LTH testing question
Was wondering for my upcoming bike test that I will do without the benefit of a PM what am I looking at to show improvment? Should the LTH increase or decrease? Look at MPH for the test? Looking at FTP improvment seems so much better. Ah well one day I will be like all the cool kids. Thank for the input.
0
Comments
If you came off a period of rest / transition prior to starting the OS, you'll probably see a rise in HR. You should be able to push a little harder now, when your'e in shape your HR @ LT is what it is for the most part.....
You can track distance improvement if you set up your bike the exact same way; same resistance, same tire pressure but there is still some grey area.
Dewey, I'm in the same boat as you.....I don't have a pm either. However, I can tell you that your true measurement of improvemement w/o a pm is speed and distance. I do my testing on a trainer so that wind and temp have no effect on my results. Your LTHR may improve a little but not by much. I went from a LTHR of 150 to 151 but my speed increased by 1mph.
As your fitness increases, your max hr decreases as your heart is pumping more blood volume per stroke. So, assuming your LTHR stays the same from one test to the next and your max HR decreases, your LTHR # as a % of your max hr will increase and that will show your improvement. Of course, you'll need to find out what your max hr is in order to use this as a measurement of your improved fitness.
Distance up to 13.54 from 13.2 (+2.6%), MPH up to 20.3 from 19.8 (+2.5%), and LTH down to 136 from 142 (-4.2%).
I see improvement with the distance and MPH but the drop in LTH is a little puzzling. It does go along with my training though as it was becoming increasing difficult to get MY HR into Z4 even with my legs burning like they were ablaze.