Racing with a HRM

Shavedlegs

A friend has kindly lent me his heart rate monitor. I will be wearing it during a race on Saturday, will it help me in any way during the race or is it just useful to analyse the data after the event.?

I normally just train and race via percieved exertion and so I don't really know my MAX HR or threshold etc. Although I can calculate 220 minus my age in my head if it would be useful.

Also has anyone do a self test for Max HR etc and then had a professional test. I would like to know how accurate the self test results were.

willbevan

to be honest Ifound it took a while to reallyknow your body even with heart rate monitorsand ifyou don't really useone i don't think its going to help much tomorrow :S

I would say run like you normally do by the feel,and look atthe heart rate data afterwards, I do find them reallyuseful holding myself back as almostalways used to bomb off to fast atthe start of a race...

If you just calculated your threshold and just usedthat, you might still be pushingyourselfto far, or maybe even holding yourself back....

Will

phil s

First off, forget 220-age, it's usually nonsense

A HRM can be a useful aid but also a distraction. I've got over the distractions it can throw up and find it useful when looking at intensities after the event and comparing them with what was going on in my head.

dennisn

While heartrate may be interesting to look at after a race, I would say no during the race.
Too much happening to be fooling around watching a monitor. Pay
attention to what you are doing and what is happening around you.

Dennis Noward

John.T

As said you should be too busy during a race to look at your HRM. And I would forget 220 minus your age as a max HR. I regularly get figures over 160 and I am 65. My max is probably nearer to 170 but I am not going to push it to find out.
Even if you have worked out thresholds if you start riding to them in a road race you will soon hit trouble. It is no use easing back because 'computer says no'. When you are dropped you are dropped so don't get dropped and sod the HRM. For it to be of use in a TT you really do need to know your thresholds very well. When you have this information you can then ride to them but until then it is better to ride by how you feel.

Steve I

HRM's are useful as a training aid, but for any type of racing other than time trialling I just can't see the point in using one, particularly if you've got no experience with them. Unless, as you say, you want to analyse your heart rate after the race.

I used one during a hill climb a few months ago, I couldn't push myself any harder despite what it read on the display.

Monty Dog

You'll probably scare yourself if you an HRM in a race without having determined your maximum and zones - races are hard because you're near your maximum and it's likely you'll be over 80% for the whole race and peaking well in excess of 90%. HRMs are useful in things like TTs where you need to gauge and sustain your effort over a long period, but less so in a RR whereas you need to go as hard as you can just to keep up! If you want to determine you max try conducting a 'ramp test' - best undertaken on a turbo where you can slowly wind-up the effort - try www.jbst.com for an example. There should be no difference between a lab test and a proper self-test - either way they'll hurt and you need to be well rested. A lab test might be able to help with data like lactate threshold, VO2 max etc which can help as part of a structured programme.

andy_wrx

I've used mine in training a reasonable amount and this year will have a go at using it in TT's, but as others have said it will be of less use in a short-n-sharp efforts like you have in a RR and I certainly wouldn't use one 'live' the first time I used it.

As an aside, I did the London Marathon a couple of years ago and was amused at the number of HRM alarms going off in the start-pen.
I guess people set their max limit to something they want to run at, which makes sense for a steady-effort 26 miles on a flat even course, but then they just got so hyped immediately before the start that their HR hit it before they even started running...

ColinJ

andy_wrx wrote:

As an aside, I did the London Marathon a couple of years ago and was amused at the number of HRM alarms going off in the start-pen. I guess people set their max limit to something they want to run at, which makes sense for a steady-effort 26 miles on a flat even course, but then they just got so hyped immediately before the start that their HR hit it before they even started running...

I wore my HRM one Sunday morning and it was displaying a very low reading because I was pretty fit at the time and I was just sitting about doing nothing. I was having a pretty stressful time at work in those days so I did my best not to think about it at the weekend. As I was checking my pulse rate however, work crept back into my thoughts and my HRM reading started shooting up. It went from 50 bpm to over 150 bpm in 20 seconds - that's when I realised that I needed to change jobs :shock: :shock: :shock: !

oldwelshman

I guess your racing at Hillingdon then?
If I was you I would forget the HR as you need all your wits about you to avoid the crashes !!
As John mentioned above, it is waste of time because if you get to your max hr are you going to slow down and get dropped? No, you keep going as long as you can, sit behind someone and hope you recover!!
It would be different if you were a pro in the TDF and you were maxing out in a break and you have another 10days left to ride!!
Then you would probably be pulled up by your manager anyway
Ok to use as a training guide but forget it in a race.
Another thing is that due to adrenalin, your HR may be 10 beats higher than usuak anyway in a race so could be mis leading.

Shavedlegs

I didn't race in the end, but I've found it distracting enough on my commute to work. I think I'll just use it when training once I've figured out my zones.