ecandl said:I would like some input. I know this question is impossible to answer without knowing more but here are the basics. I have always stayed in shape with running, cycling, soccer, etc. The last 3 years I have been doing Olympic distance triathlons finishing in around the top 25% overall. I really don't like swimming or running so I am focusing on cycling with racing this year.
I just finished "The Cyclists Training Bible" and am using a HR monitor. I know, not as good as power, but that is where I am at. I was training only about 4-5 hrs per week total for triathlon but am already up to around 8hrs weekly with cycling on my trainer. I have been trying to determine LT with breathing or avg. HR last 20 min. of 30 min. time trial. I have been coming up around 152 for LT. This seems low to me and was wondering if that may be in the ballpark or not? My max HR tested with running all out was around 184. Resting HR taken a few mornings just after waking avg. 41. I want to determine my LT to base my training zones. I am really trying to train smart and think I am overtraining because my LT seems low. Any thoughts are appreciated. Sorry for the length.
LT heart rate will vary depending on the sport and also your fatigue level at any given day. LT heart rate will be highest in running and lowest in swimming. It has something to due with muscle mass recruitment being higher in running and slowest in swimming. Also, swimming has your body horizontal too and that impacts it too. SO Lt heart rate is sports specific.
Forget about max heart rate totally....if you were to get chased by a Cougar up in my neck of the woods your heart rate would be way higher than 184.
Max HR is irrelevant.
Your LT heart rate will be affected by a lot of things but most importantly it will drop as you become more and more fatigued. ie: after a hard week of running you will notice that you can't get your HR up to what you thought was your LT heart rate...but you are running at the same pace. It is here when guys make the mistake of working harder in order to get their HR up.
So you can do this....test it after a rest week with a 20 minute TT while running and take the average heart rate the subtract about 5% for your LT rate. Then figure that your LT heart rate for cycling will be a few beats less and swimming a few beats less again.
If you have a trainer you can ride based on speed as this is WAY better than riding based on HR. You simply do a 20 minute TT, when well rested, and watch the speed you are holding (and HR). Then take 95% of that for your 100% LT speed. If you have a high anaerobic work capacity this will over shoot your 100% LT speed a bit, and if you have a low AWC it will undershoot it slightly. If you are average in the AWC department then it's pretty accurate I think.
Often you can tell what kind of AWC you have by looking at your body "build" ...if you are a "stick" then you usually have poor AWC...if you are fairly muscular for an endurance athlete, especially in the legs, then you probably have a higher AWC. HOWEVER, this "formula" isn't always correct.
Also, sprinters usually have a higher AWC. You'll know if you are a good sprinter if you have been running or riding any length of time.
If you can do a one hour TT all out then this will be a better estimate of your LT speed. HOWEVER, your HR will tend to "drift" up when you get past 45 minutes. This is logically called "HR drift"....so your average HR formula becomes more and more unreliable.
You don't have to train at 100% threshold speed/effort all the time and in fact you make great progress training at 90-95%. It is still considered threshold training. It is easier to recover from this than from 100% threshold work, and you can do more volume too which is a key in your progress with threshold work. With your running you'll take a beating by running at 100% threshold speed. Runners know this and rarely do it in training. Their threshold runs are done at a little slower than 10K race pace at about 15 K race pace....or a 20 K pace if they can do a sub 30 10 K.
NOW...training by speed on the trainer is only possible if your trainer does not get progressively harder or easier to pedal over time as it heats up.
If you have a fluid trainer the ONLY one that has thermodynamically stable fluid is the Kurt Kinetic...all others get easier to pedal over 30 minutes except the "Fluid 2" which gets harder!!!
Sell your current trainer for free on Craiglist. Then buy a Kurt Kinetic with it's power meter for an extra $50. Total investment $325 US.
Find your city on Craiglist
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/
