Base training - heart rate vs power

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Nefarious86
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by Nefarious86

What is base haha [emoji14]
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mrlobber
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by mrlobber

When training indoors in endurance/tempo, my HR can vary day to day by up to 7-8 bpm on average for the same wattage training session, depending on:
1) whether it is morning/afternoon/evening
2) what and how much have I eaten that day
3) how long ago was the meal before the workout
4) if I'm watching sports in background or not
5) how cool the ambient of the room is... 2-3 degrees already make a significant difference (especially on threshold sessions)

What can you make out of all those factors??? Nothing or close to nothing.

As a result, while I keep track on the HR throughout my rides and might react somehow if that starts showing unusual patterns, I still basically train by power + RPE.

The only time when I've seen that HR indicates imminent trouble ahead, is if you're training on a hot/humid day, but then fail on proper hydration... HR is going to start rising pretty fast but then again it will be only like 20-30 minutes when you'll realise from a ton of other indicators that you better stop your ride and start doing something about hydration immediately instead of riding.
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Tapeworm
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by Tapeworm

^ zigzacktly.
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RDJEHV
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by RDJEHV

If you have a different heartrate depending on the time of day, on ambient temperature or having recently eaten; should you still train with the same power output? Seems more logical to compensate for the higher effort your body is enduring, training with a set heartrate will do that.

racersir
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by racersir

I think the 2 are important but i just use HR for reference and train by power.

11.4
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by 11.4

racersir wrote:I think the 2 are important but i just use HR for reference and train by power.


What have been the quantitative improvements in physical measures resulting from this approach, and how has this translated into racing success?

mentok
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by mentok

bm0p700f wrote:today my heart rate was elevated for the modest power output I was putting out. This told me I was fatigued which I knew anyway. Using your HR monitor you can keep your heart down if you see you are fatigued. I use both but I am not a slave to either.


and interestingly i go the other way - when I'm tired i roll around in z3 at 115bpm and i'm ~15bpm lower when riding steady state at threshold.

no wonder HR is of little use...

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