GTC done a video comparing heart rate to power produced and showed that heart rate is too invariable depending on temperature, diet, time of day etc. so if you stick to “zone 2” you’ll find it your heart rate zone will vary massively depending on the time of day you train, what you’ve ate/drink etc. Sticking to RPE (rate of perceived effort) is the best training tool 😊
The heart rate answer is great to hear. I've been a slave to the numbers for years but find that I don't fit neatly into a calculated zones. I proved the zones to be incorrect during longer races where I've ran by feel over heart. If I had ran by heart rate in these races my finish times would have been much slower. Rpe seems to be the best training metric to follow assuming that you remain honest with yourself.
Yea if you want to use HR zones, you have to do some actual testing to find either your max or lactate threshold HRs. The standard formulas are very wrong for most people. I'm 41 and the standard formula says my MAX is 179, but I can sustain 180-185 for a half marathon, which would obviously be impossible if I was anywhere near my max. For reference, my Z2 is configured to 155-165, which for many people would be pushing into Z4 or Z5. It's fine to pay strict attention to the numbers if the numbers are accurate for you, but it can definitely be challenging to get it right.
Thanks a lot #gtncoachescorner, I had no idea that I could do a warm up so early in advance and then hold onto it as I wait for the race to start. There are still 6 weeks to go so I have plenty of time to try this before a training run and see how it feels. Hopefully many people find this useful now that large events are coming back, hooray!
Thank you for the segment about heart rate zones! I think my heart rate is a little bit higher than average and I was stressing myself out on my runs because my heart rate was getting “too high” but I felt fine. Definitely good to keep those numbers in mind, but it’s a good reminder to go based off of how you feel, too!
I was similar to you when I first started using HR zones. But it turns out that there is a huge variance in max HRs and if you're using any of the standard formulas, they're very likely to be wrong. For me, at age 41, the standard calculators say my max HR is 179, my Z2 is 107-125, and anything above 160 is Z5! But in actual practice, my max is somewhere north of 205, the top end of my Z2 is 165, and Z5 starts at 185. It was so frustrating in the beginning that my easy runs would shoot me up to 160-165bpm and I thought I was running too hard, but the reality was that my zones were just misconfigured. So definitely trust your body and your own sense of how hard you're working - if you think you're going easy, you're probably going easy :-)
You focus on your muscle activation and your perceived level of effort. If you're on gravel, at elevation, or in sub-optimal temperatures, then that affects your perceived level of effort. If you had to run slower, focus on your form, so that you get the right muscle activation in the workout, and that means splashing less in the swim, silent foot strikes in the run, and giving more attention to the angle of your foot when you're pedaling on the bike. If you're that worried about the quality of your workouts, do more drills instead.
#gtncoachescorner I love the coach's corner format, thanks for all the previous answers. I have a question concerning multiple sports training. I have been doing Crossfit for 4 years, and have recently started triathlon, i have just completed my first olympic tri and have set my sights on a 70.3. I have been strugling to find an appropriate training plan, as adding a full triathlon training plan to an already packed crossfit week would be too much. Do you have some pointers on how to balance the two sports, my aim is to keep my crossfit strength while becoming a better endurance athlete. Thanks for the videos.
#GTNcoachescorner Hey guys! I've done both longer and shorter distance races, but recently, I've been focusing more on the sprint distance triathlons and I really want to maximize how fast I can go (and just maybe get a podium). How can the training plans differ from the shorter races relative to the longer races? Does the periodization change a bit? Does the 80/20 rule skew more like a 60/40? Is the "winter aerobic base" even necessary? Should I be doing more tempos or interval sessions etc? Does a pre race taper look different? What's the longest I should be going for my "longer bike/runs?" Thanks and love the content!
Thanks a lot for the tips, though it was a bit late for the Paris triathlon I was doing. Well, in any case, thanks to your videos I could finish it in less than 3h, which was my target! And as you said, I did not take 2000 kcal. Maybe I should have had some electrolytes though 😊
#gtncoachescorner Hi, I'm doing the thor beach triathlon in Denmark in August, where the run is on the beach in the sand. Do you have any suggestions how do specifically train for the sand run, other than actually running on sand?
