I'm not sure if this should be posted in the "training" section or the "power" section, but the following post eventually relates to power, so I thought I'd toss it in here.
Scenario: Joe Cyclist (25 years old) has been training for 4-5 years and races competitively about 5-7 times each year. He has been progressing from cat5 to cat3 fairly steadily. When he started, his HR was generally low during endurance rides (~115-120 bpm) at lower intensities (~17mph just soft pedaling on the flats). Over the years, and with increased training at the higher end of the range, he saw a subsequent increase in HR at the lower intensities, but also the ability for his HR to reach much higher than in previous years. For example, general endurance rides he's now up in the 120-130s, but with hard climbing efforts his HR sits in the 176-179 range and he feels fine (previously this range would be in the low to mid 160s), and with sprints his HR gets beyond 184-185 (previously the 170s would make him blow up).
I know this would be much much easier to look at with a power meter, but unfortunately we don't have one. Just perceived effort and HR data. Overall, perceived effort seems to have gone down for a given intensity. But is the lack of HR to remain low for lower intensities indicative of improper training? Or over-reaching perhaps?
I'm just curious to see what other coaches or exercise physiology types have seen or can contribute to this. I understand the physiology, but can't seem to figure this out. Am I correct in thinking that if we did have a power meter, we might see a concurrent increase in power output at lower intensities? And that the slight increase in HR at lower intensities really doesn't matter since power output is improved at both low and high intensities? And since Joe Cyclist is able to produce power at greater intensities than ever before, don't worry about the HR at lower intensities as long as he's recovered?
Thanks in advance 🙂