This shows just how many people lose faith in the usefulness of HRMs. It can happen for various reasons: people don’t always understand what a HRM is providing or they believe that they are too ‘experienced’ to need a gadget to tell them what to do. Either way it’s a shame because a HRM can make a big difference to your performance – when you use it correctly.
A HRM is a tool to use alongside perceived exertion, your own training experiences and some testing scenarios to help you get the most from your body. Its not the only factor to take into account but it will reveal some home truths that you might not want to hear.
You don’t have to have the top-of-the-range, cutting-edge HRM to get the most out of your training and racing. Even the most basic model will usually provide useful feedback on your performances, its simply a matter of knowing how to use the information.
Heart of the matter
Take the time to learn how to use your HRM and the information that it provides. The race season is almost upon us so it’s time to start upping the ante in order to prepare effectively for competition. Your HRM is the best way to ensure that you are race ready, and you can do this by tailoring your training and planning your race strategy.
Follow your nose
If you don’t currently have a HRM or it’s out of action, you can still gauge your effort during steady, base-training sessions by breathing through your nose. Do a bike or run session but keep a pace that allows you to breathe through your nose only. This will keep you below 80% HRmax and give you an idea of your true steady pace. Any harder and acid builds in your muscles and stress hormones start to be released.
Nose-breathing sessions keep you relaxed and stop you pushing too hard without continually referring to your HRM. You get to cruise along, enjoy yourself a little more and get a feel for your Zone 1 pace.
Remember: at least two-thirds of your training should be carried out in this zone.
TRAINING BY HEART RATE
Random Numbers?
The first and most important function of a HRM is, quite obviously, the HR display. It’s pointless to just look at the numbers and not ‘feel’ what this means in terms of your perceived effort. Unless you relate the data to your actual experience, the flashing numbers and alarms just make the HRM an irritating training partner.
Relating your HR to your perceived effort is easier and makes more sense if you know the purpose of the exercise or session you’re doing. So planning your workouts and knowing the effect you expect to elicit from them allows you to make more use of your HRM.
However, be warned: HR isn’t the best indicator of effort during weight training. You may work your muscles hard but your HR only rises to 100bpm for a short period.
Only exercised like squats, leg presses and big muscle group efforts raise you HR. In this instance, weight lifted, reps achieved and perceived exertion are a better way of rating the sessions outcome.
EXERCISE 1:
Start a session with an easy warm up (100-120bpm), then increase your HR in 10bpm increments every 5mins to see what various intensities feel like. You could run or bike through a pyramid of 5min segments. For example 130, 140, 150, 160, 150, 140 and 130bpm. Be sure to remain in each segment to learn how it feels; don’t drift into the next one early.
Benefit
You learn to correlate your effort sensations to what your HRM is showing you.
Plan
Do this session once a month, or when you’re returning to training after illness or injury, to familiarize yourself with the feeling of specific work rates.
Reminders and Instructions
Your HRM is also useful for keeping you focused on what you’re supposed to be doing and reminding you to stay fuelled.
The simplest way to ensure you stay working at the right intensity is to set alarms to sound whenever you go above or below your pre-set HR zone. However, more sophisticated HRMs allow you to program a schedule for the duration of an entire workout, specifying H ranges and time periods for each segment: warm-up, main work-out and war-down. This facility is particularly useful for interval training (see below).
Its easy to get distracted during long sessions or races and forget to refuel. If your HRM has one, you can use the countdown timer to sound an alarm every 15-20mins to remind you to eat or drink.
EXERCISE 2:
Set up your HRM for an interval session of 5mins effort with 1min recovery. If there’s no interval session facility, set the countdown timer to 5mins and set it going after you’ve had enough recovery. You can glance at your HRM to ensure you’re making the right effort, knowing you just have to keep going until the alert sounds to tell you to start your recovery.
Benefit
You can concentrate on maintaining the right effort, letting the gadget tell you when you need to start and stop.
Plan
Do 3-8min intervals at 86-92% HRmax (80-82% for long distance athletes), two to three times per week for four to six weeks before important races, or when there’s a week or two between races.
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