The reason I say “estimate” is because heart rate can vary from day to day for the same amount of effort, depending upon your levels of fatigue, current activities, what you are digesting, and your individual fitness. Two different people of the same age can exhibit very different heart rates for the same level of effort. 

RELATED: The Components of a Successful Winter Training Plan for Cycling

If you have a heart rate monitor, it is easy to set up your training zones with a simple test. This is a much more useful way of doing it than a generic and inaccurate formula based upon age.

This article will show you how to improve your cycling performance through consideration of the energy systems you are using. We will use heart rate zones to guide us, and determine these zones through a simple twenty minute test.

Heart Rate and Energy Systems

Before getting to the test, it is important to establish what we want to achieve by using the heart rate data. Your heart rate is a basic measure of the following:

• How hard you are working
• The duration of your work
• Which energy system is being used

The heart rate relies upon a number of neurological and chemical signals and is just one factor related to the amount of work being done by an individual.

Your body’s energy is produced by a number of mechanisms that all eventually result in the breakdown and reforming of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Three different energy systems are constantly in use to varying degrees at any given time.

• The first of these is based upon the levels of ATP naturally stored in your muscles. This process might last for a few seconds and then be depleted. Then, the body has to supply more energy from another energy system.
• The second of these is the breakdown of sugars and carbohydrates in the body. These can be broken down with and without the presence of oxygen.
• The third of these is the breakdown of fatty tissues stored in the body using oxygen.

RELATED: Understanding Energy Systems: ATP-PC, Glycolytic, and Oxidative

If you keep on working, eventually the body has to start to supply higher rates of oxygen with energy substrates (fats and sugars), while also delivering a faster rate of waste product removal. It does this by continually assessing the rate of work and the rate of production of waste materials. The result of the greater demand is an increase in heart rate.

Your Performance Depends on Your Energy Systems

If you are a cyclist wishing to improve your performance, then your ability to perform over the duration of your activity eventually comes down to how effectively your energy systems are working. The nature of this feedback mechanism means that, in practice, it takes a while for your heart rate to increase to match the level of demand.

“If you are a cyclist wishing to improve your performance, then your ability to perform over the duration of your activity eventually comes down to how effectively your energy systems are working.”

The diagram below shows the heart rate trace of a time-trial cyclist at the start of the event. The heart rate in this example takes two minutes to build up a steady level.

If you are a sprinter, then production of large amounts of energy over a short duration will rely upon large quantities of stored ATP. Thus, developing large muscles through resistance training would be an appropriate training activity. Although your heart rate will rise to a high level, due to the time lag this measurement may not be an accurate assessment of your actual level of work.

RELATED: ATP Supplementation: Does It Work? 

For longer duration events, developing the ability to consistently deliver and metabolize large quantities of high energy-producing substrates such a body fats would be an appropriate training activity. 

(A full discourse of body’s physiology and energy systems is beyond the scope of this article, but I have included a reference for further reading.)

The Twenty-Minute Test to Establish Heart Rates Zones

One way of establishing heart rate zones is to start with a twenty-minute test. A local race, a solo ride, or a session on a turbo trainer can be used for this test. You will ride as hard as you can, trying to keep a consistent level of output for twenty minutes.

RELATED: How to Manage Your Conditioning Program, Part 1

Twenty minutes is used as it represents a trade-off between being too long to cause fatigue and energy substrate depletion and being too short to rely on short-term production from breakdown of sugars and ATP. This average heart rate will be a representation of the highest level of effort you can maintain at the point at which you transition from mainly oxidation of fats and sugars to the breakdown of sugars and ATP. We will call this your twenty-minute heart rate threshold, abbreviated to T20 in this article (to avoid confusion with various other threshold terms in use).

“Twenty minutes is used as it represents a trade-off between being too long to cause fatigue and energy substrate depletion and being too short to rely on short-term production from breakdown of sugars and ATP.”

If we add this heart rate to our previous chart, the twenty-minute average line will be somewhere between oxidation and breakdown of sugars. Going below this level will result in mainly oxidation of fats and sugars. Going above this level will result in mainly breakdown of sugars and stored ATP.

