j_young_80
20-10-2009, 09:22 PM
Zone Description Intensity Guide Example Workout % of Max
REC Recovery Easy - able carry out conversation Recovery riding 50%-60%
E1 Base aerobic endurance Easy - able carry out conversation Long steady weekend ride 65%-75%
E2 General aerobic endurance Moderate - talk in short sentences Shorter steady ride 75%-85%
E3 Anaerobic Threshold Endurance Hard - difficult to speak 10 minute ITT efforts 85%-92%
E4 VO2max boosting Extremely hard - can't speak 1-2 minute intervals/td> 93%+
Calculating Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)
The test to find your maximums for running and cycling are going to hurt! There's no other way to do it. In fact, the harder you work the more accurate the measure is. The MHR test for running and cycling both consist of the same protocol except one is performed on the bike and the other is done while running.
Before completing these maximal tests on your own, please, please, (please!) get a thorough physical and a doctor’s clearance. The level of exertion is significantly higher than just going out for a healthy jog around the block.
Even better would be to do the test for the first time at a medical center where health professionals can do a complete physical, blood work up, and the performance test (at least for running) all together. Check your local hospital or university athletic department for a contact for these centers.
The test consists of a short warm up, a gradual increase of intensity over time, a final push to get a maximum, then a complete cool down. The reason for the gradual build up is that brain doesn't signal the heart to work at its true maximum for that activity instantaneously. So if you warm up for 5 minutes, then sprint your hardest for another minute, the heart still will not have achieved a true maximum for that activity. Slow, steady increases are needed to coax the heart to a true maximum.
Here is the actual test which works well for both running and cycling:
5 min. warm up slowly to a pace at the end where you are beginning to breathe a little hard
5 min. maintain the pace, increasing a bit at the end
5 min. increase pace again to labored breathing.
5 min. on a gradual incline increase the pace from just breathing hard to breathing very hard. Transition directly into…
2 min. all out sprint on a steep hill to maximum speed!
1 min. push this max speed while still going up and hold for a minute or as long as possible!! Record MHR.
10 min. cool down at a very easy pace and stretch.
------------------
33 min. total ( 18 minutes hard, 15 minutes warm up/down)
Why include the hill climbing in addition to already killing yourself? I found quite by accident that I could push a higher heart rate climbing hills than standard flat running tests. I had an treadmill test performed in a laboratory and another sprinting test around a track and both had registered a running MHR of 179. A couple years later after moving here to Switzerland I did basically the same test time with the final minutes on a very steep incline and recorded a new MHR of 184. I felt the same level of complete exhaustion in all tests, but with a new high value.
If you happen to have nothing resembling an incline in your area, you can do the same test on flat ground, but keep in mind that it will probably not be a true maximum for the activity, but a "level ground maximum."
I used to do a MHR test about twice a year, but now that I think I’ve determined an accurate max, I only do it once a year. Your MHR for each activity does not change with fitness level but may however, decline slightly with advancing age.
Taken from Beginner Triathlete. Please ensure that you are physically capable of performing a MHR test before attempting it.
REC Recovery Easy - able carry out conversation Recovery riding 50%-60%
E1 Base aerobic endurance Easy - able carry out conversation Long steady weekend ride 65%-75%
E2 General aerobic endurance Moderate - talk in short sentences Shorter steady ride 75%-85%
E3 Anaerobic Threshold Endurance Hard - difficult to speak 10 minute ITT efforts 85%-92%
E4 VO2max boosting Extremely hard - can't speak 1-2 minute intervals/td> 93%+
Calculating Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)
The test to find your maximums for running and cycling are going to hurt! There's no other way to do it. In fact, the harder you work the more accurate the measure is. The MHR test for running and cycling both consist of the same protocol except one is performed on the bike and the other is done while running.
Before completing these maximal tests on your own, please, please, (please!) get a thorough physical and a doctor’s clearance. The level of exertion is significantly higher than just going out for a healthy jog around the block.
Even better would be to do the test for the first time at a medical center where health professionals can do a complete physical, blood work up, and the performance test (at least for running) all together. Check your local hospital or university athletic department for a contact for these centers.
The test consists of a short warm up, a gradual increase of intensity over time, a final push to get a maximum, then a complete cool down. The reason for the gradual build up is that brain doesn't signal the heart to work at its true maximum for that activity instantaneously. So if you warm up for 5 minutes, then sprint your hardest for another minute, the heart still will not have achieved a true maximum for that activity. Slow, steady increases are needed to coax the heart to a true maximum.
Here is the actual test which works well for both running and cycling:
5 min. warm up slowly to a pace at the end where you are beginning to breathe a little hard
5 min. maintain the pace, increasing a bit at the end
5 min. increase pace again to labored breathing.
5 min. on a gradual incline increase the pace from just breathing hard to breathing very hard. Transition directly into…
2 min. all out sprint on a steep hill to maximum speed!
1 min. push this max speed while still going up and hold for a minute or as long as possible!! Record MHR.
10 min. cool down at a very easy pace and stretch.
------------------
33 min. total ( 18 minutes hard, 15 minutes warm up/down)
Why include the hill climbing in addition to already killing yourself? I found quite by accident that I could push a higher heart rate climbing hills than standard flat running tests. I had an treadmill test performed in a laboratory and another sprinting test around a track and both had registered a running MHR of 179. A couple years later after moving here to Switzerland I did basically the same test time with the final minutes on a very steep incline and recorded a new MHR of 184. I felt the same level of complete exhaustion in all tests, but with a new high value.
If you happen to have nothing resembling an incline in your area, you can do the same test on flat ground, but keep in mind that it will probably not be a true maximum for the activity, but a "level ground maximum."
I used to do a MHR test about twice a year, but now that I think I’ve determined an accurate max, I only do it once a year. Your MHR for each activity does not change with fitness level but may however, decline slightly with advancing age.
Taken from Beginner Triathlete. Please ensure that you are physically capable of performing a MHR test before attempting it.