[doug hornstein]

Hi all,

I recently read Training for the Uphill Athlete and have begun training based on its principles. I have two questions to clarify if I am on the right track in terms of heart rate/zones.

1) I did the heart rate drift test on a treadmill set to 10 percent grade (that’s the steepest grade on the one I have access to), and only started recording my heart rate after my 15 minute warm up. I then walked for one hour and when I analyzed the data I had a 5 percent drift between the first half hour and second half hour, so I believe I did do it successfully. My avg. heart rate during the first half was 125 – should I take that as my AET? I used a polar OH1 armband heart rate monitor for the test, by the way, which as I understand is as accurate as the chest strap ones.

2) When I do strength workouts, I haven’t been wearing my heart rate monitor but I am sure that my heart rate goes above 125 – is that a problem in terms of building aerobic capacity? I assume not since it is never mentioned, but I’m curious about this.

Thanks a lot for any advice you have for this interested beginner in the world of monitored workouts! I have always just gone into the mountains and hiked as hard as I could without any thought to heart rate, but I totally see the value of this method and appreciate all the scientific thought put into it.

[Seth Keena]

Hi Doug,

Thank you for writing in.

1)Use the HR you settled at  the end of  15min warm-up and before the first 30min of the test, not the average of the first 30min.

2) Not a problem. The total duration HR is above AeT is very small relatively speaking. And, for almost everyone, a little bit of volume above AeT is OK, even if you are very aerobically deficient.

Thanks, and happy training.

-Seth

[doug hornstein]

Hi Seth,

Thanks for your reply. During my warmup, I had to fiddle with the speed quite a bit to get a pace that felt right, so my starting heart rate was actually 130, but it varied a lot throughout the warmup. Should I redo the test, knowing now roughly what my AET pace is, or can I safely assume that my AET is some number below 125, say 120?

[Seth Keena]

You can redo but don’t target pace, target HR. Due to your human-ness, pace and HR are not reliably matched such that you can automatically use a pace. Yet. Possibly after many months of consistent training on the same treadmill, you might be able to bet 95%

If you redo, try 120bpm as the settled HR.

[doug hornstein]

Thanks, that makes sense. I actually meant heart rate when I said pace. I redid the drift test last week with a starting HR of 122, which I was able to hold steady in the last 3 minutes of my warmup. Ended up with a 6 percent drift, so I will try again, starting with a slightly lower HR.

[Seth Keena]

I would not redo it; 6% is close enough to 5% to say 122 is roughly AeT.

[Ben Ramos]

I’m in week 6 of the 24 week mountaineering program right now and just re-did my AeT drift test.  I aimed a bit higher than I should have and ended up with 6.4% drift with a starting HR of 150.

1) Do you recommend I redo the AeT test again? Or maybe do a lower estimate of my AeT based on these results?  Maybe AeT 146-7?

Last week’s 30 min anaerobic threshold test I ended up with an avg HR of 171.  However, for this AeT drift test for the second half of the test I had an avg HR of 172. This second half was much harder to gut through than last weeks anaerobic threshold test and felt much more like a sustained max effort.

2)Is it normal to get this close to the anaereobic threshold for so long during a AeT drift test?  Should I change my anaerobic thershold to 172 based on how I performed on the second half of this test?

My original AeT drift test had a starting HR of 141 and 4.7% drift.  Now I generally finish my aerobic work at that test pace while staying in Z2 so I’m definitely improving.  I’m super grateful for this program and the knowledge base Evoke Endurance provides!

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