Setting up heart rate zones on a Garmin

homers_double

Not so much the setting up on the unit but the zone percentages, BR training reccomends a 6 zone set up however my Garmin 800 only has 5 and there are varying articles all over the place which list different percentages.

Is there a tied and tested article to refere to?

The rough set up the Garmin worked out was only a few bpm out and I struggled to keep within zone 2 on this mornings regular early ride, heart rate to high popped up constantly.

Tom Dean

There are various tried and tested systems with different zones. Choose one that makes sense to you.

If you don't know where your zones should be, why were you trying to stay within zone 2 this morning?

imposter2.0

There is another thread on this topic, on this page, which also got nowhere..

viewtopic.php?f=40011&t=12974136

I don't see the need for six HR zones - personally I just use three. But there is a need to know your true MHR, or LTHR - or else any zones you do set will be meaningless.

homers_double

Tom Dean wrote:

There are various tried and tested systems with different zones. Choose one that makes sense to you.
If you don't know where your zones should be, why were you trying to stay within zone 2 this morning?

The garmin has some preset zones and had calculated my hr pretty accurately at 180bpm, I maxed out at 183.

I set zone 2 as I've read that its the optimum for burning body fat which is the reason I've got the heart rate monitor, even going down hill it was beeping at me and after uploading it puts me at an average of 151bp.

Now I know there is a lot of variables but I've only strapped it on today so trying to get a feel for how it works and I accept that all of the above might be rubbish and I'll end up using it to gather some dust in the garage.

imposter2.0

There isn't really a 'fat burning' zone as such - it's a bit of a myth...

Tom Dean

Presumably wherever you read that zone 2 was best for burning fat also defined what zone 2 was?

My point is that different people define zones differently. Pick a system and stick to it. You can't pick e.g. level 4 workouts from a 7-zone system and do it at level 4 from a 4-zone system.

edit - also, lower intensities may mean you burn a higher proportion of fat to carbohydrate, but the way to burn more fat is to work harder.

homers_double

Tom Dean wrote:

Presumably wherever you read that zone 2 was best for burning fat also defined what zone 2 was?

Sort of... And a bit of hearsay.

One point is that I struggled to go that slow, and I know thats the discipline bit but even going downhill it was telling to chill out.

Reading it, I think I need to work out what I need to get out of this rather expensive toy or the mrs will have a fit!