Using Heart Rate Zones to Develop Your Riding

There are many books and training manuals that describe various training zone regimens. These protocols include anywhere from two to five zones, and some even have seven.

REALTED: The Best Tools to Track Your Cycling Progress 

To use your twenty-minute test effectively, you need to refer back to your training goals. Remember, it is by overloading that progression can take place: 

• To develop endurance and long-duration riding, your activities need to develop the energy systems that oxidize sugars and fats. This means working at a level below your twenty-minute average, but still retaining a high enough energy production to create a level of overload. An approximate guide to an appropriate level would be at five to ten beats per minute below the twenty-minute average.
• To develop shorter-term bursts of energy, you need to work above this average heart rate, remembering it can take a while for your heart rate to respond. You could work for three or four minutes at a level of five beats per minute over the T20. This would develop resilience to the breakdown of sugars and ATP and the ability to recover quickly.
• For anything shorter than a couple of minutes, heart rate is not a good indicator of effort. Although your heart rate will rise, by the time heart rate has caught up with what you are doing, your interval is likely to be over.

Sample Winter Training Session Based on T20

Endurance training:

Warm up and ride for an hour at approximately T20-10 beats per minute.

Short-term break training: 

Warm up and ride for 4 minutes at T20+5 beats per minute. Recover by easy pedalling to T20-10 beats per minute. Repeat the cycle for 45 minutes.

Further Reading

• Hargreves, M., and Spriet, L., Exercise Metabolism. Human Kinetics, 2006.

Photo “If you’re not the lead dog” by Adam Barker Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

The post Tailor Your Winter Cycling Training Plan Via Heart Rate Zones appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Easy Detox Recipes to Help You Break the Winter Blues (Willow Ryan)

The winter weather and lack of sunshine got you down? You can help fight the winter blues by detoxing and feeding your body properly. Here are some easy, nutrient-dense recipes to try.

Diagnosing and Treating Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) (Michelle Baumann)

For some people, the lack of sunlight during the fall and winter can lead to feeling seriously blue and even depressed. This is known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Fight the Freeze: Prevention and Treatment of Frostbite (Valerie Worthington)

Winter athletes run the risk of literally freezing themselves. Learn how to stay warm even in the coldest temperatures and stave off frostbite.

An athlete has many seasons – seasons of competition, seasons of injury and wellness, seasons of aging. How do you deal with these seasons? I think accepting them and evolving is the best choice.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 7 Articles to Warm You Up for Winter appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Caused by prolonged exposure of the skin and body parts to temperatures lower than that at which tissues freeze, frostbite is characterized by numbness, a waxy or hard feel to the skin, skin discoloration (whitish or grayish yellow), and a tingling or burning sensation³. Frostbite can occur in temperatures above freezing, particularly if the affected area is wet⁴.

In situations of extreme cold, “your body works to stay alive first, and to stay functioning second.”⁵ Blood is prioritized to the vital organs, leaving the extremities—fingers, toes, nose, ears, chin—vulnerable to the cold. There are different levels of frostbite. According to the Mayo Clinic⁶, these levels include frostnip, superficial frostbite, and severe frostbite, while WebMD⁷ refers to superficial frostbite and deep frostbite. Severe or deep frostbite may manifest with blackening and blistering of the affected areas, can result in tissue death, and may require amputation.

Treatment for frostbite should be done under the supervision of a medical professional, if possible. It involves gently re-warming the affected area with warm—not hot—water. Rubbing the skin or using direct heat such as a heating pad is not recommended. It is also important to administer fluids to the affected individual, as dehydration may have occurred. The re-warming process can be painful, depending on the severity of the case, so pain medication may also be indicated.

If you like to spend time outdoors in the winter, or if you must spend time in the cold to shovel the driveway, walk the dog, or defrost the car, be sure to reduce your likelihood of frostbite. To do so,

• Stay hydrated.
• Dress in layers, including multiple pairs of socks and an inner layer on the torso that wicks moisture.
• Cover body parts most susceptible to the cold.
• Keep moving.

By following these tips, we can all enjoy our own personal winter wonderlands and still stay healthy!

The post Fight the Freeze: Prevention and Treatment of Frostbite appeared first on Breaking Muscle.