#gtncoachescorner Hello im 39 YO, enjoy habing a beer, height 175 and weight 77. I do skiing, hiking, cycling, kitesurfing, runing, gym etc. Most of the theories today tell that 80:20 is easy on the body and delivers good race results. What if I dont do the higt intensity at all? I had done some sprint diatamce triathlons during my libe and in 2022 i have finisher 2 half diatamce, 70.3, Kotorand Nice in 6:20 and 7:30. I am planning to partecipate in my first Full Distance Ironman next year. My goal is to not to get hurt, enjoy the training, enjoy the event and have a decent finish time. I think most of the people are like me, we work all day and wamt to calm down during training. What would be your sugestions for someone like me?
#GTNcouchescorner I have just completed my 1st triathlon,sprint distance. It went really well, 2nd women over all! I had a great time and really enjoyed it. I wanted to know what to do now? Is my goal/dream to represent team GB as an age groupers realistic? How do I go about doing this? Thanks.
#GTNCoachesCorner I've signed up for my first triathlon in a few years. It is a 70.3 at the end of August and I recently came down with Covid, currently I'm sitting on my hands and doing my best to rest and recover. How do you adjust your training plan when hit with an illness that takes weeks out of your training? Thanks!
#gtncoachescorner When it comes to long runs, do you prefer running for a specific length of time or a set distance? ie: 90 minute run vs a 9 mile run.
#gtncoachescorner Hi GTN Team, is it normal to loose 8 bpm of you threshold and maximum heart rate within a year? Last year i had my threshold dialed in at 158 bpm with a 5:30 run pace and 240 watt at the bike. After my 70.3 i took it easy and now after 2 month of good training I tested my threshold. My heart rate decreased to 151 bpm. While the speed stayed and the effort is definitely also the same, just the heart rate is significantly down. 8 bpm seems a bit much in such a short time.
#gtncoachescorner Hello :) I took up road cycling and Triathlon in 2021 and I am absolutely loving this journey. However, since day one of jumping on a road bike, i've been seeing constant posts about bike crashes and serious injuries. I absolutely love heading out on my road bike and I always try and put safety first, but the constant chat of bike crashes is really getting to me and it's making me physically nervous to get out on my bike. Is cycling as dangerous as social media makes out? Should I just accept it is inevitable i'm going to have a serious crash at some point if I want to enjoy road cycling?
#GTNCoachesCorner Whenever I go through transition, particularly T1, my HR goes through the roof. Despite it not being high whilst swimming, or from running through T1, it seems to go crazy as soon as I start cycling. Are there any tips to help with this other than practicing Swim to bike, which is almost impossible for me to do outside of races.
#GTNCoachesCorner I'm getting a smart turbo trainer, is there a non-subscription virtual cycling game/program that can be bought that isn't a subscription?
@@kateshephard4920 I know, but I'm asking for a virtual program, like zwift but not subscription, something like a cycling game for a trainer (not necessarily multi-user)
I was wondering about around how many strokes it’s optimal to breath because people always told me it’s 3 strokes but when I look at races the pro’s always breath every 2 strokes or does the swimming distance affect the breath-stroke ratio? #gtncoachescorner
I’m getting into longer races, and I hope to do an Ironman next year. After the swim with a 70.3, I feel dehydrated and have trouble catching up with hydration, and I can’t imagine how I’ll feel after swimming twice as long. Is there a way to stay hydrated even though you cannot drink during the swim?
#gtncoachescorner. I started training for my 1st sprint triathlon back in May for a few races on the 28th of August, September and October. I have a athletics back ground in martial arts and weightlifting so you good say that im used to grinding and doing very repetitive things for hours on end. In preparing for the sprint distance i find myself swimming 750m in 15 mins. 34 mins for the 20km cycle and 23 mins for the 5k run. I think these to be pretty good times. My question is how long after my sprint season (end October) should i train for to compete in a Olympic distance race? Is December to soon?
