Lactate Threshold Testing
No, this is not a milk drinking competition.
Ever since I got into running, I noticed I had an abnormally high heart rate. During runs with my brother, I would hold a casual conversation at a low-medium perceived effort. Every now and then I glanced down at my watch and check my heart rate which read 160-170. “Some hearts are just different”, he said. I couldn’t understand. Why were we running the same pace at the same effort, but my heart rate looked like I was neck and neck with Kipchoge or Kipruto in the final 2 miles of the Chicago Marathon? After runs I wasn’t sore, gassed, gasping for air, or in any pain whatsoever. How could this be? Based on all the cute little Garmin heart rate zone colors, those runs should have been tempo and threshold runs- yet I still felt….. fresh?
Dying to understand more, I went where every curious rookie goes….Google. According to the interwebs, max heart rate is found by doing the calculation 220 - Age. OR the more fun option of redlining yourself on a track. Next, I learned about training zones and watched enough videos to graduate with my Doctorates of Heart Rate Zones from YouTube University. After gathering all the information I could find, I put my shoes on and went to the track to put my knowledge and heart to the test. I had no idea how to find my max heart rate, so I ran 400 meter repeats 15-20 seconds faster each lap until I started seeing stars. After 5 minutes wheezing on the turf and feeling like a pathetic sack of jello, I looked at my watch for my workout summary. Max heart rate, 207 (I was wearing a Garmin HRM Pro + Monitor). How could this be? According to all the calculations online, that means I have the heart of a 13-year-old? My wife would argue that I have the brain of a 13-year-old but that's a completely different post.
Using 207 as my max, I found my new training zones by using the following calculations I found online.
Heart Rate Zones based on a 207 MHR (Max Heart Rate)
Zone 1 (Recovery or very light intensity): 50-60% of MHR
110 BPM to 132 BPM
Zone 2 (Aerobic or light intensity): 60-70% of MHR
132 BPM to 154 BPM
Zone 3 (Aerobic/anaerobic or moderate intensity): 70-80% of MHR
154 BPM to 176 BPM
Zone 4 (Anaerobic or hard intensity): 80-90% of MHR
176 BPM to 189 BPM
Zone 5 (Maximal or very hard intensity): 90-100% of MHR
189-207+
Please note that by using a Max heart rate of 196, my training zones are nearly 1 training zone slower the 207 MHR calculations.
Heart Rate Zones based on a internet suggested 196 MHR (Max Heart Rate)
Zone 1 (Recovery or very light intensity): 50-60% of MHR
98 BPM to 118 BPM
Zone 2 (Aerobic or light intensity): 60-70% of MHR
118 BPM to 137 BPM
Zone 3 (Aerobic/anaerobic or moderate intensity): 70-80% of MHR
137 BPM to 156 BPM
Zone 4 (Anaerobic or hard intensity): 80-90% of MHR
156 BPM to 176 BPM
Zone 5 (Maximal or very hard intensity): 90-100% of MHR
176-196+
Using the new 207 MHR zones, I trained about 6 months for the Bryce Canyon 50-mile race (actual race is 53 miles but 50 probably sounded better for marketing purposes). I kept all my training runs under 156 HR, making sure to take it easy. This would mitigate any possibility of overuse injuries. When it was race day, I admit I started off way too fast. I fell behind on my nutrition which led me to to a dark place. I was hunched over throwing up a cocktail of pickles and Coca-Cola at mile 49. This was a new low for me. After that, I felt like a new man and charged downhill to the finish. The next day my legs were fresh with minimal soreness.
Fast forward a few months and I was (and still am) still obsessed with my crazy heart rate. I had always seen videos of blood lactate testing, but never could pull the trigger. I thought by finding my real MHR of 207, I had it sort of figured out. One day while my wife Briana and I were doing our usual bimonthly stroll through the running center to look at shoes we will never buy, we went to say hello to Dayna. Dayna trained me during my high school basketball and track and field days. Dayna is a professional Exercise Physiologist, who has her own running lab attached to the running center. She trains with many local hobbyists, and even professional athletes. This includes some professional athletes that podium at world events. *Cough Cough* like Hayden Hawks who won CCC twice, and podiums every year at Western States *Cough Cough*.
As we said hello, my wife blurted out “WE NEED TO SIGN KADEN UP FOR A SWEAT TEST AND A LACTATE TEST”. Merry Christmas to me! A month later, I found myself wheezing, sweating from unimaginable places, and getting my finger poked my a small needle every few minutes. Once again, I saw my old friend Mr. 207 HR on my workout summary.
Below are the actual findings of the training zones based on the lactate in my blood. I love science.
Heart Rate Zones based on Lactate
Zone 1 (Recovery or very light intensity): 50-60% of MHR
110 BPM to 158 BPM
Zone 2 (Aerobic or light intensity): 60-70% of MHR
159 BPM to 181 BPM
Zone 3 (Aerobic/anaerobic or moderate intensity): 70-80% of MHR
182 BPM to 187 BPM
Zone 4 (Anaerobic or hard intensity): 80-90% of MHR
188 BPM to 195 BPM
Zone 5 (Maximal or very hard intensity): 90-100% of MHR
196-200+
Comparing the lactate test to my 207 HR zone estimations, I found out that for the past 2 years I have been almost completely training in Zone 1. On special occasions, I dipped into the middle of Zone 2. With these results and learning more about my body, I am excited to see where I go from here. As professional NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby said, “No one lives forever, no one. But with advances in modern science and my high level income, it's not crazy to think I can live to be 245, maybe 300. Heck, I just read in the newspaper that they put a pig heart in some guy from Russia. Do you know what that means?” Like Ricky Bobby I feel alive again because that day I got a new heart.
My older brother was right when he said “Some hearts are just different”. In fact each body is completely different. I think that Garmin and other companies do provide phenomenal training metrics to the general population who fall within normal heart rates. Through the lactate test, I feel confident saying that I am an outlier. With the help of Dayna, I better understand my heart rate and stop undertraining. This test has also shed light on why my paces haven’t improved over the past 2 years. Technology could only take me so far so it was time to let my body tell me the truth. Consider this my Ted talk application. Thanks.
Please check out Dayna’s work at PR Performance Lab
Here is the reference I used to find Heart Rate Zones
Very well said Kaden!! Glad I was able to help you, even after your degree from google Youtube!!
Really so awesome to see those numbers!!
The “normal” equation definitely don’t work for you!