Training by Numbers

As I sit here getting ready for the first training session in my plan the thought enters my mind that I should try and track the improvements I make. As mentioned before, I love a good chart and that means collecting data. I also believe that heart rate training zones are an important part of any plan and that means heart rate data.

First up is to calculate my minimum and maximum heart rate. The minimum is a fairly simple task, taking my heart rate before I get out of bed in the morning. I can keep doing this and keep a rolling average. At the moment it sits at around 52 bpm. Calculating the max heart rate is a little more complex though.

There are lots of formulae floating around the Internet, from the very simple 220 - Age through to the more complex 210 - (Age/2) - (0.05 * Weight (lb)). Here is a quick summary of my scores:

Calculation	MHR
Simple Age Based	184.0
BikeRadar	187.2
Miller	186.4
Londeree	180.7
Jackson	182.8
Whyte	182.2
Combined	181.4

This gives me an average of around 183, so lets use this number. Knowing the max and the min I can now start to work out the training zones, and again it gets complex. A fairly rough guide is to use 10% wide zones, so 60% to 70% is the weight loss and endurance zone. 70% to 80% is the cardio zone. However, British Cycling use a more complex zone setup (from Bike Radar):

Zone 1 (60-65% of maximum heart rate): For long, easy rides, to improve the combustion and storage of fats.
Zone 2 (65-75% of MHR): The basic base training zone. Longish rides of medium stress.
Zone 3 (75-82% of MHR): For development of aerobic capacity and endurance with moderate volume at very controlled intensity.
Zone 4 (82-89% of MHR): For simulating pace when tapering for a race.
Zone 5 (89-94% of MHR): For raising anaerobic threshold. Good sessions for 10- and 25-mile time-trials.
Zone 6 (94-100% of MHR): For high-intensity interval training to increase maximum power and speed 

Plugging in all of the numbers then gives me a very rough guide to my training zones

Zone	HR min	HR max
Z1	110	119
Z2	119	138
Z3	138	150
Z4	150	163
Z5	163	173
Z6	173	184

I know from experience that keeping it below 120 bpm on the bike is a pretty easy ride so this feels about right. With these zones in place I can now think about applying them to my training, at least in the early days while I get a feel for them, and for that I need a heart rate monitor.

I already own an ANT+ HRM so this would be the obvious choice, except Strava doesn't support ANT+ on Android ( I know, how stupid, but check the forums and feel the anger of the ANT fans). I also have an Endomondo Pro license, but as this is different to the subscription based Premium license I don't get so many nice features. I also find Endomondo tends to wander off track leading to inaccurate results.

I've looked at various Garmin devices but they would all put a serious dent in the £1000 budget so I'm going to have to come up with some combination of monitoring. If you see somebody rolling past with two phones, a cycle computer and a calculator it is probably me. Don't try to stop me, I'll be in the zone.