In our Performance Group of almost 50 athletes we have an exceptional case. In races his HR is mainly in Z7. (“Legs burn like hell”)
His zones are determined with lactate tests by several labs.
This effort is theoretically impossible.
Should we adapt the THR and zones, like the algorithms continuously suggest?
Even if lactate tells otherwise?
And does he have a threshold at a higher lactate level?
Anyone experience with cases like this?
It’s possible the data are inaccurate. What HR monitor is he using?
Only happens in races? Nothing similar during normal training rides?
I would stick to zones set by lactate, replace his strap with some polar h10 and recheck again.
weird shit sometimes happen, for some time I’ve used a wahoo strap which has some small springs inside to connect the sensor pins to the board (just a stupid design), and to my surprise (after some weirdness with my hr) I noticed after disassembling that those springs were a bit corroded. But instead of giving errors, giving wrong data or not giving data at all it was just giving lower hr by some margin which I figured out only bc sometimes it was recording correctly all of a sudden for a part of a ride so only the hard rise of hr by 15 or so was strange resulting in my investigation. Other then that I would never notice anything. Just saying, those sensors are just sensors.
Those are power zone percentages? Since asking him to do 105% of HR is going to be a real trick!
Those power zones are way off, so 105+ is going to include all his efforts in Z5-Z7, and this would be a feasible, although still probably not correct, result.
Z4 91%-105%
Z5 106%-120%
Z6 121%-150%
Z7 the rest
I think if you adjust the power zones, the percentage of time in each zone is going to make a lot more sense.
I’m guessing the labs only did a ramp test with controlled steps at specific power outputs and times. That is useful for defining a curve, and observing training changes to the curve.
Ramp testing struggles to accurately determine LT2.
Could it be an issue with how the HR zones are set? I’ve got a similar max HR around 201, and my threshold is around 180. In some races, especially in hot conditions, I’ve held a heart rate very close to threshold for long stretches, sometimes 2/3 of the race, and noticeably higher than teammates or competitors. At one point, I even wondered if pre-race nerves or adrenaline played a role. Maybe for some athletes, threshold occurs at a higher lactate level than average?
How long is the race?
For a given power in training, at something like 50-70% threshold power, is the HR higher in races?
He could be nervous/excited/stressed.
What is his HR on the start line?
Lactate testing is precise, but individual responses vary.
