I describe 3x20 SS as “I sometimes want to stop, but at no point do I need to stop”. More mental than physical. When I feel like I’m suffering, I just tell myself I should be able to do an hour at threshold straight and this is under threshold for only 20 minutes. Basically, just tell the legs to shut up and suck it up.
As far as HR, I see a decent swing depending on fatigue going into the workout. I can do 3x20’s and hit ~ 152 max on a Tuesday when I’ve had a rest day prior. Same workout on a Thursday (after a couple hard days) and I might be hitting ~160. My max is ~180.
+1 to lower heart rate when fatigued. I’ve noticed it on many longer endurance rides after a food break. Still feel strong enough but depressed heart rate.
I might see a little depression at the start when fatigued, but I see more drift as the workout goes on. When I’m fresh, I almost feel stronger on the 3rd interval compared to the first and see very little HR difference from one interval to the next. When I’m fatigued, each interval gets progressively harder and my HR drifts higher. I suspect it might correspond to my cadence increasing a bit as I struggle to push a big gear when fatigued.
Just starting out here on TR with SSBLV1, although have mountain biked for years with 125+ rides per year and 2+ hour rides both weekend days plus one during the week/and some short bike commuting. I did Eclipse today, and after reading about the percentage of max heart rates that folks are working at here I might need to up my FTP. I’m only at 70% of max HR during the last interval, RPE isn’t too bad, and so far am waiting for workouts to get hard. Looking forward to seeing how Warlow/Palisade roll over the next two weeks.
Interesting data here, and of course it’s all relative to the rider. For me, it’s interesting how “easily” some others claim to complete long SS intervals like this. For me - everything about them is horrible, the duration, the lack of variation, and just how damn hard those long intervals can be.
That said - it’s something I really want to work on this off season! These types of training rides are something I feel like not only my riding can benefit from, but also the length of my season.
In ep.30 of the FLO podcast there was a suggestion to do sweetspot work with a heart rate governor. It was suggested to help manage strain caused by sweet spot work, thus preventing excessive overload.
What is the consensus on this?
I know coach Chad has said that HR is not the most reliable metric due to the many ways it can be influenced, but I wonder, when used as a secondary to power, if it has any use in this context.
Maybe, but I do have 3 seasons on TR and while I wouldn’t just straight up say that’s not it (because I’m always very open to opinions and advice)… I do have a lot of data to work with, and workouts like Antelope for example, is one of my favorites. 20 mins sustained tho… painful for me.
I think it’s just an endurance issue and I am going to try and tweak my sweet spot plan from last year to grow the interval lengths, see what happens.
Also I have constant nutrition/fueling issues that I keep falling back into old habits with.
This is just me and I understand everyone is different. I have changed the way I do my intervals lately. If I do a sweetspot workout I make sure to keep my HR within the sweetspot range. I try to get the power and HR to match the range I’m training in. This sometimes requires I back the power down on an interval. However, that’s just me. Everyone has to train like they want. I’m a little more strict on myself.
I am sorry for posting in the old thread but I did not want to make a new one when this fits the bill.
I have failed my first workout in TR and it was Galena+1. I have stopped the workout because in the middle of the last interval my HR was 183 ( my max is 190 HR ) and I decided there is no point to continue on this level and I have lowered the workout to the 75% for 2 minutes and then upped to 95% and finished with no problem - so basically my aerobic engine failed - the legs were ok, no burning and unpleasant lactate.
So there are some variables to the workout:
My FTP on ramp test was 249W. I observed a little bit elevated HR during sustained power workouts (like Kaweah) so I have lowered my FTP to 244 for 2 workouts (Geiger +1 and Baird+2). I had no problem with Geiger+1 and HR was in line with power targets. The other one is VO2 max and I have no problems with them at all.
Earlier I have finished Eclipse with FTP 249W - 3x20 90% FTP interval vs 95% in Galena +1 - during the Eclipse my HR was ok (171 HR max at the end of last interval).
I currently have no fan, and any other sort of cooling and during long sustainable efforts it becomes hot (I have finished SSB1 and SSB2 in the same condition with no problem).
Aerobic Decoupling from the beginning of the first interval to the failure was 4,5% so pretty normal form me.
And the question is - the failure can be the case of too high FTP (probably bloated a little bit by my good top end - I have never had a problem with any VO2 max workouts), inadequate cooling (I just bought the Stanley fan (the similar to lasko which is not available in my country) or simply endurance problem and lack of any base? My suspicion is that with 8-10 minutes brakes between intervals I would be fresh enough to finish the workout but Galena+1 is not about that
I am new to cycling and training - my first year of both and my FTP have bumped significantly from the start of TR - from 201W to 249W in 12 weeks I currently sit at 3,85 W/kg - so for sure there was no time to build any sort of aerobic base.
I am sorry for question that is probably answered on the forum but I am trying to undertand what is going on - especially I have never had any problem with any workout.
About 80÷ sure I would finish it, leggs were very ok breathing wasn’t rapid like during end of ramp test. I am focused on HR because I have never reached over 180 bpm during the sustainable power so it is something new to me.
How do you know your max heart rate is 190? Is that the highest that you’ve ever recorded? Was that at your absolute, falling off the bike, hyperventilating heart rate? Or could you have gone harder?
Like Nate and others have said, don’t worry about the heart rate part. Work the prescribe percentage of watts and you’ll be fine.
For people new to these longer efforts they’re really hard from a mental perspective. That takes time to get used to. Overtime you’ll see how your body responds and while they won’t get technically easier, you what what to expect.
190 was the highest recorded and it was the moment when I have almost no breath at all - I could sustain it for about couple of seconds. Like I said - it was the first time for me having this kind of situation during the workout and my first 3x20 min 95%. The shorter intervals (15 min) and 20min at lower intensity were not a problem and my hr was usually in line with prescribed power. Now I know that next time I should continue the workout and do not care about this thing as long as I can finish the workout.
Mentally - I have no problem with suffering, it is almost pleasurable part of training because I know I am pushing my limits a little bit and with suffering feel of accomplishment is a lot better
(I have finished SSB1 and SSB2 in the same condition with no problem).