Hello all , I know this has probably been asked a million times but Im just getting in to the numbers side of cycling after years of just getting out and riding, I do long distance trips like the Tour Divide etc and local cycling between 30 and 70 miles.
Anyway I think l’m fit, I have recently tried to start zone 2 work outs my age is 54 , when l listen to my body zone two My heart rate is 165ish, im comfortable can hold a converstaion sing etc but wahoo and strava say its my zone 4 if its zone 4 then its easy … I just want to get fit and stay fit as im getting older am i doing something wrong or is it im fitter than l realise , l mean always active .. cheers
Good morning @Cyclingstevo and welcome back to the forums!
You’re correct as to what a Z2 effort should “feel like”, but as someone not much older than you, 165bpm seems high for Z2. I think my Z2 is 112 - 129, but then everyone is different (I’m bradycardic, so my HR is very low across the board). Maybe you’re blessed with the of a 20yo!
What are you using to record your HR? Have you done any kind of Max HR testing or a ramp test? Because without some idea of what your max is, any zones you’re working with in Wahoo, Strava, etc. are purely arbitrary.
Thank you for your prompt reply @CPT_A, that may be what l’ve done wrong.. lm going purely off feeling.. l wear a heart rate monitor , lve never done any Max HR test, like l say normally l just ride im just trying to get some idea of how fit l am and have some number to either stay around or better them… I look back at my Strava and my cycles on my indoor trainer and my zones seem fine last year, the only thing that has changed l can think of is my heart rate monitor has been changed ?*different make) but seems to be the same reading as my watch.. and Im just back from a trip cycling 50 miles every day with over 1000m climbing for a month so l do feel much fitter than I did when I did the tour divide last year .. l have just re subscribed to whoop again that should l think help with finding my zones … heart of a 20 year old what a dream l mean lve always lived health and been active dont drink never smoked etc I will google Max hr test , cheers
If you have done the 4DP or ramp test, you have a HR number to use for figuring out the possible zone two range, which the analysis that wahoo provides will tell you.
The average HR of the 5 minute part of Full Frontal test will give a general number to use for finding zone 2. My zone 2 threshold is always around 85% of the average hr for those 5 minutes.
In the ramp test, my zone 2 hr is around 80% of my max HR at the end of the ramp.
However, hr is variable from day to day, so the talk/singing test is still a respected way of defining zone 2, more or less.
If your zone 2 hr is 165, your hr max is likely around 190, which seems possible. Mine was in that neighborhood when I was 50.
Generally the only time I have hit my max HR, i was seeing spots and darkness was closing in. THats not ideal out on the road, and it’s really hard to do indoors.
Might find this useful.
Many thanks @wmalexmann l will take a look at it all
Even that seems high; my (tested) max HR is 195ish, and zone two is around 140s. That said…when I first started cycling seriously my apparent zone 2 was 160s, although that could have been a bad sensor as well. My solution at the time was using Training Peaks and setting custom HR zones, since as said–the conversation test is solid.
@Cyclingstevo would it be possible to dual record with the old and new HR monitors to compare? Watch based HR is often inaccurate when actually riding or running as well.
Time for a Full Frontal and finding your max!*
*so long as you don’t have any conditions precluding doing so.