Man it’s so hard to stay in Zone 2 outside on undulating roads, doing what you can to stay safe with traffic, how fun it is just to ride in general, etc. I almost can’t ever do it. I can see the benefit of an indoor trainer for structured training so that you can be very precise with your outputs.
Excellent video - Z2 rides are fantastic and take discipline to do (at least for me). It took me a while to not creep into Z3-4…..basically shifting a lot more to control the power on the ups and downs. I agree that HR can be tricky to use with all the variables around hydration, temp and the lag time. It still works but switching to power was a game changer for me. I use the 4iiii single crank fwiw
Thanks for showing both models! I tend to look at power output mostly when riding on pavement and well graded gravel around home. But when in the mountains, in more technical terrain, the heart rate model seems to correlate better to what I feel after the ride about my effort. More demand on core, upper body and arms, I guess, things that are not captured by pedal sensors.
Thanks Clint ! Nice and easy to follow. I’ve recently thought about using some zone training to help me get back to a more consistent routine after being off the bike for a few months. This is motivating me. Merry Christmas brother!
Interesting take on zone training. I hold a masters of health and fitness k-12 grades. I use a five zone model. For simplicity I just take 220 minus my age and then calculate the percentage of my heart rate need to be in each zone. Zone 1-3 are longer and zone 4-5 can only be held for short time periods. I cycle different zones on each ride. Other rides I just do steady state cardio to avoid overtraining or over reaching syndromes.
Great video Clint... I've always used HR zones for simplicity since it's the default for many fitness apps but things like coffee definitely skew my numbers! I can see how power targets are much more accurate.
Thanks for putting this together, coming from mtb getting into gravel and road, never had a power meter but looking at making the investment, can you recommend any videos or links comparing the various power meters pedals vs cranks, sweet spot price point, etc?
I've given up on heart rate monitoring zone training. I have an indoor trainer and I can't seem to get out of zone 1. Outdoors, my heart rate is all over the place... mainly zone 3 and up to 90% (this is in the mountains). So, I've change my workouts to easy and not easy. I do easy 3-4 times a week. Period.
As long as you do FTP test from time to time I think you’ll stay in about the right zone. That is, however your heart rate changes, you should still get a pretty accurate BPM for your FTP. Put simply, just go out and ride hard for 20 minutes and multiply your average heart rate times .95 and that’s your FTP of where you’re at right now.
So I'm finding that when i train in zone 2 power, i consistently stay in zone 3 heart rate. I rarely can get them to sync. Would I have to back off into zone 1 power in order to lower my heart rate? Would you lose the benefit of the zone 2 workout then? I have done lots of research on this, but I cannot find the answer to it.
I too share this PowerHR zone 2 range difference and have been wondering the same question. Hoping to hear feedback from Clint and others. Clint - thanks for the informative intro to zones and the benefit of more time in zone 2.
How long have you been training in zone two? If you’re relatively new I’m thinking that this will improve as your fitness improves. Did you find your FTP power and heart rate at the same time? I’ve noticed that on a really hot rides my heart rate will increase throughout the ride.
@@ClintGibbs I've been racing and training for about 7 years. I race both mtb and cyclocross. I recently started trying the zone 2 workouts this autumn. I've done more research on the topic, but i can't seem to find which is the more beneficial metric to follow since they don't seem to match up for me. Edit: And yes, I did base my max heart rate from my ftp test. I went back through my races on Strava for the past 3 years, and found previous max efforts are about the same.
@@MrBig617 interesting. I would say go by power for zone two. It sounds like your heart rate just elevates quickly. But you may want to see if you can do a lab threshold test where they check your lactate in your blood.
I’ve actually heard some exercise physiologists recommend this as an option. The key is, though, to do your zone 2 first. The longer above zone 2 and harder you ride above zone 2, the longer it takes for your body to get back into reaping the benefits of zone 2 on that ride. I didn’t really mention that in the video, but then again I wasn’t getting into the specifics of training. But it is interesting to hear different experts recommend different things. Good fodder for a case study!
You can. Seiler mentioned this already. The reason why u want zone 2 first is because you want the lactate under 2 mmol. If you started vo2 max then it would take awhile for your blood lactate to get it back to lower and it defeats the purpose of zone 2 adaptation. So in simple, do your zone 2 under 2mmol for an hour or so then sprinkle it with vo2 30:30 or 15:15.
Man it’s so hard to stay in Zone 2 outside on undulating roads, doing what you can to stay safe with traffic, how fun it is just to ride in general, etc.
I almost can’t ever do it.
I can see the benefit of an indoor trainer for structured training so that you can be very precise with your outputs.
Excellent video - Z2 rides are fantastic and take discipline to do (at least for me). It took me a while to not creep into Z3-4…..basically shifting a lot more to control the power on the ups and downs. I agree that HR can be tricky to use with all the variables around hydration, temp and the lag time. It still works but switching to power was a game changer for me. I use the 4iiii single crank fwiw
Thanks for explaining this so well. The spreadsheet helped me understand all this info too.
