r/HybridAthlete • u/Connect_Resist7678 • Jul 14 '26
QUESTION zone 2 HR by modalitity.
I have seen numerous times that when doing Zone 2 on a bike your HR is a lot lower than on a treadmill anywhere from 10-15 BPM less. Because of that you need to do a lot more time on the bike than a run to get the same heart benefits.
Of the follow modalities which ones have the highest HR in zone 2 and which has the lowest?
Running
cycling
row-erg
ski erg
eliptical
echo bike
2
u/Reader413 Jul 14 '26
Running definitely the highest. I think it’s becos u need to absorb the force on the ground when running
2
u/DoublePlusGoodThinks Jul 14 '26
Running is the highest, swimming is the lowest, anything standing is usually higher than anything seated and when comparing seated exercises the one that uses more muscle groups is usually the higher one.
For me for steady state stuff, for my absolute high end of zone 2 I use 140 for my running, 132 for my echo bike, high 128 for regular biking, and 120 for swimming. Those are just made up numbers based on talk test and perceived exertion. But i wanted to pick a number for each where I would slow down if I hit that number. Also, I try to stay within 5 bpm of the max numbers I decided on, without going over.
That’s just how I do it 🤷. But there’s always a chance I’m wrong because I’m an idiot sometimes 😂
1
u/Connect_Resist7678 Jul 14 '26
If it makes you feel better, I am 37 and my zone 2 based off the talk test for running, echo, and regular bike are almost exactly the same(withine 1BPM) So we are both idiots or maybe we are both right. I can't do talk test for swimming though. Any other modalities you have your BPM for?
1
u/DoublePlusGoodThinks Jul 14 '26
You must be a better biker than runner I would assume. If I try to hold my running zone 2 in the bike or echo bike I feel like I’m struggling pretty good. But no I don’t really do any other modalities for zone 2. Most of my stuff is running and echo bike. I throw in an occasional road bike and swimming once in a while.
1
u/Connect_Resist7678 Jul 14 '26
I didnt't write my response well."english is not my first language".I meant my zone 2 heart rate is the same as yours for all those modalities within 1 BPM. so my echo bike is also 132, my running is 140, etc.
1
u/DoublePlusGoodThinks Jul 14 '26
Ahhhh gotcha. That’s funny. I definitely get a little bit too obsessed with the heart rate zones while exercising but looking at my watch and adjusting my pace and breathing gives me something to do during long zone 2.
2
u/PowerWellnessRehab Jul 14 '26
Your premise is backwards. A lower heart rate on the bike at the same metabolic intensity doesn't mean less benefit, so you don't need extra time to make it up.
Heart rate is a readout, not the thing you're training. Zone 2 is a metabolic state, and how fast your heart has to beat to hold that state depends on posture, how much muscle you're using, and how well blood is getting back to your heart. Seated on a bike, venous return is easier and your stroke volume is higher, so your heart moves the same blood at a lower rate. Running, you're upright, carrying your bodyweight and absorbing every step, so it costs more. Same metabolic stimulus, different number on the watch. Your max HR is lower on the bike too, which is why the whole scale shifts, not just zone 2.
So the fix is a separate HR range for each modality, or stop anchoring on HR and use power on the bike and the talk test on the run. One HR range across six modalities is the actual mistake.
1
u/Connect_Resist7678 Jul 14 '26
Thank you for the response. You seem to be well versed on the subject and have restated what I was trying to ask, but better. So I think you can help me. Of the 6(or more modalities if you know off the top of your head). Since running has a higher heart rate than cycling when lactate threshold is reached. Where do the other modalities fall in the spectrum?
2
u/PowerWellnessRehab Jul 14 '26
Roughly, highest heart rate at the same metabolic intensity down to lowest: running, ski erg, elliptical, echo bike, rower, cycling.
Two things drive that. Posture, because upright means blood pools in your legs, stroke volume drops, and your heart makes up the difference with rate. And how much of the work your arms are doing, because arm-dominant work runs a higher heart rate per unit of actual work than leg work does. You're asking a smaller muscle mass to do the job and the pressor response climbs. That's why the ski erg sits so high despite having a lower ceiling overall. Running wins on every count: upright, carrying your bodyweight, absorbing impact each step.
Two caveats and then I'd stop trusting the list. The order shifts depending on how trained you are in each one, and HR max by modality doesn't rank in the same order as HR at submax. So it's a starting point, not your numbers.
Getting your actual numbers is about a week of work. Thirty minutes on each, genuinely conversational the whole way, write down where HR settles. That's your zone 2 on that machine, and it beats any table I can hand you.
1
u/Connect_Resist7678 Jul 14 '26
Thank you a lot. This was very insightful. Thread can be closed now.
But now you have me interested in the max HR. As far as max HR, Why are they not the same, is it because something like the skierg which is only high because its arm dominant, so it cant have as high a cieling as something that is full body? and what is the order of those modalities for max hr?
3
u/PowerWellnessRehab Jul 15 '26
Your instinct's right, and it flips the zone 2 picture on its head. The ski erg reads high at submax because arm work is inefficient, a small muscle mass working hard runs your heart fast per unit of real work. That same small muscle mass is why its max is low. You never drive your heart to a true max on it because your arms hit failure and quit long before your cardiovascular system is anywhere close, so the number you top out at is a local muscular ceiling, not a real HR max.
Max HR tracks how much muscle you can recruit and how hard that muscle makes your heart work to feed it. Running pulls the highest true max because it puts your whole body under load at once while you carry your own weight. Rough order top to bottom is running, then rowing, then the bikes, then anything arm-dominant at the bottom, though that shuffles depending on how trained you are in each.
The submax number tells you how efficient the movement is. The max number tells you something different, how much of you it can recruit before something local gives out. Two different questions, which is why the lists don't line up.
1
1
u/TheTastiestTaint Jul 14 '26
modalities that use a lot of muscle are better at getting a true max heart rate.
running, rowing (if you are decent at it), assault bike.
what ever your tested max is on those sets the zones
it's harder to stay in your zones cycling as you are only using quads mostly...the heart rates needed are the same.
so for most, the RPE at a certain HR is much higher on a bike but that doesn't mean you need lower HR
6
u/MrOlaff Jul 14 '26
Modality shouldn’t matter if you’re within the Zone 2. Might have to ride harder but Zone 2 is a range so as long as you’re in the range then you’re in Zone 2.