HR Zones: 220-Age - the TRUTH! (Page 9)

Bump because this is such a great thread.

Ernie

Another triathlete has seen the light!

Give the HR training a chance and I think you'll be happy you did.  Your previous training gave you a fairly immediate improvement in pace but seriously limited your potential because you weren't developing your aerobic base.  Start going long and easy and before you know it you'll be running faster at the same intensity or holding pace at a lower intensity.  And probably best of all, you won't feel exhausted all the time from the hard running day in and day out.

OKay Mike, I have read this entire thread in bits and peices but I have a few questions.  I plan to buy a HRM in the next few weeks that has a lap feature but right now I have the FS1 from Polar that doesn't have that wonderful function.  I have been a lacrosse player all through high school and two years of college.  I would go out and try to run 2 mile as fast as I could every time without a HRM. 

  Now I have given up on lacrosse and chosen a life style that will benefit me more then the bruises from lacrosse.  So I recently (mid April) did my first sprint tri, and got killed when I got off the bike.  My legs were dead.  I have tried working out with more bricks, and have another sprint tri in Mid june.  So now I would like to start "training correctly" and begin using the zones.  My question is how specifically again to test for the run and bike.  In the area I live (central Maryland) there are many hills and stop signs that would make the bike ride difficult.  But what type of work effort should I give on the run?  I think back in my lax days the coach had us to a EKG test and I maxed out with a max HR of like 205 or something.  I had the treadmill spinning at like 10mph.. and a 6% grade or something it was rough!  So how should I try this again. 

Hope this post has some questions in it and you could answer them.  Thanks again

Try using a trainer for the bike test and a track for the run. The test is detailed here. Pretty much an all out effort for the 30'.

http://www.d3multisport.com/articles/determinezones.html

Just copy the link and put it in your favorites.

No, subbing LT for MHR won't work...the zones would be all wonky.

My HRM lets me put upper and lower limits for each zone...does yours let you do that?

No.  You can always retest in a few weeks and see if you generate a better, more consistent effort.  But the test actually assumes you can't push yourself to a maximal effort (i.e., that it's not a 30min. race).  To get LT under race conditions, you'd likely have to do about a 1hr effort (think 40k TT on the bike or 15k run).  On a 30min race, you'd actually take beats off to estimate LT.

The LT is just a number.  One is not better/worse than another.  If you're faster, it's better.

Cadence has nothing to do with intensity of effort. The measure you use is that you should be totally spent at the end of the TT.

I found this thread becuase I need to do some max HR testing.  I haven't had time to read through the entire thread so I apologize if I'm being redundant.  I have a few questions regarding the run test.

Does it matter if I do the run test outside or on a treadmill?  If it's outside shoud the terrain be relatively flat?

When doing these tests is it necessary to be well rested??

Quick!  Edit your post before Mike sees it!

Test can be done outside or on a treadmill/trainer, but it's more effective to do them in conditions similar to how you are training (so if you run outside usually, test outside).  

A flat course is generally better as it will be easier to meter your effort.

You should be well-rested to get a more accurate test.