So wrapped up the indoor season with a [shudder] FF today. Man I hate that test. ANYWAY - that said - happy with the numbers, +++ across the board from my pre-COVID December results. Still an Attacker. yay me.
One weird bit though: did a HM last Saturday, and while my MAP and FTP number were actually pretty comparable for a change, my cTHR results were a good 10pts different, with HM higher. My thought would be while FF is harder, there are also more breaks? I don’t know…looking for advice and input on which test values I should use to set my HR training zones.
This is especially important to me as I start my outdoor season, as lacking a power meter on my road bikes, I’ve always trained to HR.
I ride outside based on HR too, but I have no formal education in exercise physiology. All I can offer is my observation of my training experience over the past 20 years. So take this with a grain of salt. In the past 5 years, my hr threshold has been over all over the place on the indoor test results - anywhere from 160 to 170. However, based on years of observation on indoor and outdoor rides, my zone 4 is reliably 90-95% of MAP. So 95% of MAP avg. hr seems to be my threshold. That number has only moved 2 bpm over the years. That may be nonsense scientifically that only works for me, but that number has been consistent. I hope this is helpful and does not contradict other info from professionals.
I’m fairly certain that the coaches will say that hr threshold can vary from day to day, which is why they like power better as a basis for training