[Bob Taylor]

Bob Taylor on January 27, 2023 at 9:13 am · in reply to: Aerobic Threshold Testing #75134

That is interesting. My understanding is there may substantial day-to-day variation depending on physical state such as recent training, recovery, hydration, etc., but perhaps you are seeing a real, but unexplainable trend rather than day-to-day noise. I am interested to hear what the experts have to say.

[Bob Taylor]

Bob Taylor on January 13, 2023 at 1:13 pm · in reply to: Aerobic Threshold Testing #74616

You seem to be an example of why Uphill Athlete (I am not speaking for them. I am just reporting what I have read in their books, podcasts) recommends using the Heart Rate Drift test which is the topic of my questions. Certainly a lab test is great but I do not have that available where I live. I realize I could buy a lactate measuring device but Uphill Athlete seems to think the HR Drift test works fairly well for AeT estimation and I can do that for free.

Determining my anaerobic threshold aka lactate threshold aka VT2 is a whole different can of worms. I would love to have that measured with a gas exchange lab test if I was readily available to me.

[Bob Taylor]

Bob Taylor on January 13, 2023 at 9:26 am · in reply to: Aerobic Threshold Testing #74606

That podcast was very helpful. It answered my second question. As I understand it, if I do the test and get a heart rate drift of about 3-5%, then that level of exertion approximates my AeT.

The source of my confusion was the “Fundamentals of Mountaineering Part 2: Aerobic Threshold Testing” podcast with House, Robitalille, and Clark. I went back and looked at the transcript. At 32:35 Chantelle says “…So you’ll see I talked about this before you’ll see the heart rate to pace ratio or rather the pace to heart rate ratio and you’ll want to see that’s within 5%. If it’s higher, then maybe you started a little higher than you should have and you’ll want to redo the test but no big deal. If it’s lower, you may have started a little bit too low.” This left me wondering what if the drift is 0% or 4% or anything less than 5%. The “How to Administer and Analyze a Heart Rate Drift Test” podcast that you recommended and that I had not seen before, makes the answer to this question clear.

Thanks for you patience in answering my questions.

Have a great day.

Bob Taylor

[Bob Taylor]

Bob Taylor on January 13, 2023 at 6:50 am · in reply to: Aerobic Threshold Testing #74601

I understand that different activities might yield different values for AeT. For the sake of this discussion, change the words in my silly example above from “walk at 2 mph” to “run at 2 mph”.

Please allow me to paraphrase your answer:

1. Determine the level of exertion for your first attempt at measuring AeT with the heart rate drift test by guessing. Uphill Athlete does not have a specific protocol. Interestingly in my case, my intuitive guess is about the same value given by the Maffetone formula.

2. If I can maintain my first guess at the level of exertion that represents my AeT for one hour without heart rate drift, Uphill Athlete does not have a protocol for determining whether this first result is correct or too low. I know you did not say that but the absence of this information in the books, podcasts, and your answer cause me to draw this conclusion.

I was hoping there was a more rigorous, scientific approach. I realize this is part art and part science.

Thanks for answering my question. Uphill Athlete is great.

Bob Taylor