Ask the coach: Should I pay attention to my heart rate zone?

How much attention should I pay to Heart Rate Zones? I use Strava Pro, it provides a lot of feedback on my zones from a running session, and perhaps I’m not using them enough in my training plan!

Rachel

Running coach answer
Mike Gratton:

The training zones can be very useful in checking that you are training mostly in the correct zones for the period of your build up. You will need to know your maximum HR to work out the zones, and you should also relate the training zones to a) the event you are training for, and b) where you are on the pyramid of your training block. If training for a half or full marathon, most of your running should be in zone 2 (Z2), In the last 16 weeks you will need to be in Z3 and Z4 for around 10% of your training volume, in the last 8 weeks you will be touching Z5 and in the last few weeks Z6, but not very much in that zone.

Since a 5km race will have a higher anaerobic component, then after a period in Z2, the splits to Z5 of aerobic to Anaerobic could start to look like 60:40. There is some value in Z6, but really only as a sharpener as most of your ability will come from your aerobic capacity still.

For me, the best use of the zones is to ensure you are not training too hard, rather than hard enough. Most endurance runners find themselves doing a lot of running in the Z3 area, as the natural feeling is that they will improve if they train hard regularly. Aerobic base training in Z2, is counterintuitive, and many feel they are not training hard enough. But it is the zone that most running should be.

Heart rate zones:

Zone 1 – Active Recovery

Zone 2 – Endurance

Zone 3 – Tempo

Zone 4 – Threshold

Zone 5 – VO2 Max

Zone 6 – Anaerobic

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