How Do I Set Exercise Zones?

QUESTION: I ride a 14-mile loop with one long hill and some shorter climbs. How can I use this course to determine exercise heart rate zones based on percentage of my maximum heart rate? -- Chris L.

COACH FRED: It's better to base training zones on lactate threshold (LT) rather than on max heart rate.

LT corresponds to the highest average heart rate you can maintain for about an hour. You can find your number without the pain of pushing to maximum effort, and you won't need medical supervision.

After warming up, ride your loop at a hard pace. Use a heart monitor that averages your beats per minute (bpm) for the distance. Or, check the monitor occasionally to see where heart rate settles.

You'll find that you can maintain a high heart rate fairly easily, but if you go a few beats beyond LT you'll start panting and breathing uncontrollably. For instance, I can time trial at a heart rate of 160-163 bpm. But if I go to 165, I blow up pretty quickly. Trial and error will show you the heart rate you can maintain.

Three exercise zones based on your LT heart rate are sufficient for structuring workouts. These are rough guidelines, but they seem to work for most riders:

Recovery takes place about 40 bpm below your LT heart rate.


Endurance riding should be about 25 bpm below LT.


"Breakthrough" training should be done from 10 bpm below LT to about 5 bpm above. This is the range that conditions you to riding at LT, and it eventually raises LT. Then you can ride faster longer.