If your maximum heart rate is properly measured, then your 84% is pretty high for a long distance ride. 85-90% of max is considered time trial pace. Endurance riding is more like 65-75% of max. However, if your "max" was determined by the 220-age formula or "the highest I've ever seen on the HRM" then you are starting with a pretty meaningless number. You are better off to determine your maximum sustainable HR (last 20 minutes of a 30 minute time trial) and base your training on that number.rider22 said:What % of yalls MHR do yall ride at on a typical distance ride? I ride around 84%? Is this too much?
You need to get your lactate threshold tested at a sports fitness clinic. The cost is usually around $90 and takes about an hour. You can also find it out pretty accurately yourself by doing about an hour time trial or hour ride at a pace that you could keep up for one hour but not much longer. Wear a HR monitor for the TT or hard ride and look at the average HR at the end, that will be pretty close to your LT. I tested myself by doing a hard hour climb and my average HR was 157. I then had my LT tested at a clinic (probably about a week or so later) and they came up with 154. My max is around 175-180 for cycling.rider22 said:What % of yalls MHR do yall ride at on a typical distance ride? I ride around 84%? Is this too much?
All depends what your goals are and level of geekness is. If your down with cruising around on a Schwinn Varsity with rusting rims and knee socks, that's cool.MikeBiker said:How did cyclists ride before HRMs were invented?
I bet they just went out and rode.
I ride mostly without a HRM and have suffered no problems because of it. If 84% is what you do typical distance rides at, then is not too high as you have not had to quit a ride.
I did a 35 mile ride today. No HRM. Sometimes I rode hard, sometimes I rode easy. I would not have ridden differently if I had a HRM.
Now if I was a professional rider and training for racing, then I would be doing a structured program from a coach. In addition to an HRM, I would have a power meter.
Maybe you're just mis-stating for simplicities sake. But I hope the clinic that tested you knew what they were doing. LT is not a heart rate, it is a workload (power, in cycling). Did you get wattage? Also, how did they define it? 4mmol? "lactate threshold" as defined by most excercise physiologists will yield a power (and heart rate as well, of course) well lower than what you could do for a 1-hr time trial.LyncStar said:I then had my LT tested at a clinic (probably about a week or so later) and they came up with 154. My max is around 175-180 for cycling.
LT has been a 'heart rate' for a long time. Only recently has power been in common use in cycling. - TFwhoawhoa said:Maybe you're just mis-stating for simplicities sake. But I hope the clinic that tested you knew what they were doing. LT is not a heart rate, it is a workload (power, in cycling). Did you get wattage? Also, how did they define it? 4mmol? "lactate threshold" as defined by most excercise physiologists will yield a power (and heart rate as well, of course) well lower than what you could do for a 1-hr time trial.
Actually if you are defining your max as 'max for cycling', it can change. You do have a max 'defined' by your heart, but it has no idea where that blood is going or what type of exercise you are doing. - TFLyncStar said:You need to get your lactate threshold tested at a sports fitness clinic. The cost is usually around $90 and takes about an hour. You can also find it out pretty accurately yourself by doing about an hour time trial or hour ride at a pace that you could keep up for one hour but not much longer. Wear a HR monitor for the TT or hard ride and look at the average HR at the end, that will be pretty close to your LT. I tested myself by doing a hard hour climb and my average HR was 157. I then had my LT tested at a clinic (probably about a week or so later) and they came up with 154. My max is around 175-180 for cycling.
The net is that if you actually know your max, most fit people's LT will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 85% to 90% of max. Keep in mind, training can increase your LT but not your max (your max is what it is, like your height).
LT is a workload. Power meter or no power meter, it's not, and has never been, a heart rate. You can confirm this by checking various scientific literature.TurboTurtle said:LT has been a 'heart rate' for a long time. Only recently has power been in common use in cycling. - TF
whoawhoa said:LT is a workload. Power meter or no power meter, it's not, and has never been, a heart rate. You can confirm this by checking various scientific literature.