Heart Rate Training: Is It For Me?

In my experience with runners, there seems to be two camps. Those who religiously use heart rate monitors and those who don't have a clue what they are. I think there can be a happy medium.

Heart rate monitors come in all shapes and sizes. Cheap and expensive. Most of the newer models look like a wrist watch that also includes a chest strap. In most cases the chest strap monitors your heart rate and sends a signal to the wrist watch component which provides a reading. Some models don't have the chest strap and are able to read your pulse from the wrist. In either case, both do a pretty good job of monitoring your heart rate.

So what does your heart rate have to do with running? Well, anytime you exercise or basically just move around in general, your heart will work a little harder or a whole lot harder depending on the intensity of the activity to keep up with the demand of oxygenated blood needed to produce energy in the muscle. As a runner, heart rate training involves knowing your maximum heart rate, your resting heart rate, and the various training intensity zones for the various types of workouts you'll be doing.

The key to accurately using heart rate as a training method is determining your maximum heart rate. Here lies the problem. Many of the standard methods for determining maximum heart rate are not very accurate. The most common method for determining your age-predicted maximum heart rate (MHR or APMHR )and target heart rate (THR) training zones is the Karvonen Method.

Karvonen Formula
Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) = 220 - age
Heart Rate Reserve (HRH) = MHR - resting heart rate (RHR)
Target Heart Rate (THR) = (HRR x exercise intensity) + RHR

Looks complicated, but it's not too hard to use. For example, if a 40-year-old wants to calculate his target heart rate zone for a regular long run (65%-70% of your MHR), he'd do the following:
1. MHR= 220-40 = 180 beats per minute
2. RHR = 60 beats per minute (best to get this first thing when you wake up)
3. HRR = 180 - 60 = 120 beats/min
4. Low End of Target Heart Rate zone
    = (HRR x % of Training Intensity) + RHR
    = (120 x 65%) + 60
    = 138 beats/min
5. High End of Target Heart Rate zone
    = (HRR x % of Training Intensity) + RHR
    = (120 x 70%) + 60
    = 144 beats/min

So on an easy long run, this 40-year-old runner would want to keep his heart rate within 138 and 144 beats/min.

The intensity percentage varies depending on the type of workout. Runner's World describes the various training zone intensities as follows:

Easy Run (recovery zone)
Pace: One to two minutes slower than marathon pace
% Max heart rate: 65 to 70%
Perceived Effort: 3 to 4/easy
Talk Test: Complete conversation 

Training Run (aerobic zone)
Pace: Marathon pace or slightly slower
% Max heart rate: 75 to 85%
Perceived Effort: 5 to 6/moderate
Talk Test: Full sentences 

Tempo Run (threshold zone)
Pace: 20 to 30 seconds slower than 5-K pace
% Max heart rate: 88 to 92%
Perceived Effort: 7 to 8/hard
Talk Test: A few words at a time 

Intervals (VO2 max zone)
Pace: Mile to 5-K pace or faster
% Max heart rate: 95 to 100%
Perceived Effort: 9/very hard
Talk Test: Can't...talk...must...run...

The problem with the Karvonen Method is that it doesn't factor in sex. No, not whether you had any the night before, but whether you're male or female. LOL! Anywho.... sports scientists have worked on the formula to help account for differences between the sexes and have come up with  the following: 

Male = 214 - (0.8 x age)
Female = 209 - (0.9 x age)

Once you find your age-predicted maximum heart rate by your gender, then you simply plug that number into the rest of the Karvonen formula to find your heart rate training zones.

But alas, even with the gender modifications to the formula, it's still not 100% accurate for everyone. To really find your accurate Max Heart Rate, you'd need to go to a sports science lab under a controlled setting for safety reasons. That can be expensive, so most opt for one of the formulas above and rely on a heart rate monitor to keep track of heart rate.

I personally am more of a "run by feel" kind of guy. That's what I like about Runner's World's break down of the training zones above. It also includes the perceived effort scale of 1-10 as well as the talk test. I tell my runners all the time that if they can carry on a multi-word sentence conversation during a tempo run, then they're not running hard enough. Also, I already wear two motivation wrist bands, a sports watch, a runner's necklace my kids gave me, and my Garmin GPS. The thought of something else on my wrist and a strap on my chest is just too much to bare. But to each his/her own.

