As athletes, we have an in-built bias that higher heart rates are better.
This is unfortunate because a heart rate number doesn’t tell us much, if anything, about performance. To gain context, we need to compare heart rates to something:
Pace
Effort
Lactate
Percentage of Max
Percentage of Heart Rate Reserve
When I started coaching masters athletes, I was baffled by their low heart rates.1
It wasn’t just the older athletes. When training competitive marathoners for cycling time trials, they report their subjective perception is far above their heart rates. They had to work “very hard” to get their heart rates up, even moderately, particularly on the flats.
Let’s dig in.
Masters Heart Rate Zones
As a young coach, I had the opportunity to work with Ron Ottaway.
Ron’s heart rate zones were typical for a 65+ SuperVet. Put simply, they were “low,” about 25 bpm lower than a similarly performing athlete in their late-30s.
Ron was relatively “low” right across the board:
Resting
Breakpoints
Maximal
Over the many years we worked together, one of our key goals was preservation of his maximum aerobic capacity.
We did this with a year-round focus on:
General Strength
Sport-Specific Strength
Red Zone Work
The question you want to consider, as a coach or an athlete…
What is the underlying physiology for these low heart rates?
Is it a decline in overall aerobic capacity? If yes, then an approach similar to Ron’s will work well. Ensure year-round strength and Red Zone work to preserve capacity.
Is it a decline in metabolic fitness? If VO2max is relatively good but fractional utilization is poor then you’ll need another approach. This situation will manifest as:
Low breakpoints as a percentage of max, LT1 & LT2.
Poor durability as the duration increases, weak stamina in the Tempo and Red Zones.
Unusually high fatigue from Zone 3+ training.
When addressing a decline in metabolic fitness, a focus on Green Zone Endurance and Sport-Specific Strength will be most effective.
A final example: the Big Engine Masters Athlete.
“Big Engine” meaning a large absolute VO2max. We see this with former collegiate swimmers/rowers/cyclists as well as Olympians from a range of backgrounds.
When running, the correct endurance zones for this cohort should be adjusted downward from the typical zones we outlined in Zone Basics. John and I covered the reasons for caution in our article Run Training For Returning & Advanced Athletes.
These Big Engine athletes have the ability to “rev high” but can breakdown quickly.
Use sustained run training with caution.
Be sure to test their metabolic fitness, just because an athlete is a “work horse” doesn’t mean they need to be “rolling strong” all the time.
The Competitive Runner, On A Bike
Take a well trained runner, fit them on a bike and send them out on a flat ride… they’re going to notice something…
They are working “Hard” to generate “Moderate” heart rates.
Even more so if they are:
TT Position
Small Frame
Slight Build
The training prescription here is not to “raise the roof” with Red Zone work. The competitive runner already has a well trained VO2max. What the runner-turned-cyclist lacks is the ability to get “Force to the Road” via the specific joint angles required for cycling.
My preferred method for developing this capacity is:
To create the energy to focus on the above components:
Ensure Endurance Training Is Easy. These types of athletes typically do, and tolerate, endurance training at a Tempo / Zone 3 intensity. Redirect that energy to Force & Force-Endurance development.
Reduce / Eliminate Red Zone Running, temporarily. These athletes love to “go fast.” To develop their flat cycling performance, energy needs to be redirected to the bike.
Plan Energy Positive, Anabolic Blocks. Running is a game of relative fitness (watts per kilo). Most cycling time trials are absolute fitness events (total watts).
My article, Building Your Annual Plan, explains how to phase these components across the year.
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Stephen Seiler’s presentation, How Low is Too Low is well worth your time.
Runners love to climb on the bike. It suits their strengths. If these athletes have goals related to straight-ahead power then make sure to incorporate long blocks of flat riding. Use the TT position and target effort in the Green Zone. The second half of these rides is an excellent place to insert Big Gear Work (linked above).