training at 90 95% of hr

zaskar

hello all, is there any benifit to riding in the 90 -95% zone
for as long periods as possible? when i see 90 -95% its just
for intervals. my max is around 183- 185 on my hard days
i ride a up hill ride wich takes me around 1 hour 13 min and
my hr rate is 165- 175 for 30-45 minutes and my min hr rate
is 148 - 164 for the ride. my resting hrt is 44 when relaxing watchin tv, if that matters. every thing i read is geared to
85% of max so is it a no gainer to ride over 85% for say 5
-10 minutes for other then intervals? thanks.

Glasgow United

On its own its hard to say whether you'll totally benefit from training at 95% of your max heart rate, try to figure out what your HR is when you reach lactate threshold. If it is 90% of your Max HR then you'll be benefitting because you are pushing the limits of your lactate threshold thus enabling longer periods of cycling at higher speeds.

stowerider

Hi,

Peak Performance Magazine has a website at pponline.co.uk. Many of the articles are aimed at runners though there are some features on cycling. One of the consistent themes in the articles is the value of interval training at 90%+ VO2 Max. The benefit of this training is that it will increase your VO2 Max and make you a faster runner or cyclist. Unless you have a portable laboratory and staff to test whether you are exercising at 90%, you can use
95% of max heart rate as a rough proxy for 90% VO2 max!
So I imagine that if your'e finishing your intervals in the 90-95% range then it will definitely help your cycling.

2LAP

As with Stoweriders comments, your training at 90, 95 or 100% of MHR is going to cause a greater adaptation in your VO2 max than training at 85, 75 or 65% of MHR. The reason being that MHR is closely correlated to VO2 max and riding at near VO2 max will stress the mechanisms that limit VO2 max specificaly. [Hope that makes sense].

The reason its normaly done as intervals is that in a single effort at 95% upto 10 minutes could be done however using intervals upto 20 or 25 minutes could be done. Therefore intervals provide a greater training stimulous for adaptation.

Training at these intensities also alows you to practice at race speed, etc.

J-MAT

Zaskar:

Yes, training that high is important and will greatly help your overall fitness. Fit riders can time trial around 92% of maximum heart rate for an hour or so.

It's probably the most productive training you could do overall if you had to pick one intensity range.

Try to hold that intensity as long as possible either continuously for 10-20-30+ minutes or in shorter efforts of 3-5 minutes.

Longer blocks like 10-20-30 minutes are probably the most productive. An ideal workout would be an hour at 90%+, but that requires a lot of motivation.

Don't train this hard more than 2-4 times a week, and recover easy between workouts. If you don't recover properly, you will burnout quickly with this high of an intensity.

Good luck!!!

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2LAP

This intensity (i.e. what can be maintained for an hour) is what Ric has been describing as 'TT power' in some of the other threads. Obviously, less fit people won't be able to maintain the same % of peak power or HR for this long so 90% of max HR will be too hard for many riders.

The power at VO2 max will only be able to be maintained for 2 to 10 minutes depending upon training and motivation during which time 95%+ of max HR will be seen on the HRM.

zaskar

thanks for the information.

i just got a new polar hrt monitor,beacuse my old one would
go up & down @ times with no change in effort.
anyways im now only able to get my hrt to 172 up very
steep hills. am i holding back effort? im 37yrs old? i
dont know wich hrt monitor to believe from reading
the studys say around 185 bpm. does resting hrt
affect max hrt?

J-MAT

2LAP:

So, what's your point??? You act like Ric invented 90% of max heart rate.

Any rider can train this high, Well trained riders can do it a lot longer. Any rider with a decent base can train this high.

Training this high is nothing new. Ric loves to bag on Dr. Conconi, but that training intensity is basically the core training intensity of the Conconi method, where 92% is about the limit for well-trained riders for one hour.

Zaskar:

Variations in readings can be from power lines, alarm systems, lighting systems, etc. Any strong electrical interference can do it. If your old hrm was a Polar, it's probably ok. They are extremely accurate.

Don't worry about what your reading should be from a study. Studies are often very inaccurate. It's like saying the average rider should be on a 56 cm frame. Meaniningless, unless a 56 cm frame actually fits you.

As you get fitter, it often becomes harder to get your heart rate up to high levels. Heart rate can be influenced by many things. Worry about typical heart rates more over the long run, like many weeks or months. Climbing speed is what's important. If you are climbing faster, you are getting fitter.

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zaskar

Zaskar:

Variations in readings can be from power lines, alarm systems, lighting systems, etc. Any strong electrical interference can do it. If your old hrm was a Polar, it's probably ok. They are extremely accurate.

Don't worry about what your reading should be from a study. Studies are often very inaccurate. It's like saying the average rider should be on a 56 cm frame. Meaniningless, unless a 56 cm frame actually fits you.

As you get fitter, it often becomes harder to get your heart rate up to high levels. Heart rate can be influenced by many things. Worry about typical heart rates more over the long run, like many weeks or months. Climbing speed is what's important. If you are climbing faster, you are getting fitter. [/QUOTE]

thanks JMAT, my other hrt monitor is a cardiosport i believe
a off brand. i am climbing faster then i was a few months
ago so it does make sense thats whats important, i did
my 1st race sat and got a max of 174 so im gonna use
that as my max for training zones thanks.

2LAP

The point is that doing 90%+ of HR for one our as you recomend would be imposable for less fit riders for a number of reasons (i.e. lactate accumulation). For new riders bouts of less than 10 minutes would be more appropriate and achievable.

I only mentioned Ric and 'TT power' to add some continuity between threads (i.e. so that people could read the threads where myself and others argue for high intensity efforts!). Oh, and by the way, evolution invented 90% of HR.

Obviously any rider can train this high, it would be stupid to suggest otherwise. You have hit the nail on the head here, only well trained riders will be able to do it for extended periods. This is due to lactate threshold.

So what is a 'decent base' and how do you quantify it?

I'm sure Ric has his reasons. I'm fortunate enough to have access to a phys lab so I can determine and train at HR's that elicit different physiological thresholds/markers/factors.

J-MAT

2LAP:

My point about 90% of max hr, is that regardless of a riders anaerobic threshold, 90% is still probably the most productive training intensity for achieving results.

For a well-trained rider, longer efforts like 10-20-60 minutes are possible. For a lesser trained rider, shorter efforts like 3-5-10-20 minutes are probably better.

Either way, training this high will deliver solid increases in aerobic capacity, and improve a riders threshold at the same time.

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2LAP

It certainly would cause these improvements, but I would guestion (I question everything ) whether an alternative means would cause improvements in these areas quicker (i.e. training at VO2max or training at LT).