Heart Rate Training

In a sport that doesn’t change much, heart monitor training seems to go through phases in which it’s alternately all the rage and sort of lame among the running community. But in my personal experience, whenever I strap on my monitor and consistently train with it for a few weeks, I find myself inspired to train as well as I know how. There’s just something about getting that glimpse of the inner workings of my body that drives me to train smarter all around.


What’s more, having that constant source of feedback about your level of exertion is actually a lot of fun (and a nice distraction from a hard workout). And pinning a number to what used to be only a feeling goes a long way to helping you get to know your body. While many runners choose to race with their heart rate monitor on, using it to gauge the proper pace for the particular day and course, others find that after training for months with their heart monitor, they learn to identify what zone they’re in even when they’re not wearing the monitor.

Posted by Matt Frazier


Still, figuring out what to do with that new heart monitor can seem overwhelming, and my hunch is that more than a few heart monitors purchased with all good intentions end up gathering dust in a closet next to a pair of shoes that never fit quite right. For those looking to delve deeper into heart rate training, there are plenty of good books on the subject. But if you’re just looking to dust off your heart monitor and start using it, here’s the basic routine I follow whenever I get the HR-itch.



1. Know your max. 220-minus-your-age is the most common way of computing your maximum heart rate. There are other methods, such as more complicated formulas and carefully-measured test efforts, but for beginners, 220-minus-age is fine. (If you’re interested, you can find the more accurate formula here.)



2. Figure out your resting heart rate. Contrary to popular belief, you can’t compute your resting heart rate in the middle of the day while you’re sitting at your desk. “Resting” is quite literal here — you should measure this one before you get out of bed after a good night’s sleep. And it couldn’t be easier; just count the number of heart beats in a minute. And tracking your resting heart rate is a good way to measure your progress: As your fitness improves, your heart becomes more effective at pumping blood, requiring fewer beats to do so.



3. Compute your training zones and hit the road.



•65% to 70% of max heart rate is your aerobic recovery zone. It should be easy to carry on a normal conversation while in this zone. Run at this intensity on your easy days, during warmups and cooldowns, and between work intervals on your hard days.

•80% to 85% is your threshold zone. Here, signs of effort become noticable, as the mouth opens, and speaking full sentences becomes difficult. You can try maintaining this intensity for 4-7 minute intervals, say as part of a hill training workout, or stay in this zone for a longer period of time, in what amounts to a tempo run.

•90% to 95% is the anaerobic interval-training zone. Your pace here should approach your one-mile race pace. Generally, you should keep these intervals to 1-2 minute bursts of effort, going longer and harder during only your most intense workouts or races.

Note: These zones vary a lot, depending on who you ask, as well as individual differences. If your symptoms aren’t matching the zones, adjust the upper and lower limits accordingly. The zones are based on level of exertion; the heart rate is simply a convenient way to quantify that exertion. And while the figures marking these zones are simply percentages of your maximum heart rate, there’s a more precise method, called the Karvonen formula, of computing the limits. It takes into account your maximum and resting heart rates.



4. Track your progress. Since your heart rate measures your level of exertion, you should find that even as you gain fitness, your perceived exertion at a given heart rate doesn’t change. What does change is your speed (and therefore, distance covered) at a given heart rate. So while you may start out covering a half a mile during a four minute threshold interval, that distance should increase as you gain fitness. And as mentioned above, measure your resting heart rate every week or so to track your improvement.



Happy heart-rate training!