LTHR and zones

This topic has 3 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 9 months, 2 weeks ago by David Warden.

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April 8, 2021 at 2:35 am #11360

PaulG
Participant

I’m currently setting up my zones based on LTHR and going off of a recent 5k my max HR was 204 and I averaged 197 over the last 20 minutes. A previous 5k had the same average so I don’t think its a glitch.

I’m 34 with a resting HR around 67 and I just want to make sure that seems reasonable as it puts my HR zones quite high

April 9, 2021 at 8:02 am #11376

David Warden
Keymaster

Paul,

It’s high, but not unreasonably high. However, it’s possible that our 80/20 HR zone system may have an upper accurate limit. For example, your Zone 2 is now 160-177. 160 feels so high for Zone 2, but it may not be a problem.

I would validate this against Pace and consider using Pace instead, which I’d recommend independent of a high LTHR. What was your average pace for that same 20 minutes? Plug that into the zone calculator and get a set of Pace zones. Then, run at 165bmp (low Zone 2) and see how matches to Zone 2 Pace.

That’s more of a act of curiosity, I’d still switch to Pace as your primary measure regardless.

David

April 11, 2021 at 3:01 am #11399

PaulG
Participant

Thanks for your help David.

Average pace during the 20 mins was 4:52/k

I tend to stay around the 160-170 mark as that’s what feels right. Here are the results from a recent run

6:09 – 165
6:22 – 165
6:23 – 166
6:23 – 165
6:06 – 167
6:12 – 167

Thanks again!

April 12, 2021 at 9:04 am #11424

David Warden
Keymaster

Paul,

Your Pace and HR are aligning, so stick with those zones until your next test! Nothing wrong with a high LTHR, everyone is different. I just finished corresponding with an athlete who has an exceptionally low LTHR of 139 on the bike. Just the way we are individually built.

David
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