I feel like there are 2 types of endurance athletes out there. Those who wear, understand, and rely on their heart rate (HR) monitors, GPS devices, power meters, etc., and those who want nothing to do with HR monitors, power meters, or anything number oriented. I'm not here to change anybody's mind about anything. Just to present some information about how measuring HR can be used in your training. I guess there is one more type of athlete, those who have a HR monitor and would like to use it more, but whenever they can find which gear box it is in, the batteries are dead and so the poor HR monitor sits on the counter until December when they tell their spouse they want a new battery for Christmas. That would be my category. But I have resolved to start using this training tool more consistently. To help inspire me, I'm doing a VO2 max test next week so I will have my most recent HR zones to refer to!
Measuring HR
Measuring HR can be a great tool, as long as you understand the many interrelated factors that go into HR training. HR is affected by blood flow, fitness, and the amount of oxygen being transported by the circulating blood. Other factors include: air temperature, the clothing you wear, your hydration status, altitude, and state of health.
Resting HR
It is a smart idea to know your resting HR. You measure your resting HR in the morning, before you get out of bed. Even before you sit up actually. Measure your resting HR by placing a finger on a pulse point and watching a clock. Do it for a full minute or 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Do this for a week, so you get an idea of your average resting HR. Once you have done this and know what your resting HR is, you can measure it each morning, and know if there are changes. A consistent increase in your resting HR can indicate overtraining, dehydration, poor nutritional status, or sickness.
HR and Exercise
Measuring your HR during exercise can help keep you "honest" in your workout. For example, on a tempo day, your HR should be in Zone 3. Once you have established your HR zones,(Joe Friel has a
quick guide to help you) you will be able to know how hard to go during your tempo run/ride. Or if you are just starting out and you don't think you can keep a certain pace for a 20 minute tempo run/ride, no worries. Just make sure you stay in Zone 3 and you will reap the rewards even if your pace is a bit slower. Sometimes our perceived exertion can be off for any number of reasons. Monitoring your HR can help push you to be where you need to be for that specific workout.
It also can help keep you to stay easy on an easy/recovery day. So there you are, headed out on an easy ride/run, fully intending to stay in zones 1-2. But then, here come a few riders or runners behind you. You start thinking "Oh great, they are going to think I'm super slow." They get closer and make the pass. Grrrr, "I know I can hang with them, or maybe really throw the hammer down and cruise out of sight." So tempting to throw your easy day out the window and turn this into a tempo or interval day. You start to increase your speed. BEEP BEEP BEEP! You trusty friend and HR monitor freaks out as you leave Zone 2. And here you have a choice, listen to your head, your coach, or your training schedule. Or listen to your prideful, competitive, kill it on every workout, idiot self. You ease up, let the others go, get back into Zone 2 and COMPLETELY REDEEM YOURSELF. Good call. Now you can reap the numerous benefits of an easier Zone 2 workout. There is a time for killer, competitive, workouts. But it is not on an easy day. Good on your HR monitor!
Limitations of HR monitors
While using HR to train can be a very useful tool, there are some limitations to relying solely on HR. When terrain, temperature, clothing, altitude, etc., affect your HR, you may be doing more harm than good when you try to hit a certain HR. In these circumstances, using power, pace, RPE (listening to your body), will be better indicators of how hard to go.
*Here is a good reference for
HR zones, after you have established yours.
I feel like there are 2 types of endurance athletes out there. Those who wear, understand, and rely on their heart rate (HR) monitors, GPS devices, power meters, etc., and those who want nothing to do with HR monitors, power meters, or anything number oriented. I'm not here to change anybody's mind about anything. Just to present some information about how measuring HR can be used in your training. I guess there is one more type of athlete, those who have a HR monitor and would like to use it more, but whenever they can find which gear box it is in, the batteries are dead and so the poor HR monitor sits on the counter until December when they tell their spouse they want a new battery for Christmas. That would be my category. But I have resolved to start using this training tool more consistently. To help inspire me, I'm doing a VO2 max test next week so I will have my most recent HR zones to refer to!
Measuring HR
Measuring HR can be a great tool, as long as you understand the many interrelated factors that go into HR training. HR is affected by blood flow, fitness, and the amount of oxygen being transported by the circulating blood. Other factors include: air temperature, the clothing you wear, your hydration status, altitude, and state of health.
Resting HR
It is a smart idea to know your resting HR. You measure your resting HR in the morning, before you get out of bed. Even before you sit up actually. Measure your resting HR by placing a finger on a pulse point and watching a clock. Do it for a full minute or 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Do this for a week, so you get an idea of your average resting HR. Once you have done this and know what your resting HR is, you can measure it each morning, and know if there are changes. A consistent increase in your resting HR can indicate overtraining, dehydration, poor nutritional status, or sickness.
HR and Exercise
Measuring your HR during exercise can help keep you "honest" in your workout. For example, on a tempo day, your HR should be in Zone 3. Once you have established your HR zones,(Joe Friel has a
quick guide to help you) you will be able to know how hard to go during your tempo run/ride. Or if you are just starting out and you don't think you can keep a certain pace for a 20 minute tempo run/ride, no worries. Just make sure you stay in Zone 3 and you will reap the rewards even if your pace is a bit slower. Sometimes our perceived exertion can be off for any number of reasons. Monitoring your HR can help push you to be where you need to be for that specific workout.
It also can help keep you to stay easy on an easy/recovery day. So there you are, headed out on an easy ride/run, fully intending to stay in zones 1-2. But then, here come a few riders or runners behind you. You start thinking "Oh great, they are going to think I'm super slow." They get closer and make the pass. Grrrr, "I know I can hang with them, or maybe really throw the hammer down and cruise out of sight." So tempting to throw your easy day out the window and turn this into a tempo or interval day. You start to increase your speed. BEEP BEEP BEEP! You trusty friend and HR monitor freaks out as you leave Zone 2. And here you have a choice, listen to your head, your coach, or your training schedule. Or listen to your prideful, competitive, kill it on every workout, idiot self. You ease up, let the others go, get back into Zone 2 and COMPLETELY REDEEM YOURSELF. Good call. Now you can reap the numerous benefits of an easier Zone 2 workout. There is a time for killer, competitive, workouts. But it is not on an easy day. Good on your HR monitor!
Limitations of HR monitors
While using HR to train can be a very useful tool, there are some limitations to relying solely on HR. When terrain, temperature, clothing, altitude, etc., affect your HR, you may be doing more harm than good when you try to hit a certain HR. In these circumstances, using power, pace, RPE (listening to your body), will be better indicators of how hard to go.
*Here is a good reference for
HR zones, after you have established yours.
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