Guide to Cycling Training Zones
16.05.2022
Reading time: 5 minutes
What are training zones?
Training zones define ranges of training intensity that you can use to regulate your training load. There are three broad tools used to define cycling training zones:
- Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE – how you feel);
- Heart rate (e.g. measured with a Garmin heart rate monitor);
- Power (e.g. measured with Garmin Rally power meter pedals).
Each tool has its advantages and disadvantages. Power is the so-called gold standard in cycling, and it is the most accurate measure of the work being done by the rider. For example, Garmin Rally power meter pedals measure the force you apply a couple of hundred times every second, and it is displayed on your Edge device in real time. If you get out of the saddle and use a bit of extra force to apply your body weight, that change in watts is registered as a rise into a higher training zone and displayed instantly – power is the only tool that can be monitored in this way.
How do you define your training zones?
We can define and express our training zones as follows:
- Feel - based on RPE;
- Bpm - using heart rate;
- Watts - using power.
It is important to point out that many nomenclatures are used to define training zones, with some models better suited to riders and others to coaches.
Dr Andy Coggan's seven training zone model is very robust, and I use it personally as a Rowe & King coach – the zones range from active recovery to maximal sprint effort. Conveniently, the 7 zones map perfectly onto RPE, heart rate and power, so whichever tool you use to guide your training intensity, Dr Andy Coggan's 7 Zone Model works. See the table below for detailed information on each of the 7 zones.
| Level | NAME/PURPOSE | % OF THRESHOLD POWER | % OF THRESHOLD HR | RPE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Active recovery | ≤55% | ≤68% | <2 |
| 2 | Endurance | 56-75% | 69-83% | 2-3 |
| 3 | Tempo | 76-90% | 84-94% | 3-4 |
| 4 | Lactate threshold | 91-105% | 95-105% | 4-5 |
| 5 | VO2 Max | 106-120% | >106% | 6-7 |
| 6 | Anaerobic capacity | 121-150% | N/A | >7 |
| 7 | Neuromuscular power | N/A | N/A | (Maximal) |
Calculating your training zones
The Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a scale ranging from 1 – very light effort – on a sliding scale up to 10 – maximal effort. Note: the RPE scale is not linear, reflecting the non-linear response of physiological factors during exercise, i.e. blood and muscle lactate, which rises sharply once you exceed your lactate threshold. The RPE model requires you to be mindful of the sensations you experience during a ride or effort.
If you set your training zones using heart rate or power, we first need to determine your threshold. Put simply, your heart rate threshold is calculated by taking your average heart rate over the last 20 minutes of a 30-minute maximal time trial effort. The first 10 minutes are key to allowing your heart rate to rise to your threshold.
There are several reliable methods for calculating your power threshold, requiring best efforts over an hour, 20 minutes, 2 x 8 minutes or a ramp test. I would recommend using more than one testing method to help validate your result. Remember, an "ftp test" only gives you an estimate of your threshold power, which in reality is a power range on any given day. 95% of your best 20-minute effort is the most common method.
Once you know your threshold, you can calculate your training zones using the percentages in the table above.
Why should you set your training zones?
You can be more purposeful with your training by making sure you train at a specific intensity designed to promote the physiological adaptations best suited to your goals. For example, if you are training for a 100-mile sporting event, it is important to develop your endurance, so it is important to be disciplined and keep the intensity relatively low (in zone 2). Feeling fresh at the start of a ride, it is easy to ride too hard, reaching zones 3 and 4, and then fade in the final hour. Having a power meter and knowing the power range you should target helps you train smart, not overdo it.
When following structured training, you need to know your training zones, and using power lets you perform the chosen intervals much more precisely. For example, Egan Bernal, champion of the 2019 Tour de France and the 2021 Giro d'Italia, recently created a workout on Zwift that includes two blocks of "over-under" efforts, where you alternate between zone 3 for 2 minutes and zone 4 for minutes, with the aim of increasing your power gains/threshold power. Workouts like this are only possible if you know your training zones, and power is the optimal approach.
In my next blog post we will explore "functional threshold power" (FTP) – a critical intensity for endurance cyclists.
Setting up training zones on your Garmin device
Garmin training devices set heart rate zones based on the maximum and resting heart rate defined in your user profile.
You can enter your power zones manually on your Edge device or via Garmin Connect. If you know your FTP, you can enter it and the software will calculate your power zones automatically.
For more information on setting up power zones, click here.
