Heart Rate Training
Posted January 21st, 2007 at 2:00 PM by Emily Hoskins
Section: Running & Training, Training Tips, Health & Fitness, Exercise
Monitoring your heart rate during exercise is an excellent way to improve performance, avoid overtraining, and track your progress. Heart rate training is popular because it is easy to monitor and for most athletes if offers a practical way to measure exercise intensity. Heart rate training relies on the fact that as your exercise intensity increases so does your body’s demand for oxygen.
It is important to monitor your exercise intensity because (1) there are different physiological adaptations associated with training that depends on the intensity being implicated, and (2) you can manipulate your entire training program to reach your own personal goals based upon your specific sport or event.
Drawbacks of Heart Rate Training:
There are a few limitations to heart rate training that should be discussed so you can try to avoid them. The first problem is that most heart rate training programs are based upon your individual maximum heart rate (MHR). The rule of thumb for finding your max heart rate has been subtracting your age from 220. However, this is not very accurate because according to this equation all 40 year olds would have the same heart rate, which we know is not the case.
The second problem is that even if you can accurately calculate max hear rate, simply giving standard exercise perceptions based upon those numbers does not allow for any personal adaptations. For example research has found that performance improves when you increase your lactate threshold.
You can improve your lactate threshold by exercising for 25 min 3 times a week at 85-90% of your VO2 max, but this may not be the case for everybody. Along with maximum heart rate the only way to accurately determine the correct heart rate training zone for increasing lactate threshold is by pricy and inconvenient lab tests. Besides these few limitations heart rate training still offers an unbiased rule for determining exercise intensity.
Determining Your Heart Rate:
As stated above using age as a prediction for max heart rate is not the most accurate. The Karvonen formula takes into account an individual’s resting heart rate (RHR) which accounts for individual differences making it more specific to you. Determining your RHR is extremely easy. Find a quiet place to lie down and relax. After 20 minuets take your pulse (beats/min) and that is your RHR. As you become fit you will find that your RHR will lower so check your RHR monthly to keep it accurate. The Karvonen formula is: Max heart rate – resting heart rate x heart rate zone + resting heart rate.
Here is an example: A 35 year old has an RHR of 65 bpm. and wants to train for a 10k run. The heart rate zone that endurance athletes train at is 70-80% of their MHR with 70% being the lower limit and 80% the upper limit.
Maximum heart rate = 185bpm (220-35)
185 - 65 = 120bpm (this is called the working heart rate)
120 x 0.7 = 84bpm (70% zone)
84 + 65 = 149bpm (lower limit)
185 - 65 = 120bpm (this is called the ‘working heart rate)
120 x 0.8 = 96bpm (80% zone)
94 + 65 = 161bpm (upper limit)
Target heart rate zone = 149 - 161pbm
Heart Rate Training Zones:
There are four hear rate training zones and within each of these there are subtle physiological differences that improve your over all fitness.
Energy Efficient/Recovery Zone 60-70% MHR:
Training within this zone develops your basic endurance. All recovery running should be completed at a maximum of 70% of your maximum heart rate. This will be taxing on your aerobic system and the body’s major source of fuel will be fat. So if you work out in this zone long enough you can lose weight and replenish your muscles with glycogen which has been depleted due to faster paced workout sessions.
Research has suggested that when you cycle, swim, row or run at a modest intensity of only 50% VO2max (about 69% MHR), fat provides about 50% of the calories you need to keep going for the first hour or so. If you keep going, fat becomes even more generous, providing around 70% of the total energy after two hours and 80% or more if your work duration exceeds three hours. If you increase the intensity then the Fat contribution decreases - at 75% VO2max fat provides 33% of the energy.
Aerobic Zone 70-80% MHR:
Training within this zone will develop your cardiovascular system. Your body has the ability to improve the delivery of oxygen to the working muscles and carbon dioxide away from them. After training in this zone you will become stronger and able to run some of your longer runs at up to 75% of your max and will give you the benefits of fat burning as well as improved aerobic capacity.
Anaerobic Zone 80-90% MHR:
Training in this zone will develop your lactic acid system. Until now fat was being predominately used as the main fuel source. When exercising at 80-90% of your max heart rate your body reduces the amount of fat utilized for energy and now relies upon glycogen stored in the muscles. The byproduct of burning glycogen for energy is lactic acid- a runners worst enemy. There comes a point where your body cannot remove the circulating lactic acid faster than it is being produced. This is called your lactate threshold. Lactate threshold happens at an individual heart rate for everyone and is associated with a rapid increase in heart rate and a slowing of your pace. Through training you can increase your threshold and delay the onset of fatigue.
Heart Rate Training to Increase Lactate Threshold
Here’s a simple heart rate training program to increase lactate threshold:
- Assuming your heart rate at lactate threshold is 170bpm
- Start by completing two 6-10 minute runs approximately 5% below the lactate threshold heart rate. In this case it would be 162bpm.
- Rest for 2-3 minutes between runs and complete this twice a week.
- Gradually build up the length of each run or the number of repetitions (up to 6). Also increase your target heart rate up to your threshold (170bpm).
- The target eventually is to reach a sustained 20minute run at or just above your threshold heart rate.
- Complete a thorough cool down at the end of each session. Also re-test your lactate threshold every 6-8 weeks.
Red Line Zone 90-100% MHR:
Training within this zone is only possible for short durations. It helps to train your fast twitch muscle fibers which build speed and power. You must be very fit in order to train in this zone. Interval training is the best way reach 90-100% of your max heart rate.
Finding out your RHR and MHR is easy and training in the different zones will help you to become more fit and reach your personal goals. Give it a try!
Research sources and for more information: [Sport Fitness Advisor], [Marathon Guide], [Runners World], [Cool Running], [Brian Mac]
***Note: We encourage EVERYONE to see a doctor before altering their diet, taking a supplement and/or performing athletic, fitness or other strenuous physical activity. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information, instruction, opinion or advice contained in the content. Please also see our complete disclaimer.***
Tags: beats, heart rate, heart rate monitor, heart rate training, HRM, Kavonen formula, lactate threshold, lactic acid, lactic acid threshold, maximum heart rate, MHR, performance, resting heart rate, RHR, track, training, vo2max
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