TrainerDay’s HR+ mode is actually what I’ve been using! It’s a very good system, but does require you to have your HR zones dialled in I feel.
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Good question. While I can’t really say for identical rides, my Z2 has naturally increased since my FTP has increased from 222 last March to around 272 now. With this growth, I’d have to think that my performance at all levels is also increasing and I’m frequently hitting PR’s for power numbers ranging from 5 seconds up to 1 hr.
Regardless, riding at the higher part of my Z2 power absolutely has me in Z3 heart rate pretty quickly.
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Many would be better off if they were able to listen to their body and dial this in!
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There’s no reason to use decoupling as part of determining z2 range. It can be influenced by too many things, notably heat and hydration which can be heavily swayed indoors.
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100% correct. More people need to actually listen to what their body is telling them during workouts.
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Someone said Z2 is a zone that should change the most between different workouts.
And best way for me to find the correct level for it is rpe.
When you’re fatigued and hr is low you shouldn’t raise power to get to the right hr range.
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Yes, that should be your goal. You still can pace by heart rate, but then you have to be sure that Z2 power = this particular range of heart rate. Even though 129 bpm sounds quite low for the upper limit to Z2, if that puts you above Z2 power, lower that target.
The reason is that heart rate measures the average load on your cardiovascular system whereas power measures the load on your muscular and energy systems. By staying within Z2 power, you make sure that both systems stay within the endurance zone. Right now it seems your cardiovascular system is fitter than your leg muscles, so you should focus on those.
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And if the repeat instances are done under the same basic conditions (like trainer rides the same day/time each week with similar prep and fueling) it can be reasonable as an additional tool for evaluation. I’ve done this for ages via my long Sunday trainer rides and the results usual correlate with RPE and my general fitness trend.
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