# Hear Rate Zones?



## bylerj1 (Aug 14, 2012)

I hear a lot of talk about heart rate zones (zone 1, 2, 3, etc etc)

But... What are these zones? And what do they mean? Could someone please help me out? 

Thanks, bylerj1


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## TrojanHorse (Jan 13, 2012)

bah. hang on for the next post


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## TrojanHorse (Jan 13, 2012)

OK, try this link out: Heart Rate Training Zones


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## ESTrainSmartBlog (Feb 25, 2013)

If after reading that article you become interested in HR training, I have a few posts covering heart rate training that will help you get started. It lists recommended HR zones from varying sources. If you have access to a fitness lab, it helps to get a VO2max or LT test done to fine tune your zones. If you don't have access to one, you can try the LT test in my post to estimate your LT zone.Eat Sleep Train Smart - The Fitness & Cycling Research Blog: Personalize Your Target Heart Rate Zones


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## Alex_Simmons/RST (Jan 12, 2008)

The primary purpose of training "zones" or levels is a pragmatic one - it's just a convenient way to express the concept that training at different intensities for various durations helps to induce a variety of desirable physiological adaptations.

In training for performance improvement, intensity is the most important element to get a handle on. Hence why we have various means to indicate/measure/monitor intensity.

Zones/levels are an artificial construct, but they make the communication of what training someone should do much easier. e.g. "today I suggest a 2 hour ride, mostly Level 2 intensity overall but ride the hills at Levels 3-4", or "today do some intervals of 5-minutes at Level 5 with 5-minutes recovery level in between".

The use of HR as a guide to intensity is useful but also has limitations, in particular it is affected by things other than how hard we are pedalling, can have significant day to day natural variability, has a sizeable time lag to actual effort, and it loses its utility as efforts become more variable and as effort level reaches and goes beyond "threshold" power levels. By threshold I means the effort level you could maximally sustain in a quasi steady state for about an hour.

Other means to measure/monitor/prescribe intensity of effort include perceived exertion, power output, blood lactate levels, rate of oxygen utilisation amongst others.

Since things like BL and O2 measurement is not practical while out riding a bike, we tend to use PE, HR and power as these are measurements readily available to cyclists.

Lab tests to establish HR training levels is overkill and the money would be better spent on or saved for other things. You can readily establish HR training levels from your own field tests.


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