Blog post by Marco Altini We have released a new feature in HRV4Training Pro, Aerobic Efficiency Analysis for runners and cyclists. In this post, we go over the background, cover how you can use this feature to track changes in aerobic endurance as you progress in your training and also provide additional details about how this differs from other estimates we provide, and how you can benefit the most from this feature. A follow up of this work can be found in this blog post, where we cover cardiac decoupling. In case you want to jump right in, and check out our latest feature, simply login at HRV4T.com with your HRV4Training credentials. What's aerobic efficiency?Aerobic efficiency relates to your ability to sustain a given workload. Endurance athletes tend to have high aerobic efficiency, meaning that they can sustain a relatively high workload (for example pace or power), at a relatively low effort (typically measured in terms of heart rate). To determine your aerobic efficiency we compute the relation between output (pace or power) and input (heart rate). Intuitively, a lower heart rate for the same output (pace or power), when consistently shown over periods of weeks, translates into better aerobic efficiency. Similarly, a higher power or faster pace at the same heart rate, is linked to improved aerobic efficiency. By analyzing the relationship between input and output for running or cycling activities, you can easily track aerobic efficiency changes over time, as you progress with your training. What's the difference with VO2max estimation?If you are familiar with our work on VO2max estimation, you'll know that the same principle just explained, is also the principle behind VO2max estimates. In particular, the ratio between heart rate and pace or power is used as one of the predictors in the VO2max estimation model. You can learn more about VO2max estimation here. What's the difference then? While VO2max is a good marker of cardiorespiratory fitness and aerobic efficiency, the estimate depends also on parameters that have very little to do with actual aerobic efficiency and performance, for example body weight. Losing weight will increase your VO2max without necessarily improving your aerobic efficiency or performance. Additionally, there are factors that can only be partially accounted for when estimating VO2max. A few examples are: running on trails or difficult terrains, which reduces pace and makes your data not really representative of your fitness, very short workouts where heart rate does not reach steady state, very long workouts where heart rate drifts, environmental factors such as hot days or training at altitude, etc. - the list goes on. While many of these parameters are simply impossible to account for, what we can do is give you more control over what data is used to track changes in aerobic efficiency. In particular, via the panel below you can filter workouts and environmental factors so that the resulting data is more representative of your aerobic efficiency. You can also select how much data you'd like to use for each data point, for example selecting light smoothing, only this week of data will be used, while using average smoothing, which I recommend, uses 3 weeks of data. The filtered workouts are also listed at the bottom of the page: How can you use it?By selecting filters that are representative of aerobic efforts, for example low intensity trainings of about 30 minutes to an hour and a half, you should be able to track well changes in aerobic efficiency over time. This way, you can better understand if you are still making progress or if you have reached good levels with respect to your historical data, and are therefore ready to move towards a different phase in your training program. Below you can see an example for my own data, in which I set the following parameters:
You can see how the figure below shows very well a few aspects:
Aerobic efficiency analysis at this stage is available only for runners and cyclists who connected HRV4Training to Strava or TrainingPeaks, and also train using a heart rate monitor (runners) and power meter (cyclists).
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Marco Altini, founder of HRV4Training Blog Index The Ultimate Guide to HRV 1: Measurement setup 2: Interpreting your data 3: Case studies and practical examples How To 1. Intro to HRV 2. How to use HRV, the basics 3. HRV guided training 4. HRV and training load 5. HRV, strength & power 6. Overview in HRV4Training Pro 7. HRV in team sports HRV Measurements Best Practices 1. Context & Time of the Day 2. Duration 3. Paced breathing 4. Orthostatic Test 5. Slides HRV overview 6. Normal values and historical data 7. HRV features Data Analysis 1a. Acute Changes in HRV (individual level) 1b. Acute Changes in HRV (population level) 1c. Acute Changes in HRV & measurement consistency 1d. Acute Changes in HRV in endurance and power sports 2a. Interpreting HRV Trends 2b. HRV Baseline Trends & CV 3. Tags & Correlations 4. Ectopic beats & motion artifacts 5. HRV4Training Insights 6. HRV4Training & Sports Science 7. HRV & fitness / training load 8. HRV & performance 9. VO2max models 10. Repeated HRV measurements 11. VO2max and performance 12. HR, HRV and performance 13. Training intensity & performance 14. Publication: VO2max & running performance 15. Estimating running performance 16. Coefficient of Variation 17. More on CV and the big picture 18. Case study marathon training 19. Case study injury and lifestyle stress 20. HRV and menstrual cycle 21. Cardiac decoupling 22. FTP, lactate threshold, half and full marathon time estimates 23. Training Monotony Camera & Sensors 1. ECG vs Polar & Mio Alpha 2a. Camera vs Polar 2b. Camera vs Polar iOS10 2c. iPhone 7+ vs Polar 2d. Comparison of PPG sensors 3. Camera measurement guidelines 4. Validation paper 5. Android camera vs Chest strap 6. Scosche Rhythm24 7. Apple Watch 8. CorSense 9. Samsung Galaxy App Features 1. Features and Recovery Points 2. Daily advice 3. HRV4Training insights 4. Sleep tracking 5. Training load analysis 6a. Integration with Strava 6b. Integration with TrainingPeaks 6c. Integration with SportTracks 6d. Integration with Genetrainer 6e. Integration with Apple Health 6f. Integration with Todays Plan 7. Acute HRV changes by sport 8. Remote tags in HRV4T Coach 9. VO2max Estimation 10. Acute stressors analysis 11. Training Polarization 12. Lactate Threshold Estimation 13. Functional Threshold Power(FTP) Estimation for cyclists 14. Aerobic Endurance analysis 15. Intervals Analysis 16. Training Planning 17. Integration with Oura 18. Aerobic efficiency and cardiac decoupling Other 1. HRV normal values 2. HRV normalization by HR 3. HRV 101 |