NO Power....Just HR - - HELP!

IRONcap123

 I am only in week 2 on my OS and am training with just HR on the bike.  I took the 40' test to establish my training zones and they just don't seem that difficult.....IOW I feel like I am doggin' some of the workouts. My Zone 4 says I my HR should be between 149-154 bpm. 

Also, I can get in this HR Zone with my Cadence around 90 or around 110, depends on the gear I am pushing.  Which cadence is better for the intervals?

I am not sure what the solution is...

Should I push up my HR??  Re-Test??  R? P? Anybody?

Thanks...

 

tuckerm

www.trainerroad.com

Get it.

Kevin Walter

1) How do your bike HR zones compare to your run HR zones? Bike HR zones are usually a litlle lower (say 10 bpm?) than run. If yours are way off though then maybe bike could be retested.



2)But, if you are only in week 2 of OS then your intervals are pretty short (6 or 8 minutes? vs your test which was 20-minutes). HR lag during the test may account for some of the lower numbers and you may find the numbers harder to hold for longer intervals as you get farther into OS.



3)Neither cadence is "better," but most people will tend to ride most comfortably in the 80-90 range most of the time. There can be value in mixing it up by pushing bigger gears at a slower candence and lighter gears at a faster cadence.



FWIW, I do use power, but my zone 4 HR on the bike is 149-154 as well and its a pretty good match, i.e. when my HR is in that zone then I'm also putting out zone 4 watts. Remember Zone 4 is threshold or the power you could theoretically hold for an hour long race. It shouldn't kill you to hold it for a 6-8 minute interval.

Joseph Lombardi

Hey Adam...I trained on HR all last year...not sure why your finding the zones so easy...you might have undertested...you plugged in your avg. HR into the Data Tool to get your zones?  (Just checkin)...

You can be successful with just HR - I completed IM Lou last year (my first) in 12:15..just on HR training protocols within EN.

Regarding you cadence question...cadence is a personal pref. but typcially ideal/most efficient is somewhere between 80-90

( I tended to ride at 90-92)...110 is too high.

I have come to believe that Power is a better measure because ...like you...you can get HR into the Zone just through Aerobic/cadence...but your not developing power to the pedals.....

Without investing in a Power setup you can get introduced to traiing with power (indoors) with TrainerRoad ...check it out...it works with HR monitor and cadence sensor and generates a "virtual" power measure....I've just loaded it as have a number of other members...so far alot of good reviews.

But again- you can be successfull on HR alone.

Nate Parady

IMO, HR works best when you pair it up with your Perceived Rate of Exertion...I hit the lap button on my watch, crank up the pressure on my legs to a zone 4 effort and then 2-3 minutes into my interval confirm where I'm at by looking at my HR..

Its also possible that you didn't test well. Did you test in the Morning or Evening? This impacts my HR by a few beats.

ezellrh

@Adam, another point is the first few week you probably won't feel like the work is too tough. As another noobie in the house, I was finding the first few weeks easy. Now that I'm in week 15, I can tell you the work/difficulty factor increases as the weeks progress, as a function of both increasing interval difficulty and cumulative fatigue. Trust the system. You feel the work soon enough.

I won't offer advice on cadence, tons in the forums if you search. However, as a data point, I'm comfortable in the high 90's/low 100's. I recently looked at the average of my last 6 weeks and found it was 98. That includes the entire workout, w/u, intervals, rest intervals, and c/d's. Lots of folks would say that's high, but it's where my legs feel best. Sometimes it is what it is.

Good luck and enjoy the work!