I did 3 hours of mid Z2/Low Z3 outside today. .64IF Average resp was 33. Temps varied from 68 to 91F and it was mostly flat, but had a strong headwind for a bit.
Probably pretty close to ISM zone 2. Able to talk, but someone would know I was exercising. Prior to this I consider myself very aerobicly deficient, having returned to cycling at age 64 after a 9 year hiatus. I expect this winter I will be tipping into low Zone 3.
See #272 above.
Did 2 hours low Z3 on the flats today. Resp 33 and IF 0.76. Keeping my HR close to supposed LT1 was the plan of the day
I can measure my LT1 super reliably with my lactate monitor. There is no way I can correlate this with a talk test or nose breathing. Simply does not work for me.
Higher, lower, or can be either?
And how was the workout?
A good session after 2 hrs I’m sure and not slow or easy
A bit of concentration required to keep the pressure on the pedals constantly without powering up or falling back to too easy. I do it over a route with nearly all free left turns so it’s like one long interval.
Same, LT1 for me is not comfortable having a chill conversation.
Or course I can have a dialogue but it ain’t chill nor am I breathing brought my nose.
LT1 is HR 170 for me, with max HR being 206.
Usually do my z2 rides with HR around 150-160, and of course a cap of 170, but rarely push it so I am close to LT1. Try to keep it easy on the z2 days.
For me, this is the hardest part of doing LSD. Having to focus on staying in the zone no matter what happens and watching the power number for hours on end can make the ride mentally challenging. It’s much easier indoors with Erg where you can just watch a movie, but that brings saddle challenges. 3 hours Z2 indoors “my butt is killing me!”, 3 hours Z2 outdoors “will this ride ever end?”
I never use erg mode. Once you learn how a certain effort feels it’s pretty easy to sustain it without looking at the display. Especially zone 2.
Threshold and above I need to concentrate more.
I suspect Phil Maffetone might disagree with you on that point.
I disagree, but this is an endless debate. We all win by doing what works best for us.
Matt Fitzgerald also claims the same. I asked him about it on his 8020endurance.com forum and he confirmed it to me. No cooldown required after zone 2 riding.
Same here @Crosshair , bashed out a couple of hours of Zone2, probably low zone 2, trying to keep my heart rate below 130, but think I can probably push to about 140. Not easy to keep heart rate down around my local route as there are inclines, not big but going up to 13% which elevates the heart rate. A couple of hours was reasonably tiring, then I did some hill repeats which completely wiped me out.
This work is not exactly easy, and I burnt over 1,000 calories. Next time I’ll try for longer!
I thought it was funny that even Nassim Taleb is getting into the controversy:
“Incidentally I failed to understand from San-Millan’s paper(s) the 2 mmol lactate threshold. I don’t see a threshold. Even for athletes (top graph below) there is a mix outside asymptote (Lactate >5 mmol becomes 0 fat oxidation).( I put the question to him on Twitter with no response.)”
Ha, ha - there is no first threshold!!!
This from the MAF website: What are the benefits of warming up and cooling down? - MAF Knowledge Base
Totally agree particularly if your FTP is on the low side (like mine)
As I am increasingly finding out, everyone is different. I think a lot may depend on age. I’m nearer 70 than 60 and find it takes a lot more to get me going (except when I go on Twitter) and a 30 minute gradual warm up seems to make a big difference to my HR/Power ratio and RPE on the subsequent ride
I might be old but I’m a complete beginner when it comes to polarized training. If I’m going to ride 5 days a week and use this zone 2 method of this thread for getting faster would i have…
3 zone 2 rides
1 vo2 ride
1 threshold ride?
Or something else?
Something else. Where is the basic endurance riding?