[runninirish]

what are some good ball park HR zones for different types of workouts on the bike...long, VO2max, AT, recovery etc...are they different than your running zones?

 

[bcc594]

Unless you're a bike-animal like JRoden, your HR zones will be a little lower than on the bike than they are while running. I think mine are about 10 bpm lower on the bike, pretty much across the board. I have a hard time getting my Max up anywhere near my running max. I think it's a strength thing - until your muscles are strong enough to get the work done, your aerobic system won't be your limiter.

 

[4boysmom]

Are you talking about finding your HR zones? They are different than your run numbers. "Old school" was to take run number and subtract 10. My coach did that, and for the life of me I couldn't hit the zones he wanted. So I asked my doctor who did my run VO2Max. He said they can be off as much as 30...

 

[SpartyGirl]

Mine are off by around 15bpm.

 

[Yo Sake]

4bm - I bet it is because you are a better runner than a cyclist. At the beginning of the last year, there was no way I could ride for even an hour at my {easy running HR - 10}. That was way too hard. I was able to ride more comfortably at the same HR toward the end of the season.

 

[Yo Mikey]

I use Friel' heart rate zones 1 thru 5 for my bike/run training. I derived the LT for both from field tests.

 

[4boysmom]

Yo Sake--not sure about that. I come from a cycling background. During that workout, I was gasping for air, no way could I have stayed on the bike on the road. And I was barely in z3. Felt much like that final sprint in the 5m race against my son (bugger beat me!) where I was in the top of z5. I suspect my bike numbers are off.

 

[jroden]

You can do a self test pretty easy on the bike, I use a ramp test where the resistence is increased every minute until failure (This is maybe a Conconi test, but I'm not sure of the spelling) Here is what the numbers looked like with a 10 watt per minute increase, note where there is a sudden jump, that's where the AT is, you can then build out the rest of the zones based on that, since my trainer has watts, I base my workouts on the numbers right around the jump and try to make the jump happen at a higher hr--see what I mean below:<br><br>
120<br>
132<br>
132<br>
136<br>
137<br>
134<br>
135<br>
136<br>
133<br>
136<br>
140<br>
138<br>
138<br>
143<br>
145<br>
146<br>
149<br>
151<br>
153<br>
159<br>
162<br>
164<br>
167<br>
170<br>
172<br>
174<br>
174<br>
176<br>
177<br>
178 - fail

 

[Kybear]

Take into account I have been riding for all of 7 months, but<br><br>
*I have heard your anaerobic threshhold is different in the different disciplines.<br><br>
*I have been doing Spinervals taught by Troy Jacobson. From what he says I stay at AT-10 (or lower) for long or easy days, which is what he calls aerobic base building. The other days you just keep from dying. He doesn't recommend training near the AT.<br>
I've seen workouts in Triathlete that call out 5 zones with scheduled workouts in every zone so who knows.

 

[jroden]

Kybear--I think training near but not over the AT will give you the best bang for your buck when riding the trainer, the "long easy" approach to basebuilding is sort of a throrowback to bike racers getting ready for long races that kicked off in the very early spring and even bike racers have moved away from that approach, it's more suited for runners to log easy winter miles because of the weight bearing aspect.

 

[pcsronbo]

The big value to "long easy" on the bike is<br>
a) aerboic base building, much moreso for those who are newer to sports in general and much lessso for those with a strong aerobic fitness level<br>
b) raw calorie burning. more calories/hr than swimming and far less bodily abuse than running. the perfect mix.<br>
c) physical adaptation - for those going from short work (i.e. sprint) to longer work (i.e. 70.3) then you need to get your body adjusted to the demands that a 2 hour workout is "no big thing"<br><br>
But it's not going to make you fast.<br><br>
And on original post- there is no perfect cookie cutter. Use run AT-10 if you have no time, money, or interest in doing a bike specific test. Mine used to be 10, it seems to be spreading now as my 5k HR averages are WAY above prior year so not sure what to think about that.

 

[bcc594]

I had both my running and biking VO2Max tests done, but they were done several months apart. My bike values were a bit lower than my running ones, which my coach attributed to muscle failure (before aerobic failure). At home in Canada I have a print-out of my zones, etc. If you can find someone to do the test for you, then getting a performance test done is one of the best ways to tailor your training to your body. If you're going to train by HR, with a monitor, etc., then getting yourself tested will be the best money you're going to spend this season!

 

[fox-runr]

I used a much scaled back version, increase 20-30 watts and it's still pretty easy to catch the "jump" in HR. It's a great test for other things, for me my heartrate jumps right before I'm completely maxed...easy to determine that strength NOT endurance is an issue, which completely makes sense as I'm new to biking and NOT new to endurance running.

 

[Kybear]

Now that you mention it, he does only recommend this for end of season and off-season. Thanks for the info. It's probably the right time to start ratcheting it up a little bit anyway.