Note quite. But it will learn a training load factor to apply to time in each HR zone which should produce better HR load estimates.
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Hi Eric, I’m not sure what you mean. Are you referring to record as in ‘world record’? Or record as in registration?
Sorry. I was referring to the HR trace you showed. As others have pointed out, HR data don’t look like that.
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@david I just had another look at the one outside ride with PM and HR and compared the power zones and HR zones from Strava & intervals.icu. Warmup, tempo & treshold, some short climbs at full intensity and cooling down. Quite a diverse ride.
Every HR zones model probably has its strengths and weaknesses. But it seems that the model you are using is really broad in its zone 1. Strava only uses 5 zones instead of 7. And zone 1 in your model is almost as broad in range as zones 1 and 2 in strava combined…
In the power zones, I spent about 50% in Z1 & Z2 and 50% in Z3 and higher (tempo and more)
Strava HR - 80% in Z2 - 9% in Z3 and above
Intervals HR - 87% in Z1, 8% in Z2 and only 5% in Z3 and above
I’ll rest my case if the info is not really useful to you. It’s just good for me to get to know the data and models, and understand how it works. And I thought you might find it useful as well. As this is free software, I’m certainly not complaining. Having my own HR zones tested will probably solve most issues. But it might be worth having a look at the default distribution of the HR zones and comparing them to other models like the one strava is using.
I really suggest you get your data tested first. If you indeed ‘fall out of the box’ by having IRL values like that, well then there could maybe be a cause for zone adaptations.
You have all but, what?, three rides showing insane - to many of us - HR data. While I have no degree in whatever science, I don’t think the data can be correct.
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Just compared it to my friends data on Strava. My HR is below, the rest is his data.
First part is similar. Then there are some spikes, which are a lot more pronounced than his. Might be an error in the HR reading, might be my heart - no idea. Certainly looks weird. Then you see three high zones (220 average). We were going all out and taking the lead one by one (the spikes in his power). At a certain point I have to draft, until I think it’s time to get my HR down because we still have a long way to go. So he slows down from tempo/treshold pace to endurance, which gets my HR down to about 150 in a couple of minutes. We keep the pace a little bit lower until I’m ready to go all out again. Then HR goes quite fast to 220 again.
Mind you that he’s fitter than I am, so I really have to give it all I have to keep up.
It’s not that my HR is stuck at one value for a long time, it really fluctuates a couple of beats. But it stays within that high zone and then drops quite fast at a recovery pace. The data I see during the ride or in the curve could be flawed because of the HRM, but I don’t really see how. I rather think that’s how my heart works. But will double-check with another HRM and some medical testing…
To be continued. Thanks again for all the feedback!
Tx. You should probably just adjust the Intervals.icu HR zones to more closely match the Strava zones, at least for the lower zones. In particular make the start of Intervals.icu Z5 match Strava Z4 i.e. 206 bpm. HRSS looks at HR relative to threshold so that will help a bit.
Intervals.icu uses a 7 zone model to match the power zones so a mix of HR and power activities can be combined for “time in zones” totals and so on. So you want the power and HR to match up if possible.
Here is my year so far … the power and HR bars are very similar which is what should happen if everything is setup nicely. But maybe your HR response is just unusual 
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That makes sense, but your legs will give in, not your heart. Honestly, that HR does not look as real to me. You may well have an unusual high max HR for your age, but 236?
And you mention it ‘gently’ increases or drops, but from that last screenshot with your buddy’s file, at either side of the 220+ sections, it’s like a straight line up or down… And it shows some other irregular jumps at the beginning of that high bpm section and at the end of the ride.
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Ah, ok, thanks! I’ll experiment with the HR zones then. I’ll need more data / rides obviously. But I’ll start with a first adaptation based on your suggestion… I guess my HR response is a bit unusual indeed. But I’ll need more evidence to back that up.
I suspect my HR zones will react more normal in the first 60k (hard ride) or first 100k (long ride) and after I am cooked will start to react more extremely… But will have to check that as well!
My heart didn’t give in, I just told him to slow down to let my HR get back to normal in order to make it to back home. Because I knew from experience my legs would give in at a certain point.
I don’t have a background in medicine, but I have to figure this out to explain to a doctor, so I might as well post the results here in the meantime.
Yellow zones: stops - blue zone: some strange spikes, so probably bad connection of HRM, green zone - see below
30min interval (green)
5min crop - we drop the pace from 35kph to 30kph at the beginning here.
