Heart rate monitor training question.

JJC2

Hi,

I bought my first heart rate monitor a while back now. I also purchased a book called The Heart Rate Monitor Book by Sally Edwards. I thought the book was very good and it helped me get a grasp of the basic fundamentals regarding the use of a heart rate monitor.
However, throughout the book it refers to the different training zones which are always based on a percentage of your maximum heart rate.
Some time ago, and I can't remember where I read it, but it stated that, basing your various training zones on your maximum heart rate was completely wrong. Instead, it stated that zones should be based on your Heart Rate Reserve :?

1) 70-80% of my Maximum Heart Rate would be 127 bpm to 145 bpm.

2) 70-80% of my Heart Rate Reserve would be 143 bpm to 156 bpm.

As you can see there's a considerable difference depending on which method is used.

Which is correct? Should I base my training on Maximum Heart Rate or Heart Rate Reserve?

Any advice on the above would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

doyler78

Pick one method and stick to it. They will all help you if you use them in conjunction with a properly put together training program which seeks to progessively increase the load whilst balancing it with adequate recovery. It's the plan and your ability to execute it consistently and properly that's important not the calculator used (so long as it has some basis in science).

As regards comparing 70-80% of one method with another - well that's not necessarily what you are supposed to do. You may find that the corresponding zone would be 60-70%. That would take you a lot closer.

ut_och_cykla

Heart rate reserve takes into account your resting heart rate which can change due to training, illness etc.

Unless you're going to monitor your resting Hr and recalculate your zones on occaisions I'd stick to the max heart rate system used by Sally & many others.

If you want to use HR reserve then you need to use the % suggested in HR reserve training plans as they will be different.
As Doyler says - its the plan and consistency that is important - and getting to know your body to allow for HR inconsistencies - that matters not which system per se....

Chinley Churner

Don't use formulas to find training zones, they're all horrendously inaccurate and to err massively on the conservative side as many of the subjects used in the studies producing the formulas were sedentary.

Do a field test to find your heart rate at threshold and work from there.

Warm-up for 10 minutes including a few harder surges towards the end.

Then, on a flat or slightly climbing course, ride as consistently hard as you can manage for 20 minutes. The average heart rate you get for the 20 minutes correlates pretty well to threshold.

Then use these percentages of that figure:

Zone 1: Less than 81%
Zone 2: 81-89%
Zone 3: 90-93%
Zone 4: 94-99%
Zone 5a: 100-102%
Zone 5b: 103-106%
Zone 5c: 106%+

jgsi

Chinley Churner wrote:

Do a field test to find your heart rate at threshold and work from there.

+

or
pin a number on your back and do a 10
mull over your HR stats afterwards whilst sipping your horlix

JJC2

Thanks for the help and advice.

I need to physically find my maximum heart rate for cycling but for running I have a pretty good idea.

I take my resting heart rate every morning so that tends to stay pretty constant unless I've had a particular tough workout the day before.

Thanks for the tips on how to find my threshold and also for the various zones and percentages.

doyler78

If you are using the threshold zones that were given above then you don't need to work out your maxHR

JJC2

That's true................and a relief