I'm the same as you. It depends on whether you want to compete or simply take part. Me, I want to compete as I have already done 3 sprint tri, so unless I can to the times the winning guys do, I am not even contemplating entering a race. Look up past races and you'll get an idea of where you need to be. I.E. swim inside 10 minutes, bike inside 30 and run, inside 20. For me the turbo trainer is super helpful as you just can't find anywhere where you can keep a + - 37km/h for 30 minutes. I can only keep it going for 15 minutes BTW. Still building up.
Hi guys, I have a question regarding nutrition. I’m on a quest to cut my body fat% to improve my speed, and reduce impact on my body when running. To do this I am running a calorie defecit which I am keeping a close eye on, but I am concerned I may lose muscle mass instead of body fat as I follow a mostly vegan diet. I’ve read it can be a good idea to take a post workout shake/food. Is this a good idea, and do you have any other tips towards cutting body fat! Thank you so much, absolutely love your content. #gtncoachescorner
@Ryan Bell I'd encourage you to be careful pursuing this goal. While there are definitely benefits, you want to be sure you're not sacrificing too much power and/or underfueling, particularly if you're maintaining a tough workout schedule. Incorporating strength exercises and maintaining a healthy diet can help convert some unwanted fat to muscle without necessarily having to rely strictly on a caloric deficit. Do what works best and feels right for you, just some thoughts.
![Super Bike Vs... [2 Hour+ Compilation]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EacOBLOf_i8/mqdefault.jpg)
What would you like us to answer next week? Let us know with #gtncoachescorner
perfect, watched GCN's vid on heart rate vs power but i dont cycle that much. this answers my question on hr zones!
GTC done a video comparing heart rate to power produced and showed that heart rate is too invariable depending on temperature, diet, time of day etc. so if you stick to “zone 2” you’ll find it your heart rate zone will vary massively depending on the time of day you train, what you’ve ate/drink etc. Sticking to RPE (rate of perceived effort) is the best training tool 😊
The heart rate answer is great to hear. I've been a slave to the numbers for years but find that I don't fit neatly into a calculated zones. I proved the zones to be incorrect during longer races where I've ran by feel over heart. If I had ran by heart rate in these races my finish times would have been much slower. Rpe seems to be the best training metric to follow assuming that you remain honest with yourself.
Yea if you want to use HR zones, you have to do some actual testing to find either your max or lactate threshold HRs. The standard formulas are very wrong for most people. I'm 41 and the standard formula says my MAX is 179, but I can sustain 180-185 for a half marathon, which would obviously be impossible if I was anywhere near my max. For reference, my Z2 is configured to 155-165, which for many people would be pushing into Z4 or Z5. It's fine to pay strict attention to the numbers if the numbers are accurate for you, but it can definitely be challenging to get it right.
Love what the GTN office staff have done with this vid's description. Gives it a real behind-the-scenes feel! :)
Good spot - must be a glitch in the system somewhere! 👨🏫
@@gtn Aw now you've fixed it my comment's gonna look stoopid !
Thanks for answering my question! I'll focus more on RPE in my runs from now on and I'll factor in conditions more when analyzing my heartrate data
Thanks a lot #gtncoachescorner, I had no idea that I could do a warm up so early in advance and then hold onto it as I wait for the race to start. There are still 6 weeks to go so I have plenty of time to try this before a training run and see how it feels. Hopefully many people find this useful now that large events are coming back, hooray!
5:25 yeah, about 1 GU gel about evey 45 to 60 minutes is my limit 🙂.
Thank you for the segment about heart rate zones! I think my heart rate is a little bit higher than average and I was stressing myself out on my runs because my heart rate was getting “too high” but I felt fine. Definitely good to keep those numbers in mind, but it’s a good reminder to go based off of how you feel, too!
