How to Determine Your Heart Rate Training Zones

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One option you have for gauging your intensity during training is a heart rate monitor. Heart rate training is particularly useful for running and cycling. The more the terrain varies the less accurate pace is as an indication of exercise intensity. For example, if you are running uphill, your intensity level will be much higher for a given pace than for that same pace run on a flat surface. Your heart rate monitor will better reflect the difference in exercise intensity between those two efforts than your watch. So heart rate can be a much more precise method for monitoring your effort during a workout.

As with the other measurement tools, to effectively use heart rate you need to correlate it with your lactate threshold. As with the pace zones, your heart rate zones are specific to the activity. So you will have different heart rate zones for each discipline in which you train.

Your lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR) for cycling is typically 5 to 10 beats lower than your LTHR for running, so you can easily estimate one from the other if you do not have sport specific tests for both running and cycling. But the most accurate way to determine your sport specific training zones is to use sport specific results.

To determine your heart rate zones, you will need to do a race or solo time trial. Any race lasting up to an hour can be used. Or you can do a time trial of 20 to 30 minutes in duration. A fairly flat course should be used so that a consistent effort can be maintained over the distance. Whether in a race or solo time trial effort, you will need to record your average heart rate. It’s also good to note your perceived exertion level, as well as other conditions (such as weather, pre-race meals, recent sleep patterns, etc.) in your training log.

For a race, simply note your average heart rate over the distance. For a 30 minute solo time trial, take your average heart rate for the last 20 minutes. For those new to endurance training, these numbers are generally a good estimation of your LTHR. For more experienced athletes, your effort over these shorter distances will be slightly higher than your LTHR (which, remember, corresponds to a race pace effort of about an hour in duration). In that case, divide the average heart rate from a race by 1.04 and the average heart rate from a short solo time trial by 1.02. The number you come up with is your LTHR. Use the automatic calculators found on the Alp Fitness website (for running or for cycling) or in the TrainingPeaks online training log to calculate your heart rate training zones–or calculate using the percentages below.

Run Zones — as percentage of lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR)

Zone 1 = Less than 85% of LTHR
Zone 2 = 85% – 89% of LTHR
Zone 3 = 90% – 94% of LTHR
Zone 4 = 95% – 99% of LTHR
Zone 5a = 100% – 102% of LTHR
Zone 5b = 103% – 106% of LTHR
Zone 5c = More than 106% of LTHR

Bike Zones — as percentage of lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR)

 Zone 1 = Less than 81% of LTHR
Zone 2 = 81% – 89% of LTHR
Zone 3 = 90% – 93% of LTHR
Zone 4 = 94% – 99% of LTHR
Zone 5a = 100% – 102% of LTHR
Zone 5b = 103% – 106% of LTHR
Zone 5c = More than 106% of LTHR