Thanks for showing both models! I tend to look at power output mostly when riding on pavement and well graded gravel around home. But when in the mountains, in more technical terrain, the heart rate model seems to correlate better to what I feel after the ride about my effort. More demand on core, upper body and arms, I guess, things that are not captured by pedal sensors.
Thanks Clint ! Nice and easy to follow. I’ve recently thought about using some zone training to help me get back to a more consistent routine after being off the bike for a few months. This is motivating me. Merry Christmas brother!
Interesting take on zone training. I hold a masters of health and fitness k-12 grades. I use a five zone model. For simplicity I just take 220 minus my age and then calculate the percentage of my heart rate need to be in each zone. Zone 1-3 are longer and zone 4-5 can only be held for short time periods. I cycle different zones on each ride. Other rides I just do steady state cardio to avoid overtraining or over reaching syndromes.
Great video Clint... I've always used HR zones for simplicity since it's the default for many fitness apps but things like coffee definitely skew my numbers! I can see how power targets are much more accurate.
Thanks for putting this together, coming from mtb getting into gravel and road, never had a power meter but looking at making the investment, can you recommend any videos or links comparing the various power meters pedals vs cranks, sweet spot price point, etc?
I’d suggest either a Stages power meter (really just need the one-sided model) or Garmin Rally pedals.
th-cam.com/video/uymkmdNR2i4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=4AlAXxAiJ1e1JrOO
th-cam.com/video/d6BFG4uvTQc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1cJXN9mqBRcMkN0H
Basically if you plan to leave the PM on one bike, Stages is the way to go. If you want to move it to other bikes, go with pedals.
@@ClintGibbs thanks Clint!
I've given up on heart rate monitoring zone training. I have an indoor trainer and I can't seem to get out of zone 1. Outdoors, my heart rate is all over the place... mainly zone 3 and up to 90% (this is in the mountains). So, I've change my workouts to easy and not easy. I do easy 3-4 times a week. Period.
can you share the spreadsheet?
Shoot me an email CGibbs.yt@gmail.com
How the zones change when you get older? Your max HR goes down dramatically in your 50s, 60s, 70s. Would your max HR % change?
As long as you do FTP test from time to time I think you’ll stay in about the right zone. That is, however your heart rate changes, you should still get a pretty accurate BPM for your FTP. Put simply, just go out and ride hard for 20 minutes and multiply your average heart rate times .95 and that’s your FTP of where you’re at right now.
So I'm finding that when i train in zone 2 power, i consistently stay in zone 3 heart rate. I rarely can get them to sync. Would I have to back off into zone 1 power in order to lower my heart rate? Would you lose the benefit of the zone 2 workout then? I have done lots of research on this, but I cannot find the answer to it.
I too share this PowerHR zone 2 range difference and have been wondering the same question. Hoping to hear feedback from Clint and others.
Clint - thanks for the informative intro to zones and the benefit of more time in zone 2.
How long have you been training in zone two? If you’re relatively new I’m thinking that this will improve as your fitness improves. Did you find your FTP power and heart rate at the same time?
I’ve noticed that on a really hot rides my heart rate will increase throughout the ride.
@@ClintGibbs I've been racing and training for about 7 years. I race both mtb and cyclocross. I recently started trying the zone 2 workouts this autumn. I've done more research on the topic, but i can't seem to find which is the more beneficial metric to follow since they don't seem to match up for me.
Edit: And yes, I did base my max heart rate from my ftp test. I went back through my races on Strava for the past 3 years, and found previous max efforts are about the same.
@@MrBig617 interesting. I would say go by power for zone two. It sounds like your heart rate just elevates quickly. But you may want to see if you can do a lab threshold test where they check your lactate in your blood.
@@ClintGibbs Ok. That seems like a good idea. Thanks for the response Clint!
I don’t think Dr Seiler would recommend z2 and VO2 in the same day. The mantra is hard days hard and easy days easy
I’ve actually heard some exercise physiologists recommend this as an option. The key is, though, to do your zone 2 first. The longer above zone 2 and harder you ride above zone 2, the longer it takes for your body to get back into reaping the benefits of zone 2 on that ride. I didn’t really mention that in the video, but then again I wasn’t getting into the specifics of training. But it is interesting to hear different experts recommend different things. Good fodder for a case study!
You can. Seiler mentioned this already. The reason why u want zone 2 first is because you want the lactate under 2 mmol. If you started vo2 max then it would take awhile for your blood lactate to get it back to lower and it defeats the purpose of zone 2 adaptation. So in simple, do your zone 2 under 2mmol for an hour or so then sprinkle it with vo2 30:30 or 15:15.