Dan asked about aerobic threshold. Here is a description. Aerobic threshold is the maximum heart rate that can be supported for long periods of time. As you demand more and more power from your body, the cardiovascular system provides more and more fuel and oxygen to provide that power. At some point, as your power output increases, you reach the limit of your aerobic system; and then you can not put out more power without bringing other processes (anaerobic) to bear. The anaerobic processes don't last very long. A bicycle sprinter can go for about 10-seconds. A track sprinter will get to like 43MPH and do the last 200 meters of a sprint in under 11 seconds. After some recovery (aided by training), he can get another 10-sec or so of maximum output. The frequency and number of super efforts can be increased by training. A good way to find your aerobic threshold is to get on that stationary bike with a 3-digit speedometer or a pedal cadence monitor and a heart rate monitor. Select a comfortable gear ratio and use it throughout the following test. Pedal at a low speed (say 8-MPH) and record your heartrate. Increase speed by 1-MPH (or like 5 pedal RPM) and record your heart rate. You will find that your heartrate will stabilize very quickly --a few seconds to give a stable reading. As soon as it stabilizes at its new, higher rate, record the value and increase the speed. When you can't get more speed out of your body, stop. Enter the speed in a column in a spreadsheet. In the adjacent (second) column, enter the heartrate. Make a plot of your heart rate, and set the hear rate axis to a logarithmic scale. You will see that the sequence of points proceeds upward to the right in a straight line to some bike speed. Looking at the set of points from the upper end, you will note that they form a second straight line. These two lines intersect at your aerobic threshold. You can pedal at that heart rate until you have burned all of your glycogen. Then, you will be into fat matabolism. If you work hard enough to put your heart rate above your aerobic threshold, you will go into oxygen debt and have to drop below your aerobic threshold to recover. That is part of the skill in racing on a bicycle. You exceed your aerobic threshold for a while then manage to lower your power output and recover --without getting dropped by the competition. The "headroom" between your aerobic threshold and your maximum heartrate is a competitive working range, and bike racers operate in there a lot during attacks (hard accelerations) --either leading or responding. If you monitor your heart rate while exercising and ease off you will see your heartrate drop rapidly if you are below your aerobic threshold. If you are above your AT, your heartrate monitor will not drop for a while after easing up; you are paying back your oxygen debt. This is an alternate way of estimating your AT. A rule of thumb, proven to be erroneous, is that you can estimate your maximum heartrate by subtracting your age in years from 220. I am 60; so this rule of thumb gives 160 beats/min. In fact, my max HR is like 182 (painful, short exertion). My AT is 162 bpm cycling and 172 on skis. Evidently, my cardiovascular system can supply my leg muscles with enough left over to support some stomach crunches and flailing with my arms. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
|Dan asked about aerobic threshold. Here is a description. I did and thanks for the info. |Aerobic threshold is the maximum heart rate that can be supported for long |periods of time. As you demand more and more power from your body, the |cardiovascular system provides more and more fuel and oxygen to provide that |power. So, how does one increase one's AT? I think I know but I have a sneaking suspicion I'll learn something by asking! 8-) Another question! Is there a formula that uses your average heart rate over a period of time to indicate many calories were burned? Good info, I reread the post a couple of times today.... Dan *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
RE: increasing Aerobic Threshold (AT) It has been my experience that my AT is stable despite training volume. I suspect that the heartrate stays constant and that its effectiveness increases. Conconi (Italian exercise physiologist) trained Francesco Moser for his attempt on the hour record on a velodrome/bicycle. He had the racer ride at AT for his training. It was after this (apparently) successful program that AT became of general use in training cyclists. The implication of the "train at AT" was that it could be relied on. I think, too that Conconi figured out the semi-log straight line fit method of figuring out AT from speed/heartrate data. bob phillips *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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