Measuring Heart Rates

 I’m pretty young in the multisporting world but I have trained many different ways in my short 4 year career.  I’ve had plenty of success training myself and I have begun to offer adivce to others and they too have benefitted from my experimentation.

The first thing that anyone should know about training by heart rates is that everyone is different.  We as humans are not built equal as we sometimes think.  My Max HR differs from yours and individuals having the same abilities/strengths will differ as well. If you base your "zones" around your Max HR then you will need to find this number.

 

For all the new people that want to start using a heart rate monitor (HRM) I offer this advice, don’t worry about zones yet, just go out and do it.  Pay attention to the numbers when your out exercising and notice how you feel.  When your done, write down the average (and Max, and if your watch will do it, the time in your specified zone).  You’ll find that by doing, you’ll find your own zones.

 

If your a beginner, realize that your numbers are going to be higher than when you gain some fitness.  For example, when I start building in the spring after a long lay off, my long slow runs are slower than they are now because my fitness level based on my heart rate at that time is lower.  To clarify, my speed is usually 5:30 min/km AHR 150 in January and right now I’m running at 4:55 min/km AHR 145.  My fitness is much better so the amount of oxygen my body needs is much lower hence why my HR is lower.  Your zones will change but you have to give them time. 

 

Finding your MAX HR is tough.  You really have to want to find that number.  If you think about it, your Max HR is like the maximum rev limit in a car.  You have to floor your car to get it up to such a high speed.  Doing this puts a lot of stress on the motor.  A car cannot run at a maximum level for very long or it will burn out.

So by using this analogy,  getting your MAX HR is very stressful on you.  If you want to find it I suggest doing it by running (I don’t think it’s possible to get it by cycling as you need more body parts moving and cycling only involves the legs.  XC skiing would probably be the best as it moves the arms and legs thus requiring more oxygen from the body). 

 

The things for this test that you need are: Heart rate monitor and a friend who is willing to help you achieve your goal.  Get a friend who is faster than you and it will help further accurately predict your number.  Use a track like the one in Mooneys Bay or an indoor one.  I’ll give you the exact workout I did to find mine.  The set was 200ms, 400, 800 and 1K at max effort (I mean like tongue between the legs hard).  Each one was a little harder with the 1K being full out.  I was in a group which helped me push my limits.  Your fast friend comes in handy because you need to chase him/her.  Most people can’t push themselves on their own but put them in a race and they will go so much faster.  Race this friend every lap. 

If your game for the test make sure your HRM is working properly.  I don’t know how many times I’ve seen my Max HR to be 220 after a run.  What I mean is your watch is picking signals up from other things (power lines for example).  Make sure in the warm up you check to see if your HRM is working.

I guess this isn’t the time to say I don’t use my Max HR for much of anything.  You see I believe in zones but not based on Max HR.  I’ve spent enough time getting to know my body that I know what numbers are good and what are bad.  In fact in each discipline of triathlon, I have different zones that I train by.  My easy bike ride AHRs are usually 10-15 beats lower than my easy runs.  My AHRs are also the same for my hard hard bike and runs. 

Basically I found that a lot of articles supported long slow distance runs but where they had their limits, I found they didn’t work for me.  For example if I run with a really low heart rate (<70% of my Max HR) that the pace is too slow.  If I run at this pace I will not improve which should be the goal.  I also found that if I run too fast (78-80% Max HR) I won’t recover as well.  So I needed to be in between.  I  try to keep mine at 72-75% (I just use numbers for mine instead of percentages, like I said before I don’t use the Max HR for much but it’s easier to help explain myself).  For cycling I found that if I went for a long ride and my AHR is >70% I would be really tired after.  I found that by going easier <70%, I could still get a good workout but not be wiped out.

You’ll find that if you take the time to learn about yourself, you can train smarter, more efficiently and hopefully go faster.  Just remember though that everyone is different.  What you read in a magazine or book may work for one person but it might not be right for you.  Just pay attention to yourself and over time, you’ll be able to see what really works right for you.

Happy Trainin!