advantage.

If you fall in the latter category, you will already have a training plan dividing your season into phases and your workouts into objectives and have a set of outcomes in mind. You will already know your weakness and strength in detail and seek to want to improve it.

There's a huge leap between curiosity and HR training.

 

[CXRAndy]

When starting out with endurance exercise, its important to build a base fitness. This doesn't mean you never push your heart rate towards maximum, just that you do it much less often than Z2.

The common rule is 80% at zone 2 and 20% doing high intensity training (HIT)

As you become fitter your resting HR and Peak numbers will change usually becoming lower.

220-age doesn't really work. A better way is to ride for 15 mins and then go flat out till you literally cant go anymore. That should give you the top number. Resting HR is just that, ideally record overnight sleeping.

From there you can split the zones to where you need to train.

Beginning your fitness goals most of your riding should be in zone 2. Gradually building up time in this zone till you can last multiple hours non stop pedalling (high cadence). From there add higher intensity riding replacing some of your endurance rides. Still keep your endurance work for a couple of days a week.

Then if you're entering an event that requires power or endurance 8 weeks before train to peak those facets of the event.

 

[CXRAndy]

Once you know your body, HR zones. From there adding power numbers can be really useful. When on good form, you will make a certain power for a certain HR. You can then ride to a power number.

Now if you become ill or overtrain then your HR will change. Usually a higher HR is a sign of illness and a lower HR that wont come up to normal levels is sign of overtraining and fatigue.

 

[Ajax Bay]

The best way to establish what your HRmax is is to warm up and then cycle or (better) run up a hill about a mile long, ideally one which gets progressively steeper, accelerating in stages till the rider/runner is on max effort plus before stopping. It's difficult to take your pulse manually in these circumstances ('cos you're phoobarred and counting 30+ in 10 seconds implies a likely high error rate) so best done with a monitor. The highest I've seen my HR when cycling is on the final crux ramp of Hardknott Pass (going east).
For the OP: you need to decide what your training for, before designing a training programme based on HR usage. HR used during training is another insight - with a number and data which can be recorded and shared - into the intensity of each session. Power is better but vastly more expensive, so really a red herring for this thread.

 

[gazza81]

Ok thanks some good info for me to look into!
I will do the test at some point to get my max
Today my hr was between 120 and 140 and on the odd hill went to 152
I like it as a gauge to how hard or not im working really like for example if im feeling pooped i can aim to stay in the lower end of hr

 

[gazza81]

I reckon the 220 - age has been well and truly debunked now and whilst 130 is my average maintenance rate or thereabouts, it may be different for everyone. Ride harder or higher and your heart rate will rise, although I'm very much the amateur, training in zones is well publicised on Google.

Every link in google brings up different information in terms of zone percentages
I find.

 

[gazza81]

As above , the first thing to do is drop your age minus 40.
Find your max
Once you’ve got MHR an RHR then you can calculate your zones.

How does the RHR come in to the calculation? Every where i read its a percentage of max?
My RHR is around 43-46 btw, i know very low. Naturally gifted with a healthy heart 😊

 

[screenman]

I suggest you try and read some books by Peter Read if you want to go faster using HRM. You should be able to find them for free on g.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

How does the RHR come in to the calculation? Every where i read its a percentage of max?
My RHR is around 43-46 btw, i know very low. Naturally gifted with a healthy heart 😊

Basically your heart rate reserve is your max minus your resting heart rate.

Now imagine two cyclists have the same maximum HR. But cyclist one has a resting HR of 65 and cyclist 2 has a resting HR of 39. They are both cycling along at 120 bpm. Which one is pumping more oxygen around at that level compared to their resting metabolic rate?

P.S. HR not very low you’d need to be closer to resting HR in the mid 30s for that. It is lower than the average of a sedentary population though.

 

[Slick]

Every link in google brings up different information in terms of zone percentages
I find.

Yeah, some of the information can be quite contradictory but a quick Google brought up these percentages.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hea...droid-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8