Heart Rate Training Part III

Missed Parts I and II? Find them  here and  here.

Training Zones

OK guys, here's where we put all of the numbers we gathered about our tickers and apply it to training.  There are a lot of different charts and variations for the different training zones, but basically, heart rates can be roughly grouped into three cleverly named zones:

Easy - 60-75%

Moderate - 75-85%

Hard - 85-95%

Important:  Here's something I never knew about these zones... they are NOT a percentage of your max heart rate, they are a percentage of your working heart rate... which is a calculation involving both your max and resting heart rate.

Here is an awesome calculator that takes your Max HR, Resting HR, age, and sex to find your personal training zones.  The percentages are a little different than the easy, moderate and hard above, and the names of the zones are schmancier, but it saves you the legwork.

Once you know your heart rate zones, you can start to use them for workouts.  My Garmin has a feature that alerts you if your heart rate goes out of the predetermined range... so I could set it at 60-70% for a long run, 85% and above for a tempo, etc.    There is a ton of information out there on specific workouts using your heart rate, and it's interesting stuff folks.

Here's something cool to remember:

The ultimate goal of training is to be able to run the same distance/speed with a lower heartrate.  I think it is AWESOME to be able to actually see your heart getting healthier. 

Here are some links I found particularly helpful:

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/big-heart-rate-training-index/177.html

http://www.marathonguide.com/training/articles/HeartMonitorTraining.cfm

http://www.runnersweb.com/running/hr_calculator_new.html

Stay tuned for Part IV:  The Double Jogger Heartrate Experiment....

Heart Rate Training Part II

Getting Started With a Heart Rate Monitor

There are two variables you need to find to start using a monitor, and then you're off!

First is resting heart rate.  To do this, strap on your monitor while still in bed in the morning, and lounge around for a few minutes.  The lowest your heart rate goes is your resting rate.  This number is super cool because as you get fitter, this number is going to go dooooooooown.  That's because your heart gets large and strong with training and is able to swoosh more blood around with a single pump than a less fit person.

Average resting heart rate is from about 60-90 beats per minute, with well-trained athletes closer to 40 BPM.  (Source)

Check out this awesome chart to see how yours stacks up:

Second is maximum heart rate.  There are a ton of formulas out there to calculate this, but when I was in school, it was 220 minus your age.  The newer formulas are gender specific, but they're only accurate for a portion of the population, so your own max rate should be found by doing a fitness test, (as long as you've been cleared by a doctor, blah blah blah.) 

There are are lot of different suggested workouts to bring out your max heart rate, but what I've gathered is that you should have a good warm-up, run as hard as you can for 400m or so, rest, repeat a few times.  The highest number you see is your max heart rate. 

Something interesting about that number - it's genetically predetermined and is not an indicator of fitness. 

I haven't been able to do this test yet because I'm not cleared for hard running, but I can't wait to get out there and try it.  Soon....

Oh!  And my fellow twin mama Amy over at Mommy Isn't Here Right Now posed this question:

I have a heart rate monitor that pairs with my Garmin (a 405CX), and I've worn it once or twice. I usually do it just to get an accurate calorie count. What I've discovered? In my first mile, my HR is 180ish. Then it falls to 160, where it remains for the remainder of my run, then returns to baseline within 5 minutes of stopping.

OK, this is exciting stuff guys.  Amy's heart rate (and mine on my run yesterday) is higher at the onset of the run, and then settles into a more normal range.  Two possible explanations:  numero uno - tech issues.  The electrodes aren't making good sustained contact and it's causing goofy HR readings until we get sweaty enough to make good contact.  I don't buy this reason. Reason numero dos - because we haven't really warmed up well enough.   When we run, we need more blood pumping action, and before the heart is fully warmed up to pump the most blood with each pump, it compensates by increasing the heartrate. 

Amy, up for a little experimentation?  I wonder if you did a good solid warmup - brisk walking, jumping jacks... whatever floats your boat if your heartrate would always be in the 160s during your run.

Second part of the question is about Recovery Heart Rate (RHR).   Recovery Heart Rate is an excellent indicator of cardiovascular health.  The healthier your heart is, the more quickly it returns to normal after exercise.  In the information I found, there is a lot of variability regarding exactly how to measure the recovery heart rate, but this is what I'm going by: 

Measure your heart rate while exercising, then walk slowly (but don't stop), and measure it again in two minutes.  Folks who see a decrease of less than 12 BPM should see a doctor, as this is abnormal.  12-25 BPM decrease is considered in the normal range, and over 25 BPM is excellent.

Stay tuned for Part III...

Anyone still with me?  :)

Questions/Comments?

Heart Rate Training Part I

As a lot of you probably know (from my numerous whiny posts on the subject), I've been rehabbing an ankle injury that started in December of last year.  I ran on the stupid thing until April 16th, then finally went to see a physical therapist in May.  I wish I would've gone to see the PT sooner - I lost a LOT of time running this year.

But, all of this time off has forced me to contemplate the way that I train, and all of my introspection and research has led me to a cool discovery.

Heart rate training. 

 I knew NOTHING about heart rate training - I always found it super boring to read about - I definitely skipped over those articles in my Runner's World.  But, now that I know something about it, it is incredibly interesting and I think it'll be part of the way I train from now on.  So, over the next few days I'm going to dole out a bit of info on it, and hopefully someone else out there will get some good knowledge out of it.  But, I totally won't be offended if you treat these posts like I treated the RW articles....

Disclaimer:  I've not an expert, and there is a lot of information out there about heart rate training.  I'm just going to talk about the very basics, along with a few tidbits I find interesting... so this is NOT a comprehensive guide to heart rate training.

So here is Part I of my four part series of posts on heart rate training...  (you don't want to miss part four... I'm going to use myself as a guinea pig for the enjoyment of my dear readers)..

Why Use Heart Rate Training?

Using a heart rate monitors eliminates the guessing game of using perceived effort to pace a workout.  And that, my friends, is awesome. 

It seems like most runners I meet can be classified as "overtrainers" or "undertrainers", and using a monitor is just as valuable for each group. 

For the people that tend to not push themselves enough during a workout, the heart rate monitor allows them to see that they're not actually working very hard, and can push them to run at a faster, harder pace.

And for the people that have a harder time slowing down (especially when overtrained or injured) the monitor can let them know they're working too hard on easy days.

 I think I fall into both of these groups.  Sometimes I need a reminder to slow down on my easy days, and sometimes I need a little something to give me that extra push.. especially on a long tempo run.  Cannot wait to strap on the monitor when I can finally run fast!

Tune in tomorrow for Part II....

Do you do heart rate training?

Anything specific you'd like me to find out pertaining to HRT?

Is this the most boring blog post EVER?