MarkAllenOnline Forum

Dear MAO, 

I found that some of the questions from your MAHR algorithm could go either way for me, leaving me with a variable of 10 bpm.  Because of this I had my physiology tested at a sports science clinic.  An initial test gave me a "Base" heart rate range of 160-169 bpm, where as a re-test a month later (the sensors for determining carbohydrate vs fat calories used were off on the initial test) gave me a "Base" range of 153-166.

I feel I should mention that the technician administering the re-test directed a much better warm up, and there were no lactate blood-draws (i.e. no rest intervals between exertion levels) on the re-test.

What, if any, information can I use from this test?

Sincerely,

Thomas 

Hi Thomas,

The variability that you see in your lab test is the reason we don't use those for our training zones. The method we use did come from lab testing, and takes into account age, current fitness and past training history. These three things when combined together even out all of the variables that you see in your results. That is a big range and is a result of the number of things that can influence a test on any given day. Then even if these tests were accurate over the long haul, the real question would be what the numbers really are telling you. "Base" can have different meanings depending on what physiology the tester is referring to. Our max aerobic heart rate is the point in the physiology where you are burning 50% of your calories from fat and 50% from carbohydrates. It is also as high as you can go with heart rate before you start to really activate a big release of stress hormones. So it is a very key point. 

The variability that you mentioned from our methods is because of the variance between people of the three key factors that I mentioned. 

I hope that helps explain a bit,

Mark