Heart rate monitors are great tools for checking in with your training progress. If you have medical conditions that warrant keeping track of your heart rate, heart rate monitors can be invaluable. If you're healthy, however, just try not to depend on them 100% of the time. Learn to read your body tech-free too.

Stay Tuned!

The nice folks at CSN Stores recently contacted me about reviewing a product. I was curious so I checked out their link. What I found was bar stools. My first thought was, "Bar stools for runners?" Some runners may need a stiff drink after a marathon, but I'm thinking, maybe this isn't for RunnerDude's Blog. But then I discovered that CSN Stores is actually a family of over 200 online stores including some for health & fitness. Tah dah!
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So, I'm happy to announce that in an upcoming post I'll be reviewing the Hudson Fitness HR-2500 Pulse Monitor. Heart-rate monitors are great tools for training. I've used other brands of monitors but none by Hudson. So, I'm eager to give it a good testing and let you know my results. If you've ever used a Hudson, I'd be interested in hearing your experiences. Happy Running!—RunnerDude

Finding Your Target Heart Rate (The Old Fashioned Way)

Ever seen runners with that black strap across their chests? In case you didn't know that's a heart rate monitor. It used to be that only the elite used them, but now you see them everywhere. Women can even buy them already incorporated into a jog bra! Their popularity has increased because heart-rate training is a great way to monitor your performance and keep from over training. The monitors are also great because they provide on-the-spot feedback that you can use to evaluate your workout.

Today's technology is awesome, but if you're not technically inclined or just cash-challenged like me, you can still monitor your heart rate and use it in your training to track your performance. Basically, your goal is to keep your your heart rate between 60% and 80% of your maximum heart rate. But first you need to determine your maximum heart rate. For years this has been done by subtracting your age from 220 (Maximum Heart Rate = 220-Age). Fairly new research has shown that this equation is not very accurate. The original calculation overestimates rates for young adults and underestimates for older adults. A new formula corrects this problem.

New Maximum Heart Rate Equation

208 - (0.7 x age)

Example:

208 - (0.7 x 40)

208 - 28 = 180

180 = Max Heart Rate

Keep in mind that the above age-related equations only provide an estimated Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). Runners of the same age can have very different MHRs. The best and most accurate way to determine your true MHR is by having a stress test done. It's also good to know that your MHR declines as you get older from about 220 beats per minute for a child to about 160 beats per minute at age 60. Typically it decreases about 1 beat per minute per year. Extra training hasn't been shown to affect this decline in Maximum Heart Rate.

So, now that you know your Maximum Heart Rate, what do you do with it? You plug it into another set of equations to determine your Target Heart Rate (THR) or your training zone. Your THR is the range between 60% and 80% of your Maximum Heart Rate. There are several ways to calculate your THR. The most common way is to multiply your MHR by the intesity of your workout to find your target zone.

Calculating Your Aerobic Training Zone
Bottom End Target Heart Rate = MHR x 0.6
Top End Target Heart Rate = MHR x 0.8
Example:

180 x 0.6 = 108 Bottom End Target Heart Rate

180 x 0.8 = 144 Top End Target Heart Rate

Takes a little time to do the calculations, but once you know your THR Zone you can start using it to monitor your training progress. To check your progress during a run, simply stop and immediately check your pulse for 10 seconds and then multiply by 6 to see if you're "In the Zone." Of course a heart rate monitor will do this for you and all you have to do is look at the monitor while running to check if you're in the zone. That's the advantage of the technology. Maybe once the kids are out of braces, I can get one.

Another tried and true technique is the Sing-and-Talk method. If you're able to sing while you're running, you're probably not working hard enough. If you can't talk while running, you're probably working too hard.

You can't increase your Maximum Heart Rate with training as you age, but you can positively affect your Resting Heart Rate (RHR) through training no matter your age. Most adults have a RHR around 72 beats per minute. Some runners can have RHRs of 40 beats per minute or lower. What that means is that your heart doesn't have to work as hard to pump the blood through your body. That's a good thing for the old ticker! It's not a bad idea to tell your physician you're a runner because they're often so use to seeing adult patients with much higher resting heart rates that when you walk in with a RHR of 50 or lower they often assume something's wrong with you. Sad, but true.