Heart Rate Monitors

[spacejamz]

how did you did determine your HRM max? 220-age???

do you keep you stay in your target range when doing cardio?

I turn 40 next month so my max should 180 bpm...

I use a polar s410 and during my cardio (elliptical), i usually get my HRM to 184, sometimes it peaks at 190 when I sprint...80% of my work out is above my target range which is 144 bpm (80% of my max)..

I don't feel dizzy, weak or faint and can still hold a conversation after a decent workout (around 4 or 5 miles in 45-50 minutes)...

Even when i'm cycling on my road back, I can easily get up to 180 and keep it there..

I will post a pic of the chart of my heart rate stats when I get home...

So either the polar isn't accurate or I need to find a way to figure out my true max heart rate...

If it matters, my resting heart rate is around 60 bpm IIRC...

Anyone else wanna post their experiences with their heart rate monitors?

 

[Kaido]

I use some cheap $30 wireless chest strap with a watch, works pretty well. I especially use it when biking, it beeps at me if I'm going over my max heartrate. Usually I can tell now when I'm going over, but sometimes I'm so into climbing a hill or something on my bike that I don't notice and it kills me - no energy, tastes like blood, etc. So I like using one! I used this formula:

http://www.markallenonline.com/heartrate.asp

 

[edcarman]

The 220 - age formula has been shown to be not particularly accurate. Indeed, it appears that most prediction equations are subject to large errors (Source).

I used to use a similar principal to the one linked by Kaido, but based on my threshold heart rate, rather than max aerobic heart rate. All of the training zones are then based on the threshold heart rate. This targeted training lead to significant improvements in my cycling.

The functional threshold heart rate (FTHR) was described to me as being the average heart rate sustained over an hour time trial where you push so hard, and pace yourself so well, that you collapse from exhaustion at 60min and 1s. Hour time trials are hard and painful, so I was told that a reasonable estimate is to take your average heart rate from a 20min trial.

Once you've done a 20min trial to determine your FTHR, you can then set your training zones as follows (I've also shown my equivalent %MHR):

1. 1.) <69% FTHR (~<60% MHR): Recovery rides
   2.) 69% - 84% (~60%-74% MHR): Classic Long Slow Distance (LSD) riding
   3.) 84% - 95% (~74%-84% MHR): This is similar to the zone in Kaido's link and is where most effective endurance training is done.
   4.) 95% - 105% (~84%-93% MHR): Threshold training. You would do intervals (e.g. 10min, 20min TTs) in this zone around once per week to increase you lactate threshold. I found these to translate directly to improved hill climbing performance.
   5.) >105% (~>93% MHR): VO2max training. Hard 5-8min intervals. I did not do these while training as, since I stopped rowing, I have seldom encountered situations where I needed to sit in this zone for any length of time. This zone also represents the point where heart rate training becomes less effective as HR begins to lag too far behind effort to provide a truly accurate indicator of what's happening.

I believe that the zones above are based on those used for power training as outlined here:
Power Training Levels

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Do your cardio until it's hard. Don't let yourself get to the point that you feel dizzy or nauseous. Stop if you have to. Repeat. You don't need to pay attention to HR unless you have some sort of pathology. Just know your limits.

 

[StageLeft]

Unless you're very fit, holding 180 for a long period of time should be tough.

I've wanted one from time to time, but despite my prime goal being fit for cycling, swimming, running, I'm still not convinced it will make me faster. I mix workouts up so some will be a comfortable pace for an hour and other an uncomfortable pace for 10 minutes. Or even blast out as hard as I can for 90 seconds. If I'm doing enough variance in intensity and being honest about how hard I'm going, it frankly doesn't mean much to me if my slow workouts are 100 or 150 or 200 or my hard workouts are only bringing my heart rate up to 120 (they are much higher, though!). If 800 meters around the track leaves me with a heart rate at 130 and I can't go harder, it's not meaningful for a HRM to tell me I should have finished it at 190.

I think most people looking for extra cardio fitness just don't go hard enough. They do too much long & slow with not enough "why am I doing this, this sucks" hard stuff.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Unless you're very fit, holding 180 for a long period of time should be tough.

I've wanted one from time to time, but despite my prime goal being fit for cycling, swimming, running, I'm still not convinced it will make me faster. I mix workouts up so some will be a comfortable pace for an hour and other an uncomfortable pace for 10 minutes. Or even blast out as hard as I can for 90 seconds. If I'm doing enough variance in intensity and being honest about how hard I'm going, it frankly doesn't mean much to me if my slow workouts are 100 or 150 or 200 or my hard workouts are only bringing my heart rate up to 120 (they are much higher, though!). If 800 meters around the track leaves me with a heart rate at 130 and I can't go harder, it's not meaningful for a HRM to tell me I should have finished it at 190.

I think most people looking for extra cardio fitness just don't go hard enough. They do too much long & slow with not enough "why am I doing this, this sucks" hard stuff.

For me, it was like training wheels - I'd never been into fitness before, at all, so it was really nice knowing the number zones to hit, to avoid, and to stay in for a long time. After a month or two, it was easy to tell when I was getting too high (something that wasn't very evident before, and I'd just end up super-tired really quickly), so I appreciated it for helping me learn about my body.