FITNESS: Understand your training zones
As a coach, one of the most common questions I get asked is: ‘How do I set up my training zones?’
Words: Jenni King Photos: Robert Conroy
The answer depends on whether you use a heart rate monitor, power meter or neither, and also on which method of training zone calculation you want to use. There are in fact, many ways to calculate your training zones from a wide variety of methods – and it can be quite confusing when you read the related literature. In this article I will attempt to summarise some of the most widely-used methods of training zone calculation. Hopefully this will help clarify which method best suits your training needs.
2 – Perceived Effort
3 – Heart Rate Zones
4 – Power Zones
PERCEIVED EFFORT
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a well-recognised method of gauging effort. The original RPE scale was created by Gunnar Borg and it rated exertion on a scale of 6-20, with 6 representing ‘no effort at all’ and 20 representing ‘maximum effort’. Since the publication of this original Borg RPE scale, there have been many different versions used. Most commonly, athletes tend to use a RPE scale of 1 to 10, as this is easier to relate to. Regardless of the exact scale used, most studies have shown that an athlete’s perceived level of exertion is remarkably quite an accurate way of measuring training intensity.
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Advantages to using RPE |
Disadvantages to using RPE |
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– Learning how you ‘feel’ at different training intensities is important for pacing in races where immediate data is not always available or could be distracting. – Technology cannot always be relied upon and can sometimes be faulty. It is important to be in tune with your body and the physiological effects of exercise at different intensities, rather than be dependent on a computer. – Gauging your training intensity through RPE is very in-expensive, in fact it won’t cost you anything! |
– There is no doubt that RPE is a very subjective measure and some athletes are not so in-tune with their body. Over-estimating or under-estimating your level of effort on a regular basis can lead to reduced fitness gains or overtraining. – To use training software programs such as TrainingPeaks and Today’s Plan most effectively, use of heart rate and/or power is required. Without accurate measurement of daily stress scores, levels of fatigue over time cannot be accurately monitored. |
HEART RATE ZONES
Athletes have been using heart rate as a measure of intensity for a number of years now. According to Wikipedia, the first wireless heart rate monitor was invented in 1977 and retail sales started in 1983. Your heart rate zones can be calculated as a percentage of maximum heart rate or as a percentage of threshold heart rate.
Some of the methods that use maximum heart rate to calculate zones include:
Age-Adjusted Method
Karvonen Formula
Leger Formula
Some of the methods that use threshold heart rate to calculate zones include:
Andy Coggan Method
CTS Method
Joe Freil Method
I recommend using threshold to calculate your zones. Maximum heart rate is much harder to test and is generally more variable on a day to day basis.
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Advantages to using heart rate |
Disadvantages to using heart rate |
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– Heart rate monitors are relatively inexpensive. Heart rate is a great gauge of how hard you are working on any given day. – Monitoring heart rate will give a clear indication on the condition of your cardiovascular system. – Heart rate gives a great indication on how well you recover in between intervals and sessions. |
– Heart rate is not as useful for short, intense intervals due to ‘cardiac lag’. Basically this means when you lift intensity, it takes a while for the heart rate to climb to that level. – Daily heart rate values can change quite a lot and are dependent on weather conditions, your level of fatigue, age, altitude, diet, hydration etc. – Heart rate is not a direct measure of your performance. |
POWER ZONES
Power meters are a relatively new technology used in cycling. Surprisingly, they have been commercially available since 1989 (only six years later than heart rate monitors), however the popularity of using power meters has only really risen in recent years.
As with heart rate zones, I recommend you calculate your power zones using your threshold power. Doctor Andy Coggan is an internationally recognised exercise physiologist. In his book ‘Training and racing with power’, he states: “Power at lactate threshold is the most important physiological determinant of endurance cycling performance because it integrates VO2max, the percentage of VO2max that can be sustained for a given duration, and cycling efficiency. As such, it is more logical to define training zones/levels relative to an athlete’s threshold power than it is to, for example, define them vis-a-vis power at VO2max.”
Some of the more common methods of power zone calculation include:
Andy Coggan Method
CTS Method
Joe Freil Method
I-Levels
Those of you using TrainingPeaks software may have noticed that you now have the option of using iLevels as your method for setting up training zones. This method was developed by Dr Andrew Coggan and it uses functional threshold power (FTP) as well as taking into account the unique physiology of each athlete by using the power-duration curve. For example, two riders may have the same FTP but have very different power duration curves – one having more of a ‘sprinter’ phenotype and the other having more of a time-triallist phenotype. Using the previous (Classic) Coggan method, both of these athletes would have exactly the same training zones. However, using the new iLevels, the training zones would be quite different in terms of both power and time spent at such power. The other big advantage to using the iLevels, is that it takes into account your current level of fitness. Any changes to your power-duration curve or FTP will automatically result in changes to your iLevels.
The chart below shows a comparison in the Classic Coggan Levels and more complex iLevels:
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Advantages to using Power |
Disadvantages to using Power |
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– Training with a power meter is considered the ‘gold standard’ as it will give you a direct measure of performance. – Training can be much more scientific with use of a power meter; power-profiling will give insight to your strengths and weaknesses, performance improvement can be measured accurately, stress scores for each session can also be accurately measured allowing for optimal progressive over-load and peaking at the right time |
– Although coming down in price, power meters are still quite costly. – Technology can sometimes be temperamental and may need fixing from time to time. Some brands have better reputation than others, so chose your power meter carefully! |
