Reddit reviews Total Heart Rate Training: Customize and Maximize Your Workout Using a Heart Rate Monitor

I like this book: https://www.amazon.com/Total-Heart-Rate-Training-Customize/dp/1569755620/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1569755620&pd_rd_r=WHMEFJZS5J8KQAA1Z4XJ&pd_rd_w=nF4t6&pd_rd_wg=1Ha6A&psc=1&refRID=WHMEFJZS5J8KQAA1Z4XJ

"Total Heart rate Training"

It talks a lot about the science of how it works as well as gives training plan concepts that work across any cardio sport.

I've been a huge fan of HR based training since way back. I'm not very good at being honest with myself WRT to "perceived effort"; having an objective measurement (as imperfect as it is) is a tremendously helpful insight for me and TBH I couldn't imaging trying to train without an HRM. YMMV.

A long time ago when I was mountainbiking I got into the Benson-Connolly method. This methodology uses five large zones based on MaxHR. This did pretty well for me - I definitely saw improvement as I worked through the program. I developed a spreadsheet that took the avg of each of the various formulas to determine max HR and provided me with the numbers to plug into my HRM. The zone definitions correlated strongly to how I felt in each zone. The method has a strong reliance on fartleks and intervals, and "base building" is used as a verb, but never really defined as a definition.

|SPEED|95%|100%|
|:-|:-|:-|
|ECONOMY|85%|94%|
|STAMINA|75%|84%|
|ENDURANCE|60%|74%|
|REST|1%|59%|

​

This spring, however, coming off of self-induced stress fractures, I decided to try something different. I started on Joe Friel's system (just the book; the site is strongly tilted towards elite triathletes). Joe's system uses seven small zones based on LactateTHReshold. The book is a little short on theory and long on training plans - and as someone who's not an elite athlete trying to podium at events, converting the plan based on several build/peak cycles in a season into a yearlong strategy to "move fast in the backcountry every winter weekend" requires a little creativity and thinking hard about the specific physiological changes each phase is focused on.

|5c ANAEROBIC CAPACITY|107%|\>107%|
|:-|:-|:-|
|5b AEROBIC CAPACITY|103%|106%|
|5a LACTATE THRESHOLD|100%|102%|
|4 SUB LACTATE THRESHOLD|95%|99%|
|3 TEMPO|90%|94%|
|2 AEROBIC THRESHOLD|85%|89%|
|1 ACTIVE RECOVERY|60%|84%|

I determined my LTHR using Garmin's builtin test and built a spreadsheet to calculate the numbers. Note that the book I linked provides tables mapping your LTHR to BPM, but doesn't actually provide the zone percentages. A little bit of algebra confirmed the googlefu. Base building is defined as "aerobic coupling" - where, given a consistent load, your BPM stays constant for the duration of the workout. When I started on my base 9 weeks ago, I had to walk/jog to stay in zone 2 and I was doing ~5mpw. Now, I'm doing ~30mpw and I can do 09:50 miles (on flat terrain) until my knees give out*. This weekend, I ran a 28:15 5k trail race. I do >80% of my miles in zone2, and the other 20% comes from my long trail runs where I push myself up hills but ignore pace.

I'm finding that Joe's system is working very well for me. I'm getting greater gains faster than I did with Benson-Connelly, and I'm not getting injured. My strategy is to transition into Build phase near the end of June, where I'll spend a more time in zone 3-5 doing fartleks and hill ladders for cardiovascular work, while further developing my musculo-skeletal system with harder hypertrophic excercises [I'm building myself a sled, for example].

Once the snow starts coming down, I'll go back to a "build" style weekly plan to maintain fitness during the week, and play hard every weekend in the mountains.

​

*that's a whole different post

I don't know what you mean by energy systems, but for understanding training with heart rate zones, Joe Friel is fairly popular and easy to understand. He has a book that is good, but the essentials are covered on his blog.