As part of our COROS Coaches initiative, we received multiple questions regarding further clarification on structured workouts and intensity types, and how to best utilize them for during training. Let’s take a dive into our analysis so you can benefit from our coaching insight and improve your own training journey! The topic breakdown is followed by our full coaches’ analysis and feedback on the athlete’s question.

If you would like your own training questions answered, send us an email at coach@coros.com and we’ll be happy to share insights!

What Are the Different Intensity Types?

As a COROS user, you have access to a full library of structured workouts with the option to create your own through the Training Hub. With those workouts come intensity types to focus on. Below you will find 3 of the main intensity types that are used in COROS’ structured workouts.

Intensity Type	Pro’s	Con’s
Heart Rate	True metabolic response of our body from exercise	Delay in response
Pace	Practical measure of running ability	Irrelevant outside of flat terrain
Effort Pace	Reflects true effort displayed in an easy-to-understand running metric	Yet to be discovered!

• Heart rate: The heart responds directly to the energy demand the body requires which makes heart rate the most direct response to training. Unfortunately, HR is also influenced by many external factors such as sleep, nutrition, medication, and others.
• Pace: Incorporating pace-focused workouts during high-intensity intervals solves the issue of heart rate delay. However, pace can quickly become irrelevant when we hit hills, or if the body is experiencing fatigue.
• Effort Pace: Now combining effort to a quick-reacting metric, Effort Pace reflects our personalized effort without significant delay. It’s like heart rate and pace have merged into a new running metric!

How much time does it take for heart rate to adjust to drastic changes in intensity?

Have you ever seen the ocean? Think of heart rate as a big surfing wave. The center of the wave would break first with great force while the sides would gently break a few seconds later. Blood circulation is the same. Major arteries will deliver strong blood pressure to the muscles in need first. The wrist, where your HR is being monitored, receives this delayed response about 60-90 seconds later. This is why a chest/upper arm strap reduces this delay as it monitors closer to the center of the wave (here the heart).

Case-Study

This athlete wants to begin training for a 50km race this upcoming June. As they begin structured workouts, they encountered various possible intensity types to choose from.

Training-Related Question

Which intensity type should I focus on during structured workouts in preparation for my upcoming 50km race?

Coaches’ Feedback

As this race would be considered a long-distance event including significant elevation gain, Effort Pace then comes filling the blanks. In this scenario, heart rate would be influenced by long-duration factors while pace would not be able to keep up hilly running. Thankfully, Effort Pace workouts can be easily used in different types of terrain so athletes can maintain a high level of specificity.

What are the benefits of using Effort Pace during race day?

As the terrain and the environment constantly change throughout a long-duration event, you can rely on Effort Pace to reflect your true effort and pace yourself as you move towards the finish line. If you want to maintain a zone-1 intensity, adjust your perceived effort so that Effort Pace remains in the given zone.

New Effort Pace High-Intensity Workouts

Below you will find 4 different structured workouts to familiarize yourself with Effort Pace and improve your overall fitness in preparation for your upcoming objectives!

• Effort Pace: Beginner Threshold Development
• Effort Pace: Advanced Threshold Development
• Effort Pace: Beginner VO2max Development
• Effort Pace: Advanced VO2max Development

If you would like your own training questions answered, head over to our COROS Coaches Blog for steps to submitting your questions!