An Athlete with a Higher HR Than Normal
Last week I received this question on Twitter:
When doing z2 power (ex: 160w) but HR is a little higher than normal, should I reduce the power to lower HR or is that not necessary? Like in heat conditions, after a week with less training than normal…
I could write an entire chapter on the answer to this question. It’s hard to answer with only 280 characters and have it make sense. The author of the question has the same problem. How does he explain his concern in just a few characters? Twitter is not a great place to carry on an in-depth conversation. So I’ll take a stab at this in a way that allows me to be a bit more helpful.
What Else Is Going on in the Athlete’s Life?
First, workouts never happen in isolation from everything else in life. The athlete alludes to that in his question when he mentions heat and reduced training. He’s spot on there. Good observation. Those could certainly explain the high heart rate. Additionally, any given workout must fit into whatever defines one’s lifestyle—work, family, sleep, diet, relationships, stress, and more. Any of these could upset a session.
What Other Variables Are Affecting the Workout?
The workout is also more than likely preceded by other workouts and will be followed by still others. What are the priorities of all of these workouts relative to this one? What time of day was the workout done? Same as normal? Another variable that could affect heart rate is terrain. Was it the usual terrain? Was he riding with another athlete or solo? Did he use the same bike with the same power meter as every other time? Did he train at the same time of day as usual? Was he well hydrated? Any of these could cause a slight change from what’s normal for such a workout.
How Do We Interpret Athlete Language?
Then there is the problem of language interpretation. He says that his “HR is a little high.” Is that 2-3 beats or 8-12? What is “a little high” for one of us may not be for another. If heart rate is elevated 2-3 bpm I’m inclined to say, “Continue the workout as planned.” But 8-12 tells me there is something more seriously wrong. Best to stop the workout in that case. If it’s something in between? I’m not quite as sure.
How Important Is the Workout?
All of this brings me back to how important the session is in the first place, which could involve many things. For example, is the workout being done in the Base, Build, or Peak period? That would play a part in making a meaningful, in-depth decision. What’s tomorrow’s workout? That also needs to be considered when it comes to what you do today. When is the next recovery break from training? How has training been going recently?
This discussion could go on and on as there are even more variables I’ve not addressed. They are practically endless. If this was one of my clients, he might call me and we could spend a lot of time making a decision about what to do should it happen again. But that’s really not necessary. The solution to such a normal and common problem doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated. To keep it simple and also on the safe side, both of which are priorities in training, I’ve told the athletes I’ve coached that if they run into a workout situation and they don’t know what to do—Should I continue or stop?—they should just keep this rule in mind: “If in doubt, leave it out.” Problem solved. That’s the Twitter answer, I suppose.