I was similar to you when I first started using HR zones. But it turns out that there is a huge variance in max HRs and if you're using any of the standard formulas, they're very likely to be wrong. For me, at age 41, the standard calculators say my max HR is 179, my Z2 is 107-125, and anything above 160 is Z5! But in actual practice, my max is somewhere north of 205, the top end of my Z2 is 165, and Z5 starts at 185. It was so frustrating in the beginning that my easy runs would shoot me up to 160-165bpm and I thought I was running too hard, but the reality was that my zones were just misconfigured. So definitely trust your body and your own sense of how hard you're working - if you think you're going easy, you're probably going easy :-)
I find it was a good metric to use if you're a newbie. Gets you comfortable with using metrics until your appetite increases for data.
Great talk!
You focus on your muscle activation and your perceived level of effort. If you're on gravel, at elevation, or in sub-optimal temperatures, then that affects your perceived level of effort. If you had to run slower, focus on your form, so that you get the right muscle activation in the workout, and that means splashing less in the swim, silent foot strikes in the run, and giving more attention to the angle of your foot when you're pedaling on the bike. If you're that worried about the quality of your workouts, do more drills instead.
#gtncoachescorner
I love the coach's corner format, thanks for all the previous answers.
I have a question concerning multiple sports training. I have been doing Crossfit for 4 years, and have recently started triathlon, i have just completed my first olympic tri and have set my sights on a 70.3. I have been strugling to find an appropriate training plan, as adding a full triathlon training plan to an already packed crossfit week would be too much. Do you have some pointers on how to balance the two sports, my aim is to keep my crossfit strength while becoming a better endurance athlete.
Thanks for the videos.
Check out Nick Barre - he has some cool videos on balancing life as a strength and endurance athlete
#GTNcoachescorner Hey guys! I've done both longer and shorter distance races, but recently, I've been focusing more on the sprint distance triathlons and I really want to maximize how fast I can go (and just maybe get a podium). How can the training plans differ from the shorter races relative to the longer races? Does the periodization change a bit? Does the 80/20 rule skew more like a 60/40? Is the "winter aerobic base" even necessary? Should I be doing more tempos or interval sessions etc? Does a pre race taper look different? What's the longest I should be going for my "longer bike/runs?" Thanks and love the content!
I keep silently crying at "2:30h Olympic distance race" 😭😂
Thanks a lot for the tips, though it was a bit late for the Paris triathlon I was doing.
Well, in any case, thanks to your videos I could finish it in less than 3h, which was my target!
And as you said, I did not take 2000 kcal. Maybe I should have had some electrolytes though 😊
#gtncoachescorner Hi, I'm doing the thor beach triathlon in Denmark in August, where the run is on the beach in the sand. Do you have any suggestions how do specifically train for the sand run, other than actually running on sand?
#gtncoachescorner Hello im 39 YO, enjoy habing a beer, height 175 and weight 77. I do skiing, hiking, cycling, kitesurfing, runing, gym etc. Most of the theories today tell that 80:20 is easy on the body and delivers good race results. What if I dont do the higt intensity at all? I had done some sprint diatamce triathlons during my libe and in 2022 i have finisher 2 half diatamce, 70.3, Kotorand Nice in 6:20 and 7:30. I am planning to partecipate in my first Full Distance Ironman next year. My goal is to not to get hurt, enjoy the training, enjoy the event and have a decent finish time. I think most of the people are like me, we work all day and wamt to calm down during training. What would be your sugestions for someone like me?
To practice on aerobars I recommend you find yourself an open car park and try doing figures of 8.
#GTNcouchescorner I have just completed my 1st triathlon,sprint distance. It went really well, 2nd women over all! I had a great time and really enjoyed it. I wanted to know what to do now? Is my goal/dream to represent team GB as an age groupers realistic? How do I go about doing this? Thanks.
Please add to Turkish subtitles ❣️
#GTNCoachesCorner I've signed up for my first triathlon in a few years. It is a 70.3 at the end of August and I recently came down with Covid, currently I'm sitting on my hands and doing my best to rest and recover. How do you adjust your training plan when hit with an illness that takes weeks out of your training? Thanks!
#gtncoachescorner When it comes to long runs, do you prefer running for a specific length of time or a set distance? ie: 90 minute run vs a 9 mile run.
