Max HR increase

I was looking at sweet spot training and actually emailed back and forth with Lacey on plans. I’m still not sure if I need to do sweet spot, I need to rebuild endurance but at the same time I need to increase max HR back to normal from months ago before a medication prescribed wiped out my all my hard work! Before this medication 170ish was max and 40-65 mile rides were not uncommon back to back days, now I’m pressing to get in 2 30’s without feeling excessive fatigue and only maxing HR at about 160! I’ve dropped riding single speed long distances and changed back to gears for the time being! What plan would I benefit most from to hit both goals?

Hey Andrew!
I am very confident that the 18 weeks of sweet spot at the basic level will be a great fit for you. The sweet spot efforts in this plan start out easy and will allow you to rebuild your endurance. As the plan progresses the intervals will get harder and your peak power numbers an ability to get your HR higher now that you are off the beta blockers will start to increase.

If it is any reassurance, I coach an athlete in a very similar boat as you. They came off the BB’s in mid February and did 18 weeks of sweet spotting with modifications to adjust for excessive fatigue that was present. We relied more on power numbers in the beginning as HR was not that accurate of a metric. However now that we can use it again since their HR has finally stabilized. In just 4.5 months his FTP increase over 70 watts and peak HR has increased by 10 bpm! Not to mention he is now putting in more hours in the saddle than he has in over a year! If he can do it, you can too :slightly_smiling_face:

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I understand now that it will benefit both my issues over time, that’s where I was confused. At the moment hard climbs have me stopping to catch my breath for a minute or 2 and 30-40 miles takes a few extra stops along the way.

There is no quick fix, the key is to keep hopping on the bike day after day and slowly the perseverance will pay off!

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