ok so I was super productive during triathlon training. VO2 Max was at 59 and everything was going great. After my race I focused primarily on running as that’s my true love. Ever since switching 3-4 weeks ago, I have been unproductive. My HRV is consistently below 10 mostly 1-4. I eat well and sleep, 7.5-8.5hr every night. Like I said I went from biking 2-3x a week swimming 2x a week and running 4-5x a week lifting/core 1-2x. Now I am 6 days running, with lifting/core 1-2x and bike and swim 1x week. My VO2 max has steadily decreased to 55. Should I try a guided LT test to change my training zones? Maybe I am working in the wrong zones based on old data? Please help
LTHR typically only changes by a handful of bpm. What does change is PACE AT LT. Probably not a huge need to recalculate HR zones, unless you are using LT PACE rather than LTHR to judge effort levels.
Not sure if you are using a PM on your bike, but if so you may want to look more carefully at running v. cycling VO2Max.
The "unproductive" is purely a consuequence of your dropping VO2Max (which is to be expected with a significant drop in training load). It doesn't mean your current training is hurtful.
Interesting situation you are in there and to say your training is unproductive is maybe a cruel bit of language play. Without knowing the whole picture (including basics like age and gender), a VO2max of 59 is pretty crazy high up there for most people and it takes a tremendous amount of work to maintain that level of fitness. Like, well, the training you were doing for a triathlon.
Unproductive, here, simply means that your Training Load is reasonably high, but your VO2max is declining (which you've already mentioned). If you stay at around 55, for example, eventually it will flip into Maintaining or occasionally Productive. I'd guess your body's rubber bands were stretched pretty close to your limits and you're just normalizing… which takes a few weeks.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I just had 2 days of productivity!! VO2 went back up to 56. Seems like it was just my body normalizing... thanks again
