Training Zones on workouts

The Archives Archived: Tips and Troubleshooting
1

Hi,

I have just started the 6 week beginner FTP builder after completing the FTP test.

I am finding the workouts very hard, which I was expecting but I have just done week2 foundation which says that it is Endurance Zone 2. This I guess should be at moderate effort. I still found this pretty tough and my heart rate was at 160+ for the zone 2 sections and about 135 for the recovery sections. My resting heart rate is around 55 not sure what my max is but I think it would be around 180 as I am 43 years old.

I’m worried that if my heart rate is so high that I will be over training. What should my heart rate be during these zones?

thanks

Graham

2

Your HR for Zone 2 should be around 140 at the high end and your recovery probably should be about 120. These are just estimates, but I think they should be much closer then what you are putting out now.

I am 45 and I figure our zones should be somewhat close.

3

Thanks Paul,

Do you think I should reduce my FTP so that my hear rate is closer to the correct zones?

4

That’s a tough question to answer.

I would suggest if you are going to use your HR for training then do it on a free ride, not a workout. It will be easier to control your HR without having to worry about hitting a wattage number and end up in zone 3 for power and zone 4 or higher for HR. 

There are going to be changes to the Zwift workouts soon so maybe they will implement HR training. 

HR training can be very difficult and sometimes boring, but the payoff can be huge.

5

OK, I will stick with it and see how the next few weeks go. cheers