[Josh Gray]

My HR always climbs well above my AeT when trying to descend a technical downhill at what feels comfortable to me. I really have to hold back to keep myself in Zone 2 which feels very slow for a downhill. Is it ok to just cut lose on downhills and disregard my heart rate or will it effect my aerobic base training?

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on July 29, 2018 at 10:22 am #10948

I’m surprised. When I read the title of this thread, I expected it to be a question about LOW heart rates on the downhills. I’m not sure why it would be higher, but the only thing I can think to watch out for when cutting loose on the downs is the potential muscle soreness after the fact. Running downhill puts a huge load on the legs because the forces are several times greater than bodyweight, and the muscles are lengthening while absorbing the load. The excess weight and the eccentric loading can take a long time to recover from.

[Josh Gray]

Josh Gray on July 29, 2018 at 11:58 am #10949

I’m about 15 lbs over my old race weight, could the extra baggage be causing the higher heart rate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on July 30, 2018 at 6:13 pm #10968

Josh;
Cutting loose on the downhills is, as Scott S. points out, does have a much higher muscular load. This will cause a muscular endurance strength training effect which is a good thing…..up to a point. Bombing every downhill, every day is going to turn your legs into mashed potatoes ina few days. I recommend limiting fast down hills to days only when your legs are fresh. And even then don’t over do this type of running. Especially if you are packing some extra baggage. Otherwise you might be setting yourself up for injury. By keeping this ME training to a small percentage of your weekly volume you will not hamper aerobic base development.

Scott

[Josh Gray]

Josh Gray on August 1, 2018 at 8:23 am #10989

Awesome will keep this in mind. Thanks Scott & Scott!