Ok, as many people know, I’ve had long COVID for 6 months. I’m improving and able to get out on my bike, but I’m encouraged by both the COVID rehab clinic and my PT to try and keep my HR down to avoid dropping into horrid fatigue. Problem is I’m also unfit as a result of being unwell. My breathing feels lousy when I’m tired, but the clinic things this might be a breathing behaviour thing, rather than a structural thing.

Wore HR strap on a ride last night (normally just wear my Fenix 6 Pro watch) and I spent nearly 70% of the ride in zone 4 and 5 (and hit my max of 181!)! It isn’t flat round here (even if I ride along the canal I’ve got a 100+ m climb home) and I probably was tired after a stressful day at work. At the weekend my watch recorded HR rides weren’t that bad. Today I feel tired. But how on earth do people keep their exercise in Z2 and Z3? Do I literally have to drive to somewhere flat, or will i struggle to keep it down if I’m unfit?

And go…

Gears, and lots of them, and lower than you would think!

I try Z1/Z2 on my road bike and it takes very little in the way of elevation on a 34/28 lowest.

I’ve recently been experimenting with nose breathing, which is more than just breathing through your nose, it’s also part of training your body to work with different CO2 levels and breath more slowly, helps counter stress response and keeps heart rate lower. I always do it now for anything Zone 3 or under. Might not be a great short term solution for you though if you’re suffering Long Covid…

How have you calculated your zones, ahsat?

Using my max heart rate this year (192) to let Strava decide my zones is quite different to what the freebie site https://crickles.casa/ gives me using a constantly changing estimate of my Lactate Threshold Heart Rate, very crudely the max you can hold for a 20min+ effort, which is currently 161…

Crickles
1 <131
2 131-143
3 143-152
4 152-161
5 161+

Just tried to switch my Strava settings to use 192 max heart rate but it won’t retrospectively give zones to my last ride with a hrm on Tues, when I was trying to stay in power zone z2 where my gearing and 100% slope allowed while climbing Innsbrook mountain https://www.strava.com/activities/5318411770/analysis

In comparison, just before the above ride, I did another ~40min ride where I was mostly trying to ride around my z3/4 power border until climbing Petit KOM with random bursts https://www.strava.com/activities/5318055692/analysis

From my bad memory, the Strava heart zones used to be almost equivalent to one zone lower in Crickles, which will make heck of a difference to your “relative effort” (cardio) fatigue levels over time.

Outdoors, use your easiest gears and possibly avoid long inclines, in Zwift on the turbo you can use easy gears / flatter courses / lower “slope feel.” Your hopefully now fitted 11-34 cassette should help, it certainly gave me more options outdoors.

A HR Zone thread. Watch out humblebrags about.

How have you calculated your zones, ahsat?

I let Garmin decided my zones based on my max. It is probably a bit low, as at 181 last night I felt a bit lightheaded but I wasn’t about to be sick! But I am on beta-blockers, so it is a bit of guesswork (pre-beta blockers I could hit 200 on a bad/good day!).

I guess rather than the specific of the zones, I was still at an average of 150 over a 1 hour mtb ride!

Your hopefully now fitted 11-34 cassette should help, it certainly gave me more options outdoors.

Oh it was worse than that – I was on 32 front and 12 speed 11-51 rear on my Sherpa! The new cassette is indeed fitted, but the build not yet completed.

I do think I was tired last night. Plus I’ve found post covid, if I go out on my own, I get a bit anxious so my HR is higher. It isn’t so bad if p20 is there too.

Be prepared to go slow. Very slow.

I once read an account of someone*’s first attempt at a Z2 ride on his carbon super-bike, and he got (internally!) very upset when a guy on a touring bike and sandals overtook him! I think some people even suggest getting off to walk up the hills if you’re unable to stay in Zone 2.

I’ve never actually tried to stick rigidly to Z2 (≤70% of HRmax) but I know it would be hilariously slow at times.

