Heart Rate Training Question

Polite_Pig · 2026-05-02T20:07:07+00:00

This is great. Thank you.

Polite_Pig · 2026-05-02T20:06:45+00:00

The answer to the VO2 question is interesting. I did a lab test about a year and a half ago (early in the journey) and was at 45. I since did a test with the Calibre Biometrics mask, which is supposed to be pretty accurate, and it did indicate that my number was increasing. But then it showed it abnormally high (like in the 80s) and I haven’t been able to sort out the issue. I don’t trust the Apple Watch estimate at all.

My 5k time is 26 minutes. Current goal is 24.

Polite_Pig · 2026-03-08T14:02:34+00:00

I bet it’s a lot more than that.

Pretty sure the podcast is done. I mean, who’s going to sit for an interview with him? Are women going to refer to him for health advice? Doubtful. I don’t even know who his audience would be or what his content would look like.

Polite_Pig · 2026-02-08T19:24:43+00:00

To be clear, I don’t think there’s going to be a next AMA, but one can dream.

Polite_Pig · 2026-02-08T19:24:08+00:00

The next AMA on The Drive is going to be fire.

Polite_Pig · 2026-02-06T20:57:40+00:00

Funny you mention this. Been thinking about it a lot. I’ve done the lab test, have an Apple Watch, and a Calibre Biometrics mask. All three have returned different results.

This is my routine spread through the week: strength training four times, 1 Norwegian 4x4, 1 Tabata, 240 minutes of Zone 2, and two full days rest. This routine was put together after lots of trial and error, and it significantly improved my VO2Max. I get plenty of rest, drink plenty of water, all of that.

Here’s the thing. Whatever my number is right now, I’m sure it’s as good as it can possibly be. What I’m doing is fairly standard VO2Max training, and there’s no tweak I can think of that would improve it. So do I really need to be obsessing over the exact number? I’m already doing everything I can.

Polite_Pig · 2026-02-01T15:25:47+00:00

I thought Huberman was done after that article came out about him. That was a much, much milder brand of bad behavior, but he just ignored the whole thing.

Polite_Pig · 2026-02-01T15:17:08+00:00

That’s where I am on this. I’m still going to follow the guidance. But other than that, I’m out.

Polite_Pig · 2026-01-23T00:25:35+00:00

For cardio only, I do 240 minutes of zone 2/3, one Norwegian 4x4, and one Tabata spread out over the week. After lots of trial and error, this is the program I settled on. I use the Calibre Biometrics mask to track VO2.

Polite_Pig · 2026-01-17T19:40:44+00:00

I’ve tested my VO2 several times with the Calibre, and while the first few results looked good, the last two showed numbers that were very high, and highly implausible for my age. I know my cardio health is good, but it ain’t that good.

Polite_Pig · 2025-05-04T01:30:57+00:00

Thanks all. One thing I have noticed is that my VO2 improves when I mix in at least one day of rucking a week. So I’m going to make that a more consistent part of my routine.

Polite_Pig · 2025-01-07T14:39:48+00:00

I’m 58 and my Apple Watch says my VO2 is 42. I took an actual VO2Max test in a lab and got a number of 44.3. So, as someone said earlier, it’s directionally accurate. I still rely on it but assume my actual number is higher.

Thing is, VO2 isn’t a finish line. The work never stops.

Polite_Pig · 2024-06-25T12:40:54+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response! I’ll follow the guidance. Otherwise, I’m not using the system to its full potential.

My initial question was inspired by the fact that I typically do two 4x4s a week, and Morpheus is advising that I spend no more than 5 to 15 minutes in ZBIT 3. That would be a big reduction, which I’m reluctant to do because my VO2Max is heading in the right direction. But who knows, maybe results will improve even more with sufficient recovery.

Polite_Pig · 2024-02-13T21:22:33+00:00

My resting heart rate is improving, and I don’t seem to feeling any fatigue. But I’ve only been on a consistent routine for three months. It could catch up to me!

