Power, Pace, Heart Rate, Lactate, RPE — Now 100% of It, in Comprehensive Coaching.
Power is the gold standard, and we’ll always recommend it. But every metric we give you is anchored to the same tested physiology — so they all agree, and none of them are guesswork.
Most training plans hand you zones assembled from four unrelated sources: FTP percentages for power, an age formula for heart rate, a race-time estimate for pace, and a generic 1–10 chart for effort. None of them were derived from the same physiological event — which is exactly why athletes end up with zones that contradict each other and no idea which number to believe.
We do it differently. One physiological model, translated into every metric you can measure. And as of now, ECHO Comprehensive athletes get all of it.
Power Is the Gold Standard
Let’s not be coy about it. A power meter measures your output directly. It doesn’t lag behind a change in effort, it doesn’t drift upward in the heat, and it isn’t distorted by hills, wind, or a bad night’s sleep. If you want the most precise training possible, get a power meter. We recommend one to every athlete who can make it work.
But a gold-standard instrument is only as good as the reference it’s pointed at. Which is why everything starts with testing.
Everything Anchors to Your Tested CP and CS
Every ANC athlete gets tested for Critical Power (CP) on the bike and Critical Speed (CS) — pace — on the run. Those tests locate your two real physiological turn points: LT1, where lactate first rises above baseline, and LT2, the maximal metabolic steady state that separates sustainable from unsustainable.
That’s a meaningful upgrade over the industry default. FTP is a convention — a 20-minute test with a population-average correction applied to everybody. CP is a parameter, derived from the actual relationship between how hard you can go and how long you can hold it. Research comparing them head-to-head found they are not interchangeable, with CP typically landing meaningfully higher than FTP in the same rider. Build your zones from the wrong anchor and every boundary shifts.
Your Zones, in Every Metric
Once we know where your LT1 and LT2 sit, every row below is the same physiology read a different way — not a separate system.
Bike Training Zones
LT1 at 79% of CP · LT2 at 100% of CP
| Metric | ZR Recovery |
Z1 Aerobic Base |
Z2 Aerobic Endurance |
Z3 Threshold Work |
VO2 Max Ceiling |
| RPE (1–10) | 1–2 | 3–4 | 5–6 | 7–8 | 9–10 |
| POWER (% Critical Power) |
<65% | 65–79% | 79–89% | 89–100% | >100% |
| HEART RATE (% Threshold HR) |
≤76% | 80–86% | 86–93% | 93–100% | >100% |
| LACTATE (mmol/L) |
~0.7–1.5 | ~1.0–2.5 | ~2.0–4.0 | ~4.0–8.0 | ~8.0–15.0 |
| PURPOSE | Active recovery, flush metabolites | Build aerobic foundation, fat utilization | Increase aerobic capacity, raise LT1 | Raise threshold (LT2), improve sustain | Boost max oxygen uptake, peak power |
Run Training Zones
LT1 at 85% of CS · LT2 at 105% of CS · Running power gets its own row, anchored to the same model.
| Metric | ZR Recovery |
Z1 Aerobic Base |
Z2 Aerobic Endurance |
Z3 Threshold Work |
VO2 Max Ceiling |
| RPE (1–10) | 1–2 | 3–4 | 5–6 | 7–8 | 9–10 |
| PACE (% Critical Speed) |
<75% | 75–85% | 85–95% | 95–105% | >105% |
| POWER (% Critical Power) |
<75% | 75–85% | 85–95% | 95–105% | >105% |
| HEART RATE (% Threshold HR) |
≤76% | 80–86% | 86–93% | 93–100% | >100% |
| LACTATE (mmol/L) |
0.5–1.0 | 1.0–1.5 | 1.5–2.5 | 2.5–4.0 | 4.0–10+ |
Why This Is More Accurate Than the Standard Approach
Zones sit at LT1 and LT2 — where your physiology actually changes. Not at round numbers someone picked for a generic chart.
Heart rate is a percentage of Threshold HR, not max HR. This is the big one. Research shows heart rate at the first threshold varies between athletes with a coefficient of variation of 20–29% — LT1 can land anywhere from 45% to 70% of max HR, and LT2 from 55% in untrained athletes to 93% in elites. A percentage-of-max system puts two different athletes in two different physiological worlds while telling them they’re in the same zone. Anchoring to a measured threshold fixes that.