* could have been DCRainmaker, I can’t remember.

Asked a similar question a while bk after struggling to keep in Z2. What age are you roughly and do you know your power zones Vs your HR zones? I’m guessing from your HR you are late 30’s?

I find HR zones are way off my power zones in Strava when using a power meter. Even more so when using Strava estimated power readings.

Zone 2 power will have me in zone 3/4 HR zone. That said I find it very hard to stay in Zone 2 of either reading over interesting terrain. Need to stay in controlled environ like turbo, flat gravel or path and really keep an eye on it. I am no longer in my 20’s and after consultation go on power rather than HR. Can do ramp or 2min FTP test on Turbo or most gyms these days.

At same time it’s def worth throwing in a bit of caution when you’re slightly older and struggling with health issues that are putting strain on your body. You need to find a Dr that is also a cyclist – worth asking if any of the other Dr’s at your practice are. Ask your Dr’s if you can take an FTP / ramp test but max out based on what they consider a safe max HR so you can start to use power instead of HR.

Definitely a practice (and ego) thing.

Firstly ignore any other cyclists around you: no “I’ll just tag along”, “I’ll see if I can get a PB on this segment” or “I’ll try and catch …”, you ride at your intended pace and no-one else’s.

Secondly, set HR limit alarms on your unit. Certainly Garmin Edge units can do this, dunno about the Fenix series or other units like Wahoo. Due to HR lag it’s probably better to set the alarm 5bpm or even 10bpm below the actual limit that you want to give yourself a buffer. You need to work out your correct HR zones for this.

Third. Set off slow. If you are looking at staying in Zone 2 and below then for a 180ish MHR that’s going to be mid 140s bpm then for the first half hour keep it at 100-110. Cardiac drift will mean that over time your HR will rise for the same effort. Again it’s a buffer.

Four. If you have to climb the hill to get home, don’t be afraid to stop and/or get off and walk. It’s your health not a contest.

Five. Good luck and hope you get better.

Lecturing out of the way, here’s an endurance (Z1-3) ride that’s mostly canal but with a 250m climb (max 16%) to get home – https://intervals.icu/activities/5295135902, this is the Strava activity – https://www.strava.com/activities/5295135902. I didn’t completely follow the above advice as there was a segment I pushed it on along the canal (did the same again this morning!) but even on the big climb at the end my HR was well under the Z2/3 boundary.

Edit: @superficial – I think that article was on road.cc

You said you wore a HR strap, but do you have anyway of checking your HR while you are riding? My Wahoo ELMNT has coloured lights to correspond with HR zones, does your watch have an audible alarm you can set to go off when you enter Z3 so you know to back off the effort.

If the gears on your bike aren’t low enough to stay in Z2, get off and walk. The fitness will come back if you treat yourself with care and don’t overdo it too soon.

Good article from the BMJ about returning to activity after COVID, check out the flow chart in fig 1
https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.m4721

 But how on earth do people keep their exercise in Z2 and Z3?

I think trad mountain-biking (slow big efforts up off road climbs and then fast descents) isn’t at all suitable for long slow Z2/3 work-outs at all. Either find somewhere flat and dull, or do them on a turbo/rollers.

Not much to add other than when I first started HR training Z2 rides did feel almost comically slow. I think I’d struggle to stay in Z2 on anything but the most shallow hill.

My Crickles HR zones seem much more representative than the ones Garmin decided for me.

Like the OP, with Garmin zones 95% of all my zones were in z4 and z5.

Now, with Crickles its more sensible. Also based of my actual heart data rather than Garmins best guess it would seem.

I get my old bike out if I’m doing a Z2 recovery ride. I’d be too embarrassed to be seen going so slowly on the posh one.

Yes I started using Crickles following reading about it on here (62 yr old reasonably fit). It set my Z5 in the same place as Strava, but lower zones starting at increasingly higher levels. Makes it more possible to get up hills in Z2 or 3.

