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HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones
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 2007-11-16 10:03 AM |
Expert  1014  Virginia |  Subject: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zonesI recently started training on here with a training program to get ready for a sprint or super sprint distance for next year. I'm not in the best shape of my life, but I've been exercising pretty regularly for the last two years, save 3 months after a knee injury. I've lost quite a bit of weight (30 lbs) and am still working to reach the end goal (around another 50 lbs). I wear a HRM when exercising. Anyway, the program often tells me to stay within 70-75% of my max HR from the 220-age equation, which ends up being the 135-145 range. I haven't been able to stay in that range at all. My most comfortable pace puts me at about 160 and when I go hard, I get to high 170/low 180 range. On the bike, to keep it at 140, I was barely peddling. My resting HR is in the 70s. With that said...I am wondering am I doing myself a disservice in the long run by paying more attention to doing what the exercise is and kind of ignoring the HR? Should I invest in the testing to find out my personal max HR to find out if I really am overexerting myself during my workouts? Or since I'm just a beginner in the sport (and to doing a structured program) is this something I really don't need to worry about. Thanks for any advice you may have. Kim |
| 2007-11-16 10:09 AM in reply to: #1056843 |
| Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones There is about a 1 in 20 chance that the 220 thing is accurate for you.
Here is a good link to ck out. |
| 2007-11-16 10:11 AM in reply to: #1056857 |
Champion 6539   South Jersey | Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones ^ What he said. |
| 2007-11-16 10:12 AM in reply to: #1056843 |
Resident Curmudgeon 25290 The Road Back Gold member | Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones Read this: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=25733&start=1 before you start HR training using tired old formlae or Max HR. Yes, you may have to slow down to stay in proper zones, but first find out what those proper zones are. |
| 2007-11-16 10:16 AM in reply to: #1056843 |
Champion 5529 Nashville, TN | Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones As stated, the first thing is to set up your zones correctly. Then you must slow down on the Z2 runs. This is one of the hardest adjustments switching to HR based training. For me, it initially meant slowing down about 45 secs per mile....sometimes more. It drove me absolutely crazy. You have to put faith in the philosophy. Sure enough, I began setting PRs in nearly every race I did. |
| 2007-11-16 10:29 AM in reply to: #1056843 |
Expert 1014 Virginia | Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones Thanks a lot!! I started reading that thread and will settle in to read all of it after work tonight. I don't have a HRM that does the averages, but there is a place near me that does a lot of testing for athletes and triathletes in the area..maybe I can get some help there. |
| 2007-11-16 10:47 AM in reply to: #1056843 |
Lethbridge, Alberta Bronze member | Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones Before I got a HR monitor, I could tell the zones that the gym machines used were way off for me. However, they are usually designed to use 220-age or something like it. To use the programs on the machine, I simply inputed whatever age it took to put the zones where I wanted them. How much you have to shift your age number will vary from person to person. |
| 2007-11-16 12:10 PM in reply to: #1056843 |
Coach 9167 Stairway to Seven | Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones Here is an article on my web site about not only 220-age being wrong, but why max HR is a red herring as well. http://www.steelcityendurance.com/general/maximum-heart-rate-formul... Last week I was doing a perceived exertion exercise trial in a lab (the goal ot see if your HR at a pre-set perceived exertion matched your HR during a graded exercise test...mine was within 1-4 beats) and They wanted to run the graded exercise portion until I reached 85% of my calculated max HR. Well, I never even got close to it, and what was supposed to be a sub-max test ended up being a max test for me because they they kept increasing the resistance to try and get my HR to go higher! That was a low HR day for me, and I knew that I wasn't going to reach it, but I didn't mind continuing the test b/c I wanted THEM to see that the formula is no good when applied to individuals. Bottom line is that you should do a field test of some sort, or just run by perceived exertion until you feel that your fitness is improving, keeping this in Zone 2 for the most part. http://www.steelcityendurance.com/general/rating-of-perceived-exert... |
| 2007-11-16 12:29 PM in reply to: #1056843 |
Veteran 437 | Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones Lets just assume your formula is right . . . starting off it is SO VERY VERY TOTALLY hard to stay in that lower zone. It just is. There is no way around it. A HR plan SHOULD warn you of this and set proper expectations that you will hate the person who wrote the book. You will hate them more when someone in much less physical condition passes you. But - it pays off. I started HR training as a runner only. I had to take walk breaks - lots of them - at first. It takes maybe 4-6 weeks before you start to really see some improvement. My first few weeks of <70% HR running - 11+ minute miles. Long story short, in 6 months they were about 8:50. This is what HR training is . . . it makes you go easy enough on your hard days and you build a base. You are better off IMHO to bite the bullet and go slow to say where you should. In time, you will be faster at that HR than you are now at 160 . . . and you can go forever at that lower HR. |
| 2007-11-16 12:45 PM in reply to: #1056843 |
Expert 1014 Virginia | Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones Suzanne, thank you for linking that article! I see the next one is about VO2...which is the testing that the place near me does. I am reading your thread on your testing now..so hopefully that will give me some insight into it. I hear what you guys are saying and I guess I need to get the right numbers, suck it up and slow down if that's what the numbers tell me. I'm so used to the mentality of if I"m not sweating buckets, I'm not really working out, but this is a whole different game. I'm up for the challenge. Edited by kimmitri408 2007-11-16 12:47 PM |
| 2007-11-17 8:15 PM in reply to: #1056843 |
Extreme Veteran 405 | Subject: RE: HR zone questions...trouble staying in zones Yup I agree with what everyone else has already said. My training from May - Sept running and bike was done purely by pace and feel only. Needless to say each workout was always an all out run or bike in an attempt to do "better" than I did on the previous run/ride. This was NOT a great way to train and quickly led to burn out. I started doing my run training by HR zones in October or so and man was it painful. Literally so  , my runs went from 8ish minute miles to 11-12 min miles. I was running so slow that it actually was hurting my knees a lot. I had to walk so many times at the beginning that I was frustrated. I couldn't keep my HR from going above Z2 and that was with the slower pace. It felt like I was walking more than running. Move forward 6 weeks and now my normal Z2 runs are in the 9ish minute miles and I set a new PR today in my 5k run. You just have to have faith in the program. It will come around, but it takes time. I think for the long term growth of my running and biking this is the best route for me. If you decide to do HR training, give it an honest attempt and do it for at least 2 - 3 months before you decide one way or the other. I think you will be surprised by the results. |
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