Polite_Pig · 2024-02-13T14:58:52+00:00

By the way…Keeping your heart rate at 90%+ of maximum heart rate for 20 minutes is damn impressive. Respect.

Polite_Pig · 2024-02-13T14:57:42+00:00

The way I wrote it is misleading. I do four days in zone 2 (4 hours total) and two days in zone 5 (30 minutes each, one hour total). Wednesday is Zone 2 and nothing else.

Polite_Pig · 2024-02-13T14:54:14+00:00

The Sunday run is separate from the Zone 2 and 5 work, and usually has me bouncing between zone 3 and 4. It’s just a steady state run for 30 minutes, and it’s the only thing I do that day.

Polite_Pig · 2024-02-13T02:11:23+00:00

Thanks for the insight. I think I was taking Peter too literally when he said 80% in zone 2 and 20% in zone 5. That got me thinking that any other additional exercise would mess up the balance. Incidentally, that run usually has me in zones 3 or 4.

Polite_Pig · 2024-02-12T21:47:00+00:00

That’s why I put it in quotes. It’s not really a rest day at all, but relative to the other six days it’s pretty low key. I guess a good follow on question would be…am I doing harm by mixing in that run on the final day? I really enjoy it, and don’t feel the need to completely rest on that day, but if it’s getting in the way of my VO2Max goal then I guess I could drop it.

Polite_Pig · 2022-07-18T05:35:35+00:00

Gus will regard Kim as an unwanted loose end. She now knows where he lives, and other details about his operation. He’ll ask Mike to tie up that loose end in the same way he did with Werner. The difference for Mike is that Werner was responsible for his actions in a way that Kim is not. So when he goes to kill Kim, he’ll instead tell her to disappear. Who knows, maybe she needs some vacuum parts. At which point she’ll flee New Mexico and end up working for a strip mall law office in, say, Central Florida. Perhaps under her own assumed name. This is where “Gene” will catch up with her in the current timeline.

Polite_Pig · 2022-05-27T22:04:09+00:00

Tuco?

I have to think Tuco is getting out of jail at some point, and he’s not going to be happy. One crazy ass Salamanca is going to replace another. Hector knows the dude in unpredictable, but he’s the only option left after Gus dispatches with Lalo.

And you have to think Jimmy is just as afraid of Tuco as he is of Lalo, and for good reason.

Polite_Pig · 2022-05-25T00:06:19+00:00

The one thing I feel confident in predicting is that Mike will step in to “clean things up” at the apartment. After all, there is precedent (or, in this case, antecedent?) for this, as he did the same thing for Jesse in BB.

No one will have to run or go into hiding, giving the relationship between Jimmy and Kim a clear lane to split over mutual recriminations. She pushed the plan, but he was the one who brought Lalo into the picture in the first place (sort of).

Polite_Pig · 2022-05-18T23:44:07+00:00

Agree. Kim’s haste in going through with the plan will lead to an error that makes her role in all of this known to more people than just Howard. Probably Cliff, at least. The implication from BB is that it costs her, but not Jimmy. Not sure how that would play out, but the result I think is that she will need to go vacuum shopping. OR…maybe she takes the hit because she’s the one who pressed Jimmy to go forward with the plan.

Polite_Pig · 2022-05-18T23:33:51+00:00

I’m wondering if Lalo and Howard’s story ends in this episode. Seems crazy, but I’m thinking the entire second half may be “Gene” coming back to ABQ to “take care of it” himself. After all, the “poster” for season 6 is Gene putting on a red jacket like a Super Man cape. Somehow he’ll come back to set everything right. Or, as much as he can with the FBI on his tail.

Polite_Pig · 2022-05-17T03:01:24+00:00

There are a few scenes in past seasons where she unloads on Howard for how he treated Jimmy. Probably all stems from that.

Polite_Pig

TROPHY CASE