THE CASE TO TRAIN WITH POWER, AND HR

THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO MEASURE our effort, how hard we are working. From the tried and true, to the...

... new, new, new.

What's the most important?

Most of us have heard of glucose monitoring,
to optimize the calorie intake.

How about lactate measuring,
to gauge lactate build up?

It's quite common these days to have a power meter.

And then there's the lowly heart rate monitor.

The first two are beyond most of us,
and their use is controversial.

The power meter is the reigning champ of data, but I'm here today to make the case...

• it's low cost
• goes from bike to bike
• tells us how hard our bodies are working

... for continued use of the humble HRM.

It's that third part I find most powerful.

Here are three use cases...

• Today, after battling the flu all week, I went out for a ride. While I still had a cough and running nose, I felt a lot better. Riding along, I looked at my power numbers as well has my HR. Seeing the HR was where it should be given the power output, I felt confident I wasn't over doing it.
• When the temps soar, our power output often dips below what what we'd expect to see given our HR at the moment.
• At altitude, the same thing happens. Power is lower than we'd expect given our heart rate.

... for the HRM as a pacing device.

It's great to know our power numbers at our home elevation, under ideal weather conditions.

Even greater to know the corresponding HR....

... to be able to properly pace at our bodies true capability given the many variables: health, elevation, weather, etc.