A few HR queries - Decoupling and the Like

Training
1

Hi guys, I was trawling through some data recently and found a few interesting nuggets which I’m wondering if there was a physiological explanation for.

Firstly, I was doing a sweet spot session, started out with a few 10 minute blocks before a 30 minute block. My HR for the first 2 blocks was pushing 175-176 and the blocks were 88 and 90% FTP - but then on the 30 minute block where I was doing 5 mins on/off at 93/88 (so overall a higher intensity) my HR maxed out at 172 - despite being hotter. For reference my LTHR is 181 and my MHR is 198.

Secondly, I was looking at the decoupling from a 6hr endurance ride. Up to about 4hrs it was <0.5%, but after the 4hr mark it very quickly increased - 5% for up to 5hrs and then ~7% for the whole ride. I’m assuming this means that I’m very aerobically efficient up to 4 hours but it seems strange that there was such a stark and sudden increase?

Thanks!

2

Six hours is a long time. A lot could have changed during this time. The ambient temperature may have changed, you may have become hungry or lose a lot of fluid, and you may have even slightly disturbed your electrolyte balance. You may have used up your entire glycogen supply. You could get bored and lose your motivation.

1 Like
3

Only explanations I can think of for your first question is that either your digestive system was still draining some resources during your first 10min blocks and then it got better for the 30min block, or either your power source suffered from the increase of temperature that you mention. It happens quite often.

As Wojciech mentionned, there are many factors that contribute to heart rate decoupling. Also, was the ride completely steady in zone 2? Or did you throw in some efforts ? These could skew the decoupling a little bit as well.