I have a chest strap now and would like to improve my fitness, specifically endurance (I want to run/cycle further) using my heart rate to train. Both running outdoors and mountain biking. I was hoping somebody could point me in the direction of a good source of information on how to train using heart rate or recount their own experiences.
For reference my Garmin has determined my 5 heart rate training zones. I'm happy to assume the technology is correct and use these.
Did you put in your own max HR or did you let Garmin do it for you.
Don't believe the HRM generated training zones, the TomTom watch did mine based on age.
Training for Edinburgh marathon it had me in the sprint zone for 2 hours plus on my long runs!
Pretty sure there was a discussion on this recently and some links were posted on how best to work out your Max. heart rate!
If you let Strava set your heart zones simply using your max heart rate, you may well find the generated z3+ zones to actually be z4+, when you use a site/app that analyses your heart data better.
Like many on here, I regularly hit 180bpm+ with a max of ~185 that I can recall in recent weeks, but my threshold hr is currrently ~166 according to www.crickles.org (freebie site that you must allow access to your Strava data) and gives me z1-z5 figures to manually enter into Strava. That LTHR value is dynamic, the range I've had had been roughly 158-175 at different points in the last two years, through my fitness rollercoaster and varying ability to train relatively hard according to various health/injury issues.
Crickles for me is nowhere near the LTHR I get from a 30 min FTP test. I use British Cycling's Threshold Test and then the Zone Calculator
Get a copy of Joe Friel's Cycling Bible if you want to start understanding an element of self coaching. Depends how deep you want to go into the whole training thing.
Without wanting to place too much of a stealth advert(!), find a coach who would do you a 'consultation' call and explain some of the fundamentals to you and help you build a short term plan? 😉
Yeah, would second vdubber's advice.
My riding buddies (including more than one who are significantly faster than me, uncoached) still look at me funny when I refer to my 'coach' but in truth I just had a 3 hour session to find my zones (inc max heart rate) and to talk through the basics of training.
It's amazing how much you can get wrong if you're dedicated but don't really know what you're doing!
I've found the 80/20 polarised training method to work really well for me, e.g. lots of easy stuff to begin with, little and often ideally, which helped me work through all the silly niggly little injuries I used to get through overdoing things on the back of little or no 'base'.
Once you've done that, you could try a few basic tests (use them as training sessions and expect to pace them wrong initially, I've still not completed a proper 20 minute FTP test as I've either finished with gas still in the tank, or overshot).
The BC maxHR test seems good, I found it delivered a fairly sound result which I've never exceeded since, even though conventional wisdom is that amateur athletes can't push themselves hard enough to find their max. I guess I find that my threshold heart rate seems a bit high, which maybe suggests my actual maxHR is higher than tested, but overall it seems to be working out, I just accept that I'll probably sit at the higher end of a given range of heart rates (e.g. if someone suggests 75%-85% for a sweetspot session, I might sit closer to 90%, either I'm going too hard or my maxHR is just too low).
Edit: I got coaching from Rory @ Edinburgh Bike Fitting, great setup as they could also had all the tools to assess bike fit etc.
The automatic heart rates are usually based on the very crude formula:
Max Heart Rate = 220 - AgeInYears
As a beefy 45 year old that would put my max heart rate at 175bpm.
Doing the CouchTo5K I was regularly over 180 and hitting a max of around 185 and that's just jogging.
So yeah, I'd say you really need to have some idea of your actual max for it to be useful.
I have a chest strap now and would like to improve my fitness
leave the chest strap at home and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots (much much much more than you think) at quite low intensity. In other words, do it full time, or so nothing else in your spare time.
Ok. Lots of good advice there. I'm gathering that I should get my max heart rate dialed in a bit more rather than use the pre prescribed Garmin numbers. Maybe go for 208 - (0.7 x age) = MHR which seems recommended a lot?
@nickc. Are you referring to maffetone training?
Have you or anyone else any experience of his methods?
@paton. That's a great Ted talk. Thank you for the link.
I'd do a ramp test to find it, or some hard hill repeats. Then choose which hr zone model you want to use, there are several.
That 208 formula still gives an answer 10 beats lower for me than I've measured; my friend has a max hr of 205 at 50 yo, so total and utter waste of time for him.
@lotto no if you want to get fitter for more endurance, the very best way of doing that is go and do long slow rides and runs. There are no shortcuts, it’s just loads and loads and loads of efforts at that low intensity.
I would second reading the Joe Friel book- I found it very useful and if I can understand it, I'm sure anybody could.
Personally I think the main thing is to find a credible source of information and stick with that specific one. Lots of bits and pieces of things that people tell you or that are published on the internet may be true but out of context and taken in isolation could be completely inappropriate.
Even if you don't want to read a book and just want to read-up from a website I would say that would also work as the basic principles are pretty straightforward and well-proven but again I'd definitely pick a source that you trust and find easy enough to understand and then just stick with that one.
Maybe go for 208 – (0.7 x age)
No better than 220 - age. Here's the results graph it's based on:
Lot's of room for variability. You may as well try to equate resting HR with age.
Really echoing what other people say. Don't use the Garmin or Strava HR Zones do a proper test.
this is the British Cycling Threshold test. It links to a calculator for your zones.
I followed the BC training plan a few winters ago. It involved ALOT of Z2 with occasional efforts at z4+. I really benefited from this plan and understood how training smart wasn't always about EVERY ride being no pain no gain.
If you're researching then there's something called Maffetone Method which is very much of the very patient long slow school.
Thank you for the link. I will follow the BC protocol to establish my numbers as I have access to a watt bike.
Just need to find a program now specifically aimed at increasing endurance that is transposable between trail running and biking.
As an (ex) runner. Doing lots of slow endurance work improves your ability to do lots of slow endurance work. By all means do it if that what you enjoy doing but its not the best way to get fit and its not an optimal way of spending your time.
I have never bothered with a HR monitor I think they have a small benefit, but only occasionally.
Maffetone seems to have a lot of books. Can anybody recommend one? Thinking Endurance training and racing?
Another recommendation for the Joe Friel book, also his "Fast after 50" book if that apples to you.
General aerobic fitness is transferable between running and cycling but the muscle groups are subtly different.
Checked the local library stock and they have Joe Friel book so I'll get that out. Thanks for the recommendations.
