I’m curious if my specific physiology will affect the accuracy of my heart rate zones. I have a resting heart rate in the mid to high 30’s. If I have a couple rest days and have not stressed my body it is normal for me to see a resting heart rate of 36/37 while I sleep. My max heart rate is 180. I am new to cycling and just got an indoor trainer a few months ago. After my first and only half monty test I was surprised to see my zone 2 heart rate range set for 117-144 which is 70-87% of my max. Is this typical? Is my low resting heart rate affecting these results? Does Heart Rate Reserve factor into creating heart rate zones?
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First welcome to the forums. I don’t know the answer to your specific question @samuelsjohns but iirc, zones are set based on your cycling threshold heart rate determined during your HM test so whether and how they correlate to your RHR would be inconsequential in terms of SYSTM and training using the results of SYSTM tests within SYSTM.
I am curious though, how did you determine your max HR?
Searching through the forums you’ll find a lot of folks have issues with HR zones in SYSTM workouts.
Fwiw, the more important metric is power so if you have a trainer with the capacity to measure power output, that is the metric to focus on. HR might vary for a wide range of reasons and is also a “lagging” indicator (ie it takes a bit for it to catch up to your effort) where power is immediate.
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I determined my max heart rate based off the highest number I have seen in all of my indoor or outdoor activities.
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Fair enough. 180 is pretty darn close to the highest I’ve seen for myself too.
My most recent HM has my cTHR at 157 and based on that, the following zones are assigned to me. Based on perception (how I feel when riding at those HRs) it seems pretty accurate for myself at least.
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Ok that makes sense. I realize now from your screenshot that my original post was incorrect. The upper limit of my zone 2 is 87% of my cTHR and NOT 87% of my max. However my half monty cTHR was 166 so that still puts the upper limit of my zone 2 HR at 80% of my max. Maybe that is typical and correlates to the first lactate threshold. I was just surprised it was that high. But, I guess it makes sense. If I’m doing Z2 training I will keep my HR between 60-70% of my max and that 70-80% of my max HR is still zone 2 but trickling into the lactate zone.
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Yep. Remember you’re talking about the upper limit of a zone with a pretty wide range. I know there is a BIG difference between how I feel at 117 BPM vs how I feel at 140BPM.
What kind of trainer do you use and does it record/report power (watts)?
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I have a kickrcore, so yes it does record watts, and I have 4dp data, but I don’t see my power zones anywhere in my systm profile.
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Core. Nice! You won’t have fully accurate 4DP data though until you do the Full Frontal (FF) fitness test. Then you’d also get a rider type and a more accurate cTHR.
You won’t see power zones in SYSTM because it provides power based targets based on the results you obtain in the 4 metrics tested by FF (Neuromuscular NM 5 sec, Anaerobic Capacity AC 1 minute, Maximal Aerobic Capacity MAP 5 minute, and Functional Threshold Power FTP 20 minute.
However, you can see power zones and set them up for yourself OUTSIDE of SYSTM in the Wahoo App (which you should have anyway to make sure your Core firmware is up to date etc.)
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Was it a maximum effort that you noticed your max HR?
If it was not, then your maximum HR is probably higher.
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FWIW: Personally, it’s only with the inspiration of competitive situations that I approach or hit my max HR. I usually fall short at least 5bpm for anything I’ve done solo.
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That is a good point. I am giving max effort when I see 180, but not doing an effort designed to hit max HR. I saw 180 during the ramp portion of Half Monty, and that is the max I’ve seen on group rides as I’m all out, getting dropped up a climb (however I see that fatigue and other factors may limit me hitting max HR).
Looking at my training data, I never get to my maximum recently recorded HR during a HM.
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What would be the best way for me to determine my max HR or is that not necessary with access to cTHR?
I do not think it is necessary, and it could be unsafe, to find your max HR. Knowing your cTHR should be enough.
Even without a cTHR you could estimate your zones based on your ease of breathing. Some of us worked out long before HR monitors, to say nothing of power meters.
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Max HR isn’t a physiological measure of anything useful to training. Best thing is to ignore any calculations based on MaxHR, instead look for zones based on threshold which is a measure of something useful to training.
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