Once you have your threshold heart rate; then use the percentages below to determine the heart rate ranges for each of the Alp Fitness training zones. The percentages come from Joe Friel’s system, adapted to the Alp Fitness training zone categories — note that the percentages for cycling are slightly different than the default percentages used for other sports, as indicated in parentheses.
Easy Zone. Friel’s zone 1, or a heart rate less than 85% of your LTHR (or less than 81% of your LTHR for cycling).
Conversational Zone. Friel’s zone 2, or a heart rate between 85-89% of your LTHR (or 81-89% of your LTHR for cycling).
Comfortably Hard (Tempo) Zone. Friel’s zone 3, or a heart rate between 90-94% of your LTHR (or 90-93% of your LTHR for cycling).
Comfortably Hard (Threshold) Zone. Friel’s zones 4-5a, or a heart rate between 95-102% of your LTHR (or 94-102% of your LTHR for cycling).
Uncomfortably Hard (VO2max) Zone. Friel’s zone 5b, or a heart rate between 103-106% of your LTHR (same for cycling).
Uncomfortably Hard (Anaerobic Capacity) Zone. Friel’s zone 5c, or a heart rate above 106% of LTHR (same for cycling).
Instead of calculating everything by hand, you can use the TrainingPeaks Heart Rate Zones Calculator to set pace zones for running, cycling, cross country skiing, swimming, etc. You will need to use this calculator anyway to set your zones in your TrainingPeaks account.
- Go to your “Athlete Account Settings” > “Zones” > “Heart Rate.”
- Click “Add Activity” and choose “Run,” “Bike,” “XC-Ski,” “Swim,” etc.
- In the box next to “Threshold Heart Rate,” input your threshold heart rate for the sport (you can ignore the values for Max Heart Rate and Resting Heart Rate, unless you know them).
- For “Choose Type,” select “Lactate Threshold.”
- For “Choose Method,” select “Joe Friel for Running” (for running and cross country skiing), “Joe Friel for Cycling” (for cycling), or “Alp Fitness Pace Zones” (only available if your TrainingPeaks account is connected to Alp Fitness coaching).
- Press the “Calculate” button to set your zones.
- “Save” before closing.
Now you can use these heart rate zones to target the different intensity levels indicated in your workouts and TrainingPeaks will use these zones when showing your workout results. Setting your heart rate zones in TrainingPeaks — and using your heart rate monitor when training — is also important so TrainingPeaks can calculate your Training Stress Score (TSS) for workouts you’ve completed.
