Avg HR below SS zone after 2hrs SS - Increased FTP?

Training With Power
1

Happy Fri-YAY all!

I have a question with regards to sweet spot weekend TSS group rides that I"m doing with 18 WK SS as I was going through my TrainingPeaks data last night. I’m not sure I"m going to see/achieve a new 20min or 60min normalized power on these rides, reason being in Toronto group rides are not permitted (still in lockdown) so I’ve been riding solo. I’ve been going out and riding as much in my SS power zone as possible, what I have noticed is my AVG HR is WAY down - like not even in the zone anymore.

The other week I completed the prescribed 4hr SS TSS ride in 2hrs 19mins with an IF of 0.92, a VI of 1.02 (I really focus on staying in my SS power zone) my AVG HR was in the mid-range of my Tempo zone; I press the “LAP” button on my Wahoo after my warm-up and once I achieved prescribed TSS to isolate the data. During that ride “Lap 2” was the SS TSS ride which was like I said 2hrs 19mins and the Moving Duration according to TrainingPeaks was 2hrs:17mins. - only 2 mins stop time due to lights over 47.7mi

I have noticed that being smoother with the power is much faster and much less taxing.

My questions are -

  • Should I ride harder to get my HR in to my SS zone since there are no group rides with surges etc?

  • Is the fact my AVG HR is now in my tempo zone with over 2hrs in SS Power indicating my FTP has increased and I should adjust for upcoming sessions, if so how should I adjust?

either way feeling strong and noticing significant improvement. :muscle:

Thanks.

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It depends, HR is extremely variable. Which is one of the reasons that power is the “gold standard.”
If you are hitting your zones according to power, then you are FtFP’ing :ok_hand:t3:

Now if your HR has been much higher in the past… That could also indicate that you are more aerobically fit (which means your SS base training is doing exactly as we intended :wink:) & that your FTP may be higher than what you have it set at. Considering that you held an IF of 0.92 for 2 hours on a solo ride is a good indicator that this is in fact the case.

In week 11 of your 18 weeks of SS plan, you will have a threshold workout that you can use as an way to check yourself. For the first interval, aim to do 20 min in threshold (aka all out) and see if your average HR and power have changed. Alternatively, go hard on one of your weekend rides and see if your 1 hour normalized power is higher than your FTP.

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