I think it’s going to be really difficult to work out your true HR zones with the double effect of both long covid and beta blockers. The latter will really mess with both your resting HR and your max HR (probably in subtly different ways which I won’t even pretend to try to understand).

The fact that you weren’t dying at 181bpm would suggest that it’s not your max though. The only way to calculate it properly would be to do a proper test (e.g. ramp test or similar ridiculous challenge) that clearly isn’t a good idea at the moment as you recover.

Would keeping to a perceived exertion scale be a better idea? There’s a pretty high correlation between perceived exertion and HR zones and it’s probably “good enough” for your purposes of fitness and recovery. On the original Borg scale (6-20), you just multiply the scale by 10 and that should be your HR (roughly).

In my professional capacity, I often tell people that they should be aiming to work hard enough to only be able to speak in short sentences, but not so hard that they can’t speak at all (or just single words). I’ve actually got no idea if this has any scientific basis but it seems like a reasonable level of activity for most people. I’ve tried to adhere to it myself during pregnancy and that level of exertion does seem to correspond to a zone 3 workout on my HR zones.

You said you wore a HR strap, but do you have anyway of checking your HR while you are riding?

Yes, it shows on my watch or Edge Explore whilst riding. I did stop and rest when I noticed it was high and it dropped down, but then would go back up as I started climbing again. I didn’t have the alarm set. Some very valid points about accepting the need to walk – which I didn’t do. I guess I just wanted to ride my bike on a sunny evening as normal, before I got ill. I did a 7.5 mile loop with 900 foot of ascent – some valid points above that a traditional mountain biking loop maybe isn’t the way to do this!

What age are you roughly and do you know your power zones Vs your HR zones?

36 and no. I have a power reading on the turbo, but I’ll be honest I use that if needs must in bad weather. I maybe need to make more use of it to help the recovery in a managed manner. I just value getting out the house after 15 months WFH, so not very good getting on the turbo. I should reconsider this approach to help the recovery.

@whitestone – thanks ever so much for the advice and the loop. Will chuck the new gravel bike on the train and do that.

Also will take the bikes over to my parents who live in the Vale of Pickering, for some flatter riding. Though we plan to go next weekend when my Mum is demo’ing an e-road bike – might not be able to keep up. Haha.

Will definitely look at Crickles – not heard of it before. Thanks all

Would keeping to a perceived exertion scale be a better idea?

@legolam. Thank you resident cardiology professional friend. We did talk about this before when I started the beta blockers. I did definitely stop last night a couple of times when it was feeling particularly hard (I’m also on amitriptyline to add to the confusion). You right, my zones are likely all over the place. I’ll just have to start talking to myself mid ride 😉

Come northwards and we can pedal together slowly and talk shite in short sentences. I’m on mat leave from 12/6 and have just invested in some giant cycling shorts in the vain hope that I might actually go on my bike before sprog 2 arrives.

(Secret confession – I occasionally try to sing along to songs when on the turbo to gauge where I am exertion-wise as my HR zones are a bit wonky at the moment too. Singing might be marginally more socially acceptable than muttering under your breath as you cycle the Yorkshire lanes?)

But how on earth do people keep their exercise in Z2 and Z3?

As others have said, go slower.

As others have said, go slower.

I’m sure I could have walked faster at times yesterday 😂

Mega Lol @legolam

@ahsat – drop me a pm when you do and I’ll ride round with you. It’s a loop I use fairly regularly. There are options to avoid the big hill.

Can’t add much to what @legolam and @whitestone have said other than I agree. I’ve had some post-concussion and long covid issues in the past couple of years and have had to ease back into exercise and found RPE a far better governor than my power meter or HRM. I’d also tend to dress ~ 1 season warmer than the weather dictates – if I start to get too hot then I’m working too hard.

I’ve really started to relish riding around slowly and just thinking about the landscape a bit differently. My fitness has improved a lot in the last couple of months but I’ll still do at least one ride a week in the most leisurely way I can.