Training to heart rate?

subscriber

Im a little lost when it comes to this, so Im hoping someone can offer advice. i have never trained to HR despite my 305 having the capability and me having the HR chest strap. I've long threatened to give it a go so its time to get the finger out, experiment and see if I can improve on training results.

As far as I know, it works on zones ranging from 1 - 5 in difficulty. How do people devise a training session from this. Do they plan for example a 2 hour cycle and allocate a certain amount of time during the cycle to each zone, steadily climbing up the zones, and back down towards the end of the training session?

Also Is this a reliable source of measuring your training goals as I presume heart rates are going to be different on different days depending on phyiscal and mental condition on that day amongst other factors like weather, mood, ect, ect, the list goes on.

Up to now I have always just picked a distance eg- 50km on the bike and set out to try and cycle it within a certain time frame. It never feels like structured training, always feels like junk miles.

Any comments or instructions on what way is best to train to HR is much appreciated.

Brick Session

Check out Don Finks book "Be Iron Fit". This is a guide for people interested in training for an Ironman race but it gives very simple and detailed guides regarding the use of Heart rate monitors and heart rate zones and how to determine your own for training. Well worth a read even if you are not taking part in any triathlons.

RayCun

subscriber wrote: »

Also Is this a reliable source of measuring your training goals as I presume heart rates are going to be different on different days depending on phyiscal and mental condition on that day amongst other factors like weather, mood, ect, ect, the list goes on.

Training to heart rate, yes, that's reliable. The idea is that you are training by your real effort level so if you are supposed to be doing an easy run, for example, but you're short on sleep and the wind is against you etc you don't run at the same pace as you would on an easy run when you are fully rested and it's a calm day, you run at the same heart rate. It stops you fooling yourself and doing your easy sessions too hard - and your hard sessions too easy.

Training by heart rate as measured on a Garmin 305 HRM... well, that's a different matter. Good GPS, bad hrm.

pgibbo

One thing to keep in mind, as you've eluded to is that HR is only one factor. I do all my running off HR but have learned that keeping an eye to pace and RPE are key too.

Personally I find the hard strap that comes with the 305 quite reliable. The only issues I've had are at the start of a run where it can sometimes be erratic. At times like this I let the other 2 variables guide me - pace & RPE.

I do my testing based on Friel and set my zones from that. It's a 30 minute TT and you use the average HR from the last 20 minutes to detrmine your zones.

Clearlier

pgibbo wrote: »

One thing to keep in mind, as you've eluded to is that HR is only one factor. I do all my running off HR but have learned that keeping an eye to pace and RPE are key too.

Personally I find the hard strap that comes with the 305 quite reliable. The only issues I've had are at the start of a run where it can sometimes be erratic. At times like this I let the other 2 variables guide me - pace & RPE.

I do my testing based on Friel and set my zones from that. It's a 30 minute TT and you use the average HR from the last 20 minutes to detrmine your zones.

Do you use the same zones for all 3 disciplines or have you measured separate ones? I ask because IME my max HR for cycling is a good bit lower than for running. It's probably partly because I'm far better trained as a runner than a cyclist but I've seen others notice the same thing too.

catweazle

Clearlier wrote: »

Do you use the same zones for all 3 disciplines or have you measured separate ones? I ask because IME my max HR for cycling is a good bit lower than for running. It's probably partly because I'm far better trained as a runner than a cyclist but I've seen others notice the same thing too.

I don't really keep track in the water but yes my max in cycling is about 10 beats lower than running so i allow for this depending on what I am doing

tunney

HR training is a great measure of the body's response to a stimulus.

Pace and power a great way of measuring the stimulus.

All have their place!

pgibbo

catweazle wrote: »

I don't really keep track in the water but yes my max in cycling is about 10 beats lower than running so i allow for this depending on what I am doing

Personally I test both seperately or did until I started using power. But yes, my bike HR is lower than my run HR.

subscriber

Great feedback from everyone, thanks, I have friel's book ordered now and will give it the once over as soon as I get it. I suppose my aim of starting to train to HR is an attempt to put some structure and balance into my training, instead of constantly running and cycling junk miles which I have an awful habit of doing. Im hoping this will give me more of a guide to training smarter and give me a bit more direction in what I should be achieving in individual training sessions.

peter kern

subscriber wrote: »

Great feedback from everyone, thanks, I have friel's book ordered now and will give it the once over as soon as I get it. I suppose my aim of starting to train to HR is an attempt to put some structure and balance into my training, instead of constantly running and cycling junk miles which I have an awful habit of doing. Im hoping this will give me more of a guide to training smarter and give me a bit more direction in what I should be achieving in individual training sessions.

could you explain us what you consider junk miles?

tunney

peter kern wrote: »

subscriber wrote: »

Great feedback from everyone, thanks, I have friel's book ordered now and will give it the once over as soon as I get it. I suppose my aim of starting to train to HR is an attempt to put some structure and balance into my training, instead of constantly running and cycling junk miles which I have an awful habit of doing. Im hoping this will give me more of a guide to training smarter and give me a bit more direction in what I should be achieving in individual training sessions.

could you explain us what you consider junk miles?

I think I'm going to end up agreeing with Peter again as I think I know where he is going with this.

subscriber

Cycling the same repetitive distances and the same low intensity workouts and not gaining any additional fitness. I have an awful habit of doing this instead of allocating a time frame and trying to achieve goals within that. For example, 2 hour bike ride, with the aim to get HR climbing steadily throughout and slowly climbing back down.