I don't know if I'm doing it right but for now I'm still just hiking hills and not running much except once a week on a shorter workout so for now I'm hiking 20 miles in 6hrs 20'ish min with a 5-10 min rest (pause) in the middle. My HR is now averaging 122 bpm (max 145 min 105) with 50% in Z2, 40% in Z3 and 5% in Z4 and 3% in Z1 (when I stop to drink water or pee). I keep improving so it's doing some good. My last hike was my fastest and at the same time my lowest HR average for this distance. I'm hoping to test a 30 mile hike by January. These are also all fasted hikes on a Keto Diet but I do have morning coffee with heavy cream but not oil. I put in my max HR on Polar Flow at 180. I'm 68 but I have hit 180 a dozen times on a steeper course but never on this easier course I'm now using. I have to go up a 1/3 mile 25% slope to get my HR to 180 by the time I get to the top of it. Polar calls this hike "Steady State Training but my HR swings from 110 to 140 about 20 times due to all the hills. Strava says it's 2,778 ft elevation gain/loss and 4800 kcal. If I leave the HR monitor recording for my 15 minute break it has it over 5K kcal. That seems too high for 6'2" 205 pounds.

@drwilloconnor

Жыл бұрын

Hi John, your metabolic rate is energy per Kg per min (Kcal/Kg/Min). Polar uses your heart rate as a key metric in determining your metabolic rate. Here's a quote from their site; "The energy expenditure calculation is based on your measured heart rate and activity through wrist movement, and your personal information: weight, height, age, gender, your individual resting heart rate, maximum heart rate, and your individual maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max)." Your heart rate has nothing to do with your energy consumption. You could have a low HR while doing max squats and Polar would predict your calorie burn to be low. However, you would be using a MASSIVE muscle mass to do a max squat, which would require a huge amount of calories. The same goes for hiking up a 25% incline. Your HR may be Z2 for the majority of the climb, and your activity movement (measured through your wrist) would also be low (or slow). BUT, your muscle recruitment would be high, and your metabolic rate would be high too. If anything, Polar is under representing your Kcal. Hope that helps!

@hikerJohn

Жыл бұрын

@@drwilloconnor Thanks, That helps

Great info!

Well said. So many runners will go out and hit topend zone3 3-4days a wk when the athlete would do far better doing 3-4 runs in zone1-2, 1 run in higher aerobic zone3 (marathon pace specific), 1 run in z4 threshold work say 25min, and 1 every 10days perhaps a z4 rotating 8x 800s & 7 x 1km but at c.v with 60sec rest. I set my 5 zones based off garmin 50-60% hrr, 60-70%hrr, 70-80%hrr, 80-90%hrr, 90-100% hrr zone5.

Great information! I recently found and subscribed to your channel. I have a question about defining my zones. I am 60 years old and just ran a PB half marathon of 1:48:57 at a average HR of 169 (with max of 180 at the end). Can I use this to calculate my training zones?

@drwilloconnor

7 ай бұрын

Start by using the average of the last 20 minutes of your race, and input that number into the calculator on my website. My guess is it's around 170 - 175 bpm.

@eric1995z

7 ай бұрын

@@drwilloconnor Thanks, you are bang-on! My last 20 minutes (about 4 km) was at an average of 172 bpm. According to your calculator, my zone 2 would be between 129 and 151 bpm. While the lower end is in line with my Garmin watch the upper end is 8 beats higher. I usually do my easy runs at 135 bpm (again according Garmin) and never let it pass 143 thinking it would be into the grey zone. Does it mean I can let my HR go a bit higher without worrying I would be in the grey zone?

@drwilloconnor

7 ай бұрын

Garmin uses 80 - 90% LTHR or 70 - 80% HRmax for their Zone 3, which they call "aerobic". Most zone systems (like mine) use a similar % but use Zone 2 for their aerobic zone. Garmin using Zone 3 as their aerobic zone gets a lot of people confused with the "grey zone".

@drwilloconnor I have a half marathon in 3 weeks, and trainings been going really well and ive been consistent. Last long run was 18 miles. Question: most of my training has been in that "grey zone" including my long runs. Is it worth it at this point to switch up my training and do easy runs easier and harder runs harder? Or is there not enough time to see adaptations before my race?

@drwilloconnor

3 ай бұрын

Hey, yes, there's enough time. Your main goal now is to eliminate excess fatigue and freshen up before the race. You'll recover faster before your race by reducing the intensity of your general (non-interval) runs. Use your hard days to "sharpen the tools" and push with some 400m - 1km intervals. I've just finished a video detailing the last four weeks of training before a marathon. It should be out by the end of this week. Although it's for a marathon, it'll give you an idea about how to structure your next few weeks. Keep an eye out.

Do you have any rule of thumb when to measure blood lactate levels during a specific workout (e.g. threshold intervals)?

@drwilloconnor

7 ай бұрын

Lactate levels are quite individual. If I had to have a rule of thumb, it would be to avoid large increases (2 mmol+) across an interval set. You want your lactate levels to stay pretty steady around your threshold numbers. I can't say something like it "needs" to 4 mmol because it could be 3.5 for you and 5 mmol for me.