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HEART RATE TRAINING

In my previous article I had a look at MAF (Maximal Aerobic Function), which is a great way to build a base! I am going to further look at Heart Training which includes ZONES. 

Knowing how Heart Rate (HR) can influence your training is simple, and you do not have to be an athlete or a professional to know some of the little details that could help you train effective using your heart rate. 


I am going to take you through some basics of how to identify some key numbers and how to use them on your training.

By definition, heart rate is the number of times your heart beats in a minute. 


The best thing about training with heart rate is that it’s based on your true level of exertion and nobody else’s, no assumption and it's unique to yourself. The heart muscles are no different than any other muscles, it gets stronger when you train them! 



WHAT IS MAXIMUM HEART RATE (MHR) 


This is the average maximum time your heart should be beating per minute during an exercise session, most commonly calculated with 220 - age. Example for a 40 year old. 220 - 40 = 180 


WHAT IS RESTING HEART RATE (RHR) 


Your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute when you’re at rest. A good time to check is in the morning after you’ve had a good night’s sleep,


HEART RATE RESERVE (HRR) 


HRR = Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) - Resting Heart Heart (RHR), can be defined as how much your heart rate can speed up during exercise. 


CALCULATING THE TRAINING ZONE 


HR ZONE 5 - 90%+ of MHR 

HR ZONE 4 - 80 to 89% of MHR 

HR ZONE 3 - 70 to 79% of MHR 

HR ZONE 2 - 60 to 69% of MHR 

HR ZONE 1 - 50 to 59% of MHR


The training zones can be explained with a very simplified chart, I have taken the above data/chart from www.polar.com which represent one of the most true zones when it comes to aerobic training. 


The next step is calculating the zones. Whilst there are many different ways I will opt for Karvonen Fomula, why I chose this is simply because heart rate being unique to yourself it also uses Resting Heart Rate which is a another figure unique to yourself and describes your aerobic condition at some level. Here is a sample calculation for a 40 year old with RHR of 65bpm. 


220 - 40 (age in years) = 180bpm
180bpm (MHR) - 65bpm (RHR) = 115 (HRR) 

70% (Training Zone) x 115bpm (HRR) + 65bpm (RHR) = 145.5 bpm
80% (Training Zone) x 115bpm (HRR) + 65bpm (RHR) = 157bpm

What you see here is the 145bpm - 157bpm is the ZONE 3 (GREEN) in the above training zone chart. 


PUTTING UP YOUR WEEKLY RUNNING PLAN 


Simplifying things a little, I would like to give some status to zones mentioned above. Have a look at the chart below. 


HR ZONE 5 - 90%+ of MHR - RUNNING ECONOMY 

HR ZONE 4 - 80 to 89% of MHR - STAMINA 

HR ZONE 3 - 70 to 79% of MHR - STAMINA 

HR ZONE 2 - 60 to 69% of MHR - ENDURANCE 

HR ZONE 1 - 50 to 59% of MHR - ENDURANCE 


ENDURANCE: Mostly on ZONE 1 & 2, the main objective of these runs should be start from a point A and to reach point B keeping your HR under 70% of your MHR, pace and time time taken to reach from A to B is not relevant all what matters would be staying under the 70% of your MHR. 


STAMINA: Think of the point A and point B again, but this time you shall be maintaining your Heart Rate at Zone 3 to 4, you should not be slowing down the objective is to prepare yourself to race. If you are a new comer to running, start with a shorter time and increase time as you gain experience, fitness and confidence. 


RUNNING ECONOMY: Adding more power to your engine, this prepares you to race, build your leg strength, mostly you should be training at a 90%+ of your MHR which is ZONE 5, when you train at ZONE five this should include Interval training, hills sprints (I mostly do this on the bridge) and Fartlek training (Speed Play) 


Now that you are aware of the these types of runs you should be including on your weekly plan, the next question is how much? 


Majority of your runs should be Endurance focused (Zone 1 to 2) with one Stamina (Zoen 3 to 4) session and one Running Economy session (Zone 5), here is an example! 


Saturday - Endurance 

Sunday - Rest 

Monday - Stamina 

Tue - Endurance 

Wednesday - rest 

Thu - Running Economy 

Friday - Endurance 


References: 

  1. www.polar.com - Heart Training Zones (website) 
  2. Heart Rate Training, Human Kinetics, Roy Benson & Declan Connolly, 3-85 
  3. American Heart Association, Recommendations in Physical Activity for Adults, Target Heart Rate Charts (website) 
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Anonymous said…
Good info
May 17, 2021 at 9:50 PM
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