ASK FLASH:
You Gotta Have Heart … Rate
Posted April 15th, 2007 at 4:45 PM by Joshua Flash Gordon
Section: Running & Training, Columns, Training Tips, Health & Fitness, Ask Flash
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Heart Rate Training is an invaluable tool to ensure that you are doing the right effort for the purpose of any given run. It provides a great mechanism for making sure your easy days are sufficiently easy and your hard days are sufficiently hard.
Before getting to the questions, let’s take a quick peak at some of the formulas used to calculate maximum heart rate.
There are several different ways to estimate your maximum heart rate based on your age and sex. The preferred method is to do a test and the best known formulas are:
| Formula | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Age adjusted | MHR = 220 - age | MHR = 226 - age |
| Ball State University | MHR = 214 – (0.8 x age) | MHR = 209 – (0.9 x age) |
| Londeree & Moeschberger | MHR = 206.3 - (0.711 x age) | MHR = 206.3 - (0.711 x age) |
| Miller et al | MHR = 217- (0.85 x age) | MHR = 217- (0.85 x age) |
Please note that there is a wide margin of error around each of these estimates, of up to 15-20 beats per minute. You can try to use a formula but a true test is the best bet - notice the variety above.
The numbers here are sample numbers for a 31 year old male. Use this calculator to assist in finding your own. In terms of HR monitors, I really like the Polar HRMs.
| Formula | Example: 31 year old male | |
|---|---|---|
| Age adjusted | MHR = 220 - age | 189 |
| Ball State University | MHR = 214 – (0.8 x age) | 189 |
| Londeree & Moeschberger | MHR = 206.3 - (0.711 x age) | 184 |
| Miller et al | MHR = 217- (0.85 x age) | 191 |
Note: I have found the Miller, et al to most closely correlate to my tested Max HR.
Now, what do you do once you know your maximum HR?
You can calculate your own training heart rate using the Kavonen Formula, but first you’ll have to determine your Resting Heart Rate and Heart Rate Reserve:
1. Resting Heart Rate (RHR) = your pulse at rest (the best time to get a true resting heart rate is first thing in the morning before you get out of bed).
2. Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) = formulas above or test
3. Heart Rate Reserve (HRR)= Maximum Heart Rate - Resting Heart Rate
Once you have your Heart Rate Reserve, you can calculate your training heart rate:
Examples:
4. (Heart Rate Reserve*.85) + Resting Heart Rate = anerobic training zone (85%)
5. (Heart Rate Reserve *.60) + Resting Heart Rate = Lower end of the recovery training zone
Essentially, you will want to train in ranges that fall within the training zone.
Some basic guidelines to follow:
Long, slow runs, easy or recovery runs
Training in this zone improves the ability of your heart to pump blood and improve the muscles’ ability to utilize oxygen. The body becomes more efficient at feeding the working muscles, and learns to metabolize fat as a source of fuel. HR = 60-70%
Aerobic zone or “target heart rate zone”
Most effective for overall cardiovascular fitness. Increases your cardio-respitory capacity: that is, the your ability to transport oxygenated blood to the muscle cells and carbon dioxide away from the cells. Also effective for increasing overall muscle strength. HR = 70-80%
Anaerobic zone
The point at which the body cannot remove lactic acid as quickly as it is produced is called the lactate threshold or anaerobic threshold. It generally occurs at about 80-88% of the Heart Rate Reserve. Training in this zone helps to increase the lactate threshold, which improves performance. Training in this zone is hard: your muscles are tired, your breathing is heavy. HR = 80-90%
VO2 max - “Red line zone”
You should only train in this zone if you’re very fit, and only for very short periods of time. Lactic acid develops quickly as you are operating in oxygen debt to the muscles The value of training in this zone is you can increase your fast twitch muscle fibers which increase speed. HR = 90-100%
This is not meant to be a comprehensive treatise on HR training. For a useful book for any runner’s bookshelf, consider Roy Benson’s The Runner’s Coach which gives solid treatment to HR training.
On to the specific questions…
Q. Hi Flash- Just started using a HRM in my training runs and I have a VERY hard time keeping my pace slow enough during LSD. Target: 65-75% of my max. Especially, the second half when I’m getting tired. I can’t keep the pace slow enough and it’s a pain to stop and walk then start running again. Seems like a tiny window! Not that I’m super-fast but I know it’s important to get the benefits of the LSD. What am I doing wrong? I calc’d my max HR using 220- my age (42)x .5 I’m female w/ my best marathon @ 4:16 and I want to get better! thanks!
~ Mid-pack Mom from Florida
A. Start by either using a more accurate formula or having someone supervise you through a Max HR test. I recommend a professional trainer for doing a Max HR test because I don’t want the guilty conscience of anyone dropping dead on my advice. It certainly can be done with a friend supervising but PLEASE be careful. Warm-up well and cool-down slowly.
Then use the Kavonen formula above to fine-tune your training range numbers. I suspect you will see some movement in your numbers. The other reality is that you may have been training too hard before and are now going to need to allow your body the time to adapt in the right range. One of my good friends, Julia, had this very experience when she first committed to HR training. My brother did, too! Keep learning more about your own body as it relates to running and let me know how things go for you.
Q. Using a Polar HRM, my maximum HR is 208. In my 1/2 marathon this past weekend, my MHR was 204 and my average HR was 189 (the second half of the race I was probably averaging 193). I race a lot at age 40 and feel fine, but I’m wondering why I’m consistently racing in Maximum Effort Zone, also known as the Red Line Zone. I’m also wondering why it seems my MHR is high. If I sprinted really hard at the end of a race, I think I could reach a MHR of 210.
~Mark in Redline, Kansas
A. Mark, similar advice for you. Fine tune what your Max HR is. I don’t know too many of us who can really run at 95% of Max HR for the second half of a 1/2 marathon so I suspect your Max HR is higher. Keep in mind, some hearts deliver blood by smaller, faster beats and others through slower more voluminous beats. That is part of the problem with formulas. Even when conducting a Max HR test, averaging a few will further increase the reliability of the number. Good luck!
Gotta go… time to run Boston … good luck everyone!
—— —— —— —— ——
Joshua ‘Flash’ Gordon is a runner who is never shy to give his opinion. Flash has been running competitively since 1989 and can be found training hard on the roads and trails of Boston. Flash continues to compete in distances from 5k to the Marathon as part of the Boston Athletic Association (BAA).
Sometimes Flash runs fast. Sometimes Flash runs slow. But neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night can keep Flash from the swift completion of his training regimen.
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Tags: Ask Flash, heart rate, heart rate monitor, heart rate training, HRM, Joshua Flash Gordon, Kavonen formula, maximum heart rate
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