There’s a lactate column — so the model can be checked. Most zone charts can’t be validated against anything. These can be confirmed directly with blood lactate.
Every row agrees with every other row. Your Z2 by power, by heart rate, and by feel all describe the same physiological state — because they came from the same source.
That last point unlocks the thing experienced athletes care about most: once your metrics are aligned, the gaps between them become real information. Heart rate climbing while your power stays flat late in a long ride is a genuine durability signal your coach can act on — not noise from mismatched systems.
You Don’t Have to Train by Power. But Your Zones Should Come From CP, Not FTP. The full research breakdown — why FTP is a convention and CP is a parameter, why max-HR percentages fail, and what that means for whichever metric you train with.
Don’t Have a Power Meter? Here’s How We Coach You
“Just train by heart rate” is not a method. Here’s what we actually do for each metric — and every bit of this is included in Comprehensive coaching.
If you train by heart rate
We field-test your threshold heart rate — the HR you hold at LT2 — and build every zone as a percentage of that, never of an estimated max. That’s the fix for a real problem: HR at the first threshold varies between athletes with a coefficient of variation of 20–29%, and LT1 can land anywhere from 45% to 70% of max HR. We also teach you to expect drift — HR climbing on a hot or long session is normal, not lost fitness — and we prescribe HR for steady aerobic work while using pace or RPE for short intervals, where HR’s 30–120 second lag makes it unusable.
If you train by pace
On the run you’re not compromising at all. Critical Speed is a gold standard in its own right — measured exactly like Critical Power, and validated by research showing VO₂ stays stable just below CS but rises to VO₂max just above it. A GPS watch plus a proper CS test gives you a physiologically valid anchor. We prescribe pace on controlled terrain and switch you to RPE or HR on hills, trails, and hot days, instead of pretending the number still holds.
If you train by feel
We don’t hand you a textbook 1–10 chart. During testing we record what your zones feel like to you — breathing pattern, talk test, effort sense at LT1 and LT2 — and build your personal RPE anchors from that. Your 5 is your 5, measured rather than assumed. And RPE has an advantage no device has: it integrates fatigue, heat, fuel, sleep, and stress all at once. That’s why we use it as a cross-check on every session, even for athletes with a full sensor setup.
An athlete on heart rate and feel, with zones anchored to tested thresholds, is training more accurately than an athlete with an expensive power meter running off FTP percentages and an age-based max HR. The anchor beats the instrument.
Where You Get It
ECHO 1-on-1 Comprehensive — the complete metric suite, 100%. Power, pace, heart rate, RPE, and lactate targets across bike and run, all derived from your own tested CP and CS — plus metabolic curve analysis, physiological profiling, StressLogic weekly load management, block periodization, and race-specific fueling and pacing.
Foundational 1-on-1 — the same CP/CS testing and the same physiological model, with a real coach building a real plan around your goals and the tools you train with.
Train to the standard, in every metric
We’re accepting new 1-on-1 athletes and your first month is on us. Reply to inquire, or start with free CP/CS testing.
Claim Your Free Month → Get Free Zone Testing →Go deeper: What is CP & CS? → · Zones Cheat Sheet → · Physiological Profiles → · Meet Our Coaches →
- Mackey J, Horner K. “What is known about the FTP…a systematic review.” Journal of Sports Sciences, 2021.
- Karsten B, et al. “Relationship Between the Critical Power Test and a 20-min Functional Threshold Power Test in Cycling.” Frontiers in Physiology, 2020. Read →
- Nixon RJ, et al. “Critical speed better represents maximal metabolic steady state in well-trained runners.” Eur J Appl Physiol, 2021. Read →
- Jones AM, et al. “The maximal metabolic steady state: redefining the ‘gold standard’.” Physiological Reports, 2019. Read →
- “Zone 2 Intensity: Individual Variability in Submaximal Exercise Intensity Boundaries.” Read →
Angela Naeth Coaching — durable, sustainable performance grounded in physiology. The system is the standard. The coach is the relationship.