HR training zones - where should I spend most of my time ??

[bigmig]

So I was looking over the Heart Rate data for my longer rides (35milers) and the I can see that for around 80% of the time I am in Zone 2 and 13% in Zone 3 (that will be the hill I think) the rest is zone 1 (warm up / cool down)

For the shorter rides 10 - 20 miles the time in ZOne 3 goes up considerably to around 35%. This also makes sense because the shorter routes I do are fairly flat and I can keep pace a lot easier on these.

I will very rarely if at all see zone 4 or 5 as when i consider my current weight and fitness levels I don't think i could manage a sustained effort for long enough to get in that zone even for 30 secs without likely blowing all my reserves for the rest of the ride

However the part I am confused about is which Zone should I be spending the most amount of time in. My main goals currently for cycling are

1. Lose weight (this seems to be working as I have managed to shed over a stone in 8 weeks)
2. Ride longer at a reasonable pace (want to get to a 50 mile ride by end July, PB is currently 35.8 miles)

For soemone of my current fitness levels I see 14 - 14.5mph as a reasonable / good pace to maintain over a long distance. For the 35 milers I am currently doing I can average 14 or just under if there are any mad uphill sections.

 

[Mark White]

Without digging into the numbers too much, given I know little about these things, how do your current gains compare with your desired targets? Losing a stone in 8 weeks seems pretty decent to me. How more quickly do you want to lose it? Same with distance - what was your previous PB a couple of months ago?

 

[50000tears]

HR zones are irrelevant for your current level of fitness. You will make good gains just by getting out and riding as often as you can as long as you also give yourself sufficient recovery time as well when needed. Just work on either doing longer rides at your current level of effort or on shorter rides just pushing a bit harder. Pretty much any time you can get out at the moment and get the heart rate rising is going to increase your fitness.

 

[jarlrmai]

Sounds like you are not quite pushing yourself to your potential, do you do any hills? What does your HR do on a steepish climb?

 

[bigmig]

Sounds like you are not quite pushing yourself to your potential, do you do any hills? What does your HR do on a steepish climb?

there is a steepish climb in my normal route its about 20 miles into the ride. HR goes up to about zone 4.2 but only for a very brief duration, then when I get on the level again it goes down pretty fast in to mid zone 3 and within about 2 mins back into mid zone 2 where it is for most of my long rides.

The weird thing is when I run I get into Zone 4 without even thinking about it when I do a steep hill sections. I know I have got good leg strength as I did a lot of powqer lifting over the last 10 years and I can squat 5 x 5 @ 150KG so I know my legs can power through a lot of things. Only possible error could be the the HR zones are set incorrectly for me. I used an online calculator which had my Max HR at 182 and then calculated the spread for each zone.

@50000tears I think you are probably right that they are not relevant yet for me where I am. As long as I am churning out miles at a good sustained effort, which by the way I feel when I finish a 35 mile trip the perceived level of exertion does feel like I have worked it should all be good ? I

 

[jarlrmai]

Online calculators are bunk, you need to get a proper full on exertion maximum.

 

[400bhp]

Just ride your bl00dy bike.

 

[bigmig]

Just ride your bl00dy bike.

thats what I am doing , but i want to also know that I am doing it right, in as much that I am getting the best out of the time I am in the saddle as time is one of those commodities that I don't have an abundance of due to work / family etc.

 

[400bhp]

losing weight - ride your bike and eat less/better diet.

Ride faster - will come after the above.

I'd get scientific about it later..

 

[screenman]

Have you found your true MHR if not then your zones could be way out.

 

[Colin S]

HR zones are not comparable between different types of activities, though it does sound to me that you have not got your zones right if you are mainly riding in zone 2 as this will be a very easy ride. Most people have trouble keeping their HR down to zone 2.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

I used a heart rate monitor, and still do on occasions. I've found that gut feeling and instinct are pretty accurate.
,
I found there was an optimum heart rate,and if I stayed just under, I could go along nicely, but if I went over, there was only so much I could take from this 'reserve' tank.

The problem was, the value changed, even during a ride. I found that experience showed me when I was in that 'optimum' band and when I'd gone over. I use the monitor infrequently now, mainly to check the recovery rate, as I found that a good measure of fitness progression.