Trainer Question

[Irulan]

Now, I'm no expert by a long shot, but here's some information I have found useful:
(my apologies if this is not the kind of info you are looking for)

here's a good article
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/trainin...gintensity.asp

http://beginnertriathlete.com/cms/ar...?articleid=405

Another good article with guidelines, ( I train w/Lynda)
http://lwcoaching.com/?p=138

*don't stop pedaling during recovery. gear way down and spin easy. A good long warm up of at least 20 minutes is very important.

The numbers you give mean nothing without knowing your age, level of conditioning,how hard you are working when you are producing an on road average of 140, etc. If you can't maintain a cadence of 90 rpm very well, perhaps you need to work on your base level of condition. I know when I started working out on a trainer, I really wasn't used to high cadence 90+ workouts. You might need to have a better understanding of how to modify the DVD workouts to suit your fitness level: heart rate is only a partial indicator.

Remember that heart rate is a response to exercise not a measure of exercise.

Here's how I did mine,
Do a long deep warm up prior to the test. Then time trial 20 minutes on a flat out-back course or up a continuous gradual climb. Pace the 20 minutes evenly with a maximal effort. Record average power (if you have power data available), average heart rate and distance covered in the 20 minutes. Finish ride time with long easy cool down. Calculate Heart Rate Zones Average heart rate from test predicts your Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR).

The Joe Friel zones are calculated as following, the numbers being percentages of your calculated LTHR, not your maximum:
Recovery Zone 1 65-81%
Aerobic Zone 2 82-88%
Tempo zone 3 89-93%
Sub threshold Zone 4 94-100%
Supra Threshold Zone 5a 101-102%
Aerobic Capacity zone 5b 103-105%
Anaerobic Capacity zone 5c 106%+


You WILL feel tired after one of these tests, that is completely normal.

I would highly recommend a structured program for the trainer that will help you build fitness. I use some of Lynda Wallenfells programs at www.lwcoaching.com
If the workout calls for "zone 4" I adjust gearing and/or cadence until I can reach and maintain that zone. If my workout calls for zone 3 maintaining a cadence of 90 for xx minutes,again, I adjust my gearing until I can do it. In my experience, a trainer workout is no less easy or hard, but if you can't get to where you think you should be, just adjust your gears, raise your cadence or do whatever it takes to get there. It took me a few weeks to really be able to understand how to maximize the trainer. I'm on a mountain bike w/slicks, I don't have nearly the gear range you'd have on a road bike on the trainer, and I can still make my goals.