Hypothetical question.... lets say a friend has found that recently when he's riding hard he can't get any faster but his heart rate isn't climbing anywhere near max, his legs just won't give any more power.
Is this a sign of: overtraining? lack of nutrition? dehydration? other?
Putting in decent times I (doh, ok yeah it's me) have HR steady at 175bpm, putting in slow times it's not going above 160bpm but the legs haven't got anything more to give.
any ideas?
Symptoms
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Re: Symptoms
by kieran » Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:26 am
not being an expert but I'd say you need more recovery time from last session or maybe a bit run down? There are others here with more informed information though, so listen to them.
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Re: Symptoms
by Ivor » Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:31 am
[quote="kieran"]not being an expert but I'd say you need more recovery time from last session or maybe a bit run down? There are others here with more informed information though, so listen to them.
ta. all ears.
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Re: Symptoms
by Toks » Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:59 am
[quote="Ivor"]Hypothetical question.... lets say a friend has found that recently when he's riding hard he can't get any faster but his heart rate isn't climbing anywhere near max, his legs just won't give any more power.
Is this a sign of: overtraining? lack of nutrition? dehydration? other?
Putting in decent times I (doh, ok yeah it's me) have HR steady at 175bpm, putting in slow times it's not going above 160bpm but the legs haven't got anything more to give.
any ideas?
Is this a sign of: overtraining? lack of nutrition? dehydration? other?
Putting in decent times I (doh, ok yeah it's me) have HR steady at 175bpm, putting in slow times it's not going above 160bpm but the legs haven't got anything more to give.
any ideas?
1. As you get fitter your hearts' stroke volume increases and consequently heart rate drops
2. As you fatigue generally heart rate drop (but you may still be able to put out the same power despite hrt rate falling)
3. If you rest up for a few days heart rate often increases for the same effort
4. If you become unwell or catch a bug heart rate often remains higher than normal
5.If you get excited heart rate often remains higher (on the start line to one of my first E12 crit my heart rate was 130bpm's, normally 90bpm)
To sum up, heat, cold,fatigue,lack of sleep, psychology will all affect your heart rate +ively or -vely
Tell him/her to stop obsessing about heart rate! I think perceived exertion is more important (how does he/she feel/)Can you put out the same power/speed proxy regardless of heart rate then alls good. You'd expect power to decrease after a big chunk of training so you may need to a rest up (think Marek's rubbish effort in this years Dragon
). If after a few days rest power/speed proxy is lower than usual perhaps more rest is needed. It would clearly be detrimental to keep training at the same intensity/power/durations if you were feeling fatigue, weren't recovering and power/speed were down. If he/she has the following symptons on consecutive days - irritable, can't sleep, constant dull leg pain even when not riding, not eating well, constant illness (cold's flu) a big break may be needed. Good luck to your mate!
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Re: Symptoms
by Ivor » Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:08 am
[quote="Toks"]Tell him/her to stop obsessing about heart rate!
It's the first time I've paid that much attention to heart rate to be honest Toks, been trying to work out what's wrong with my performance at the moment and looking back through my logs noticed the lower heart rate for the times I've put in poor times hence looking for tips! i.e. I know I've been pushing as hard as I can on each of these rides but my legs simply weren't able to give any more.
The one recent blistering performance I managed and my heart rate was back up where it normally is during TT's.
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