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Help understanding aerobic/anarobic chart

Former Member
Former Member

Below is is the result of my 30' rowing machine session at the gym this morning.

In my watch, Max HR is set at 172 and Lactate Threshold at 154.

So I tried rowing bringing my HR to about 154 as you can see from the chart, and every 5 minutes, pushed harder for 1 minute.

I presume that the Anaerobic benefit I got comes from the 4 big pushes I gave above the Lactate Threshold, and the rest would be Aerobic, correct ?

But then as you can see, it says my Aerobic training is in the Overreaching territory, at 5.0.

If I want a bit more balanced training, for example 4 and 4, instead of a 2.8 and 5... what do I need to do ?

I'm a newbie and obviously am missing something.

Thanks !

  • If you want more anaerobic and less aerobic, you should have longer rest with less intensity between your pushes.
    I am also suspecting that your max HR is set a bit low since you managed to reach it.

  • to improve anareobic efficiency try to do interval from max hearth rate to deepen it then the same again and again. but if you try a smooth exercise such as 150-160 bpm heartrate range it outcomes in more aerobic than anaerobic

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 1 year ago

    Thanks fellas, this is very helpful.

    So for example, I will keep doing my pushes as I did them here (1 minute, bringing my heart to around 170), but between those pushes, instead of bringing my heart to 154 as I tried doing today, I will slow down more, perhaps bringing my HR to say 140 instead.

    Is that correct ?

    (noted ovekam on possibly in settin my Max HR a bit higher)

  • Yes, that is correct. As you get in better shape, the heart rate will drop faster, allowing you do drop it more between your pushes. 

  • I also assume that your max HR is set too low right now, as you reached it easily during the workout.

    Lets assume it is 180 in reality, just for the calculation to follow:

    Traditionally, HR zones are calculated as % of HR max, that is also standard on FR 255.
    For aerobic load not „overreaching“/5, your baseline during the whole training should never exceed the „moderate“ zone 3 (70%-80%), which would be 126-144 (with max HR of 180).
    For base training, you could also do long sessions in zone 2 (60%-70%), so 108-126!

    You should only exceed that zones, when you do your pushes and then go straight to really high pulse (reaching or topping your lactate threshold).

    Everything above zone 3 and below lactate threshold is the „dead zone“, which should be avoided.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 1 year ago

    Guys thanks a lot for the responses, this is very helpful.

    This is MUCH clearer now.

    Special thanks to @ for the numerical examples.

  • In my watch, Max HR is set at 172 and Lactate Threshold at 154

    Ahm... I think your LT setting is wrong. Where did you get it from? Did you done an LT Test? 

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 1 year ago

    Guys, I have done some testing with my rowing machine, and here are the results I'm getting.

    https://i.postimg.cc/1XnfmZxx/COURSE.jpg

    Based on 's comments above, I was expecting an almost perfect Aerobic score for Day 2, since I made very sure to stay in Zone 3. Compared to Day 1, where I spent the majority of my time in Zone 4 (which 3541524 said is the dead zone and should be avoided, I also read that from a few sources here and there).

    Can someone explain those results ?... I thought I would be getting a better Aerobic score by staying in Zone 3, as opposed to Zone 4. Yet, the results show the opposite.

    The other thing I do not understand, is why am I getting 0.3 Anaerobic score in Day 2 while I have spent zero time in Zone 5 ?... I thought Anaerobic benefit was only when I spent time in Zone 5 ?

    Clearly some things escape me here.

    Thank you.

    ps: my apologies for not being able to insert my screenshot directly and giving a link instead... this forum seems to be using technology from the 1980s and isn't letting me insert pictures consistently.

  • If I want a bit more balanced training, for example 4 and 4, instead of a 2.8 and 5...

    Hey, this is, what you wanted to achieve.

    So now you have seen, how to handle aerobic load, so that it will stay in strong load (which 4 is), but not overreaching (5). First step done.

    What is still missing, is the anaerobic part. For that, you will need to do some short sprints in your training, where the HR is very high. For example, row 2x 500 meters (or 5x 200 or whatever suits you) as fast as you can.

    That could be done in the same session (remember to keep your pulse low for the rest of the session), or you do separate „base“ and „sprint“ sessions.

    Good luck!