salad_goat

Hello,

When doing my 2x20 I am noticing that my heart rate stays at 153-158bpm. My max is a 206. Am I doing it right? My garmin says I am at FTP when I am getting these HRM #'s back.



Thanks,

Goat

gregf83 

FTP is a power measurement loosely correlated with HR. My maxHR is around 183 and threshold intervals would typically have my HR in the 160 to 165 range. HR is dependent on temperature, hydration levels, stress and other factors so it’s not the best measure of effort.

What do the 2x20 intervals feel like? Can you increase the intensity in the 2nd half of the 2nd interval. Are you doing these indoors or outside?

One way to measure your threshold HR is to do an all out 30 min interval and take the average during the final 30 min of the interval. This only works if you have some way of ensuring that your effort level is consistent during the interval and not increasing or decreasing.

Without a powermeter you’re probably best off doing the 2x20s based on RPE. If you want to do them at FTP they should feel hard, particularly if you’re doing them every day.

jsk

Threshold HR (as a percentage of Max HR) will vary somewhat with fitness levels, and HR can vary somewhat day to day depending on a variety of factors as greg mentioned. But generally speaking, Threshold HR would be higher than 75% of Max HR in someone who trains regularly.

It sounds like you're training with power, it may be that your FTP is set too low. If not you should have a fair amount of room for improvement.

gl98115

You should be at 13 to 14 on the Borg's Rating of Perceived Exertion during the intervals.

rubiksoval

Sounds like it's way too easy. Bump it up 20 watts and see how you get on.

Heathpack 

My threshold HR is around 90% of my max HR.

In a 20K TT (30ish min) effort with cool temps, say 65F or colder, my HR would range from around 85-95% max HR. More like 90-95% if it's warm to hot out. Mind you that's a 30 min race, so typically a 103-106% effort.

For shorter TT intervals, like the 25 min 100% effort I did this am, I'll sit around 80-85% max HR when it's cool (which it almost always is when I do these efforts, I do my TT efforts before dawn).

On a trainer, I'd expect HR to be a little higher.

I am pretty well-trained to these types of efforts and my HR now is significantly lower during the intervals than it was when I first started doing them 2 years ago.

Bottom line: it sounds like you're actually doing sub threshold efforts and you need to adjust your FTP upwards.

salad_goat

Thank you all for the feedback. My max HR is 206 and my FTP is 346. I am doing these outdoors. Much to think about.

redlude97

What is your lthr though?

rubiksoval

Not all that much to think about. Bump it up. Testing is training and all that jazz.

Not too many reasons to limit yourself to a subthreshold effort when you're on the clock for doing threshold-esque stuff. Push it a little.

salad_goat

I have bumped it up by 20 and it made all the difference!

rubiksoval

Nice!