New to HRMs

[GmanUK65]

There is a similar thread in the Health, Fitness and Training forum but it is full of people who seem to know a lot about the subject and are all bickering with each other and any beginner queries I add seem not to be answered in beginners terms or are frowned upon so I thought I would start a new one (I only hope that the same sort of bickering does not occur in this thread).


Here is my query: How do I work out my base miles so I can get enough aerobic capacity to carry out intensive/interval/ lactic training? I use a HRM will this help?

 

[Rob3rt]

You do not work out base miles, base miles is just a term used to describe riding your bike in order to develop basic bike fitness! Generally volume (the amount of miles or time spent) is high, the intensity (how hard you are riding) is low, i.e. ride your bike lots!

Quite frankly you would be best served buying a book and sitting down and reading it.

 

[GmanUK65]

You do not work out base miles, base miles is just a term used to describe riding your bike in order to develop basic bike fitness! Generally volume (the amount of miles or time spent) is high, the intensity (how hard you are riding) is low, i.e. ride your bike lots!

Quite frankly you would be best served buying a book and sitting down and reading it.

Ive read a couple of books on cycling though both never mentioned anything about base miles but I suppose books cannot mention everything or maybe the books I read were too technical to mention the basics though one of them did not seem too technical (Long Distance Cycling by Edmund D. Burke and Ed Pavelka). The other book I read was mainly about recovery which was a bit technical (Optimal Muscle Performance and Recovery by Edmund D. Burke).

I suppose my best plan is to ride the rest of the season as much as I can and forget about any form of training until next March/April.

Thank you

 

[PK99]

Here is my query: How do I work out my base miles so I can get enough aerobic capacity to carry out intensive/interval/ lactic training? I use a HRM will this help?

To a degree you are asking "how long is a piece of string.

Base miles are the physical foundation—whether for racing, training, touring, or just general fitness—that help you reach your physical potential. A simple analogy, which you may have seen before in cycling training literature, is the training pyramid. Think of your training as building a fitness pyramid.

Using the pyramid analogy, base miles are your foundation. This foundation of the pyramid must be solid, well-planned out, and, most importantly, large. The larger the base of the pyramid, the higher your potential to build greater fitness.

Your base—i.e., aerobic endurance, strength, and neuromuscular training—must be large enough to support the apex you wish to achieve—i.e., your peak cycling condition. By riding at aerobic endurance pace, building leg strength, and honing neuromuscular fitness, you will achieve a solid base.

this is from: http://www.turbotraining.co.uk/articles.php?nav=view&article=53 which has a good section on base training with guidance on heart rate to use (<75% of max ie very gentle) and guidance on volumes. it gets rather technical, but worth skimming to get the gist