#gtncoachescorner Hi GTN Team, is it normal to loose 8 bpm of you threshold and maximum heart rate within a year? Last year i had my threshold dialed in at 158 bpm with a 5:30 run pace and 240 watt at the bike. After my 70.3 i took it easy and now after 2 month of good training I tested my threshold. My heart rate decreased to 151 bpm. While the speed stayed and the effort is definitely also the same, just the heart rate is significantly down. 8 bpm seems a bit much in such a short time.
#gtncoachescorner Hello :) I took up road cycling and Triathlon in 2021 and I am absolutely loving this journey. However, since day one of jumping on a road bike, i've been seeing constant posts about bike crashes and serious injuries. I absolutely love heading out on my road bike and I always try and put safety first, but the constant chat of bike crashes is really getting to me and it's making me physically nervous to get out on my bike. Is cycling as dangerous as social media makes out? Should I just accept it is inevitable i'm going to have a serious crash at some point if I want to enjoy road cycling?
10:55: Get a Stryd
#GTNCoachesCorner Whenever I go through transition, particularly T1, my HR goes through the roof. Despite it not being high whilst swimming, or from running through T1, it seems to go crazy as soon as I start cycling. Are there any tips to help with this other than practicing Swim to bike, which is almost impossible for me to do outside of races.
#GTNCoachesCorner I'm getting a smart turbo trainer, is there a non-subscription virtual cycling game/program that can be bought that isn't a subscription?
GCN has a training channel with loads of videos you can use to train to.
@@kateshephard4920 I know, but I'm asking for a virtual program, like zwift but not subscription, something like a cycling game for a trainer (not necessarily multi-user)
I was wondering about around how many strokes it’s optimal to breath because people always told me it’s 3 strokes but when I look at races the pro’s always breath every 2 strokes or does the swimming distance affect the breath-stroke ratio? #gtncoachescorner
I’m getting into longer races, and I hope to do an Ironman next year. After the swim with a 70.3, I feel dehydrated and have trouble catching up with hydration, and I can’t imagine how I’ll feel after swimming twice as long. Is there a way to stay hydrated even though you cannot drink during the swim?
#gtncoachescorner. I started training for my 1st sprint triathlon back in May for a few races on the 28th of August, September and October. I have a athletics back ground in martial arts and weightlifting so you good say that im used to grinding and doing very repetitive things for hours on end. In preparing for the sprint distance i find myself swimming 750m in 15 mins. 34 mins for the 20km cycle and 23 mins for the 5k run. I think these to be pretty good times. My question is how long after my sprint season (end October) should i train for to compete in a Olympic distance race? Is December to soon?
I'm the same as you. It depends on whether you want to compete or simply take part. Me, I want to compete as I have already done 3 sprint tri, so unless I can to the times the winning guys do, I am not even contemplating entering a race. Look up past races and you'll get an idea of where you need to be. I.E. swim inside 10 minutes, bike inside 30 and run, inside 20. For me the turbo trainer is super helpful as you just can't find anywhere where you can keep a + - 37km/h for 30 minutes. I can only keep it going for 15 minutes BTW. Still building up.
Hi guys, I have a question regarding nutrition. I’m on a quest to cut my body fat% to improve my speed, and reduce impact on my body when running. To do this I am running a calorie defecit which I am keeping a close eye on, but I am concerned I may lose muscle mass instead of body fat as I follow a mostly vegan diet. I’ve read it can be a good idea to take a post workout shake/food. Is this a good idea, and do you have any other tips towards cutting body fat! Thank you so much, absolutely love your content.
#gtncoachescorner
@Ryan Bell I'd encourage you to be careful pursuing this goal. While there are definitely benefits, you want to be sure you're not sacrificing too much power and/or underfueling, particularly if you're maintaining a tough workout schedule. Incorporating strength exercises and maintaining a healthy diet can help convert some unwanted fat to muscle without necessarily having to rely strictly on a caloric deficit. Do what works best and feels right for you, just some thoughts.
Uh-oh. The HR zone question is one many of us will identify with. I’m a slave to the numbers I realise 🙄