1min later, my HR starts to drops gradually from 220 to 190 (takes 2min30), then it goes to about 145 in 30sec. I have no idea if this is normal behaviour, but I don’t see any jumps in values in that whole area. And I was certainly recovering at that stage of the ride. At the 3h zoom level, this looks very steep, but zoomed in, it looks alright to me… At the stops and the spikes I can see the irregularities when zoomed in.
Anyway, I’ll let go for now… More data and double checking first. Thanks for all your feedback!
I have the medical letters after my name (not that it makes any difference) and without going into details, the only real-appearing HR data I see are from about 0:10 to 1:00, 1:05 to the blue highlight, and maybe from 3:30 to 4:00.
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Ok, thanks. Will switch HRM first to see what’s going on then!
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Apparently one needs a PhD or something to earn credibility and get positive feedback on comments, instead of counter arguments about why you are wrong 
I will keep that in mind and think twice before I engage in a discussion again…
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I have really appreciated all your feedback. And mentioned before that I was going to double check with another HRM and with a doctor.
I have sent my first FIT file with HR and power to a doctor, mentioned my max HR and asked if that could be normal and if I needed further testing. According to him high max HR do occur and are nothing to worry about. He said it could be useful to take lactate tests to determine my zones. Those tests are scheduled for next month. I’ve also read on several websites that distribution of max HR in the population is a bell curve that goes above 250 at the end of the spectrum. So that seemed reassuring as well… So doubting the HRM purely on the high HR did not seem necessary.
For the steep rise and fall of HR at the start and end I’ve looked closer to see if the HR rises gradually or stepwise. No experience with HRM, but I can see the difference between a rising value and a jump (which clearly means something is wrong). So I just wanted to make sure conclusions were made on the right interpretation of the data.
And I also just bought a trainer with way too low power readings. So I probably had a hard time believing that my new HRM is flawed as well 
Anyway, if the HRM data are wrong, this discussion is a bit pointless so I owe it to all of you to get that double-checked first…
So thanks again for all your time and effort!
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I guess you did, but we have a button for that and we keep count - you have found it
I’ll leave you to it - nobody but @Eric_W seems to be willing to burn their fingers on this, so if your doctor says it’s fine, I guess we’ll have to wait for your test results to come back.
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Okay, because I can’t help myself: see these three zoomed in sections, where your HR drops > 60-70 beats in under 30 seconds, without speed or power changing (I managed to pick one point where you actually had 0 power, probably due to a Strava calculation).
Plus, there are numerous sections that clearly show equally unexplainable jumps, but you recognized those as spikes.
Given these irregularities, my guess would be a HR monitor acting up, but once again: if the doc says it’s fine…
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Cyclopaat, I don’t want to turn this into an argument.
My doctor replied in my email about the max HR, in which I attached the FIT file that the high max HR was not necessarily impossible or problematic, just far off-centre… According to you it was not (humanly) possible… He did not give feedback on the FIT file itself, so I’m not even sure if he studied it thoroughly.
I don’t know how fast HR can go up or down. A healthy heart can rapidly change HR, but how fast that is, I don’t know. If you think it’s too fast, that’s fine. Eric also thinks the HRM data are flawed. So for now I’ll assume my HRM is broken. Maybe there is an irregularity in my HR above a sudden bpm that causes it to read higher values, who knows.
So as I said, I will test with another HRM, preferably in parallel with my Viiiiva HRM. And I will get further testing by a doctor. I’ll let you all know the results…
cheers!
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It’s different for everyone, which I why there is something called HRRc - I’ve posted this on that item previously:
“A recovery heart rate of 25 to 30 beats in one minute is a good score, and 50 to 60 beats in one minute is considered excellent. You should monitor your one-minute and two-minute recovery heart rate at least twice weekly to gauge whether your fitness level is improving.”
As you can see, and taking into consideration it’s highly personal, you could argue that your drops are not impossible. But, considering there is no real change in effort, it doesn’t make sense.
And sorry, I don’t want to make an argument either, I am (was) just trying to be helpful, but that kinda backfired…
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Which is obviously not my name, but that’s what intervals.icu gets from Strava If you don’t want to check my profile on Strava: my first name is Robert 
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Really helpful information Robert! 
I’ll try to keep an eye on my recovery heart rate, once the rest is sorted out.
Just got my racebike with PM back from the mechanic, so i can start to ride with power and HRM again. Now I just need a second HRM to doublecheck my Viiiiva. Will see if I can lend a watch rather than a breast band HRM.