Heart Rate thread in a new direction
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1534 days
wildwoodguy posted 4 years ago.
Reading your post, I saw some similarity with my own experience using a HRM. I'm 24, and a relatively new runner. About 3-4 months ago I bought a HRM so I could train more precisely, and hopefully avoid injury better. According to the "new formula" my max HR should be 195. My resting rate is usually low 40's. On a 4 mile run during the hot part of the day, I finished with a sprint of about 400 meters. I was pushing very hard, but not all out. I measured my HR at the finish at 198 bpm. I am hoping to illustrate that there is definitely some wiggle room in the formulas and training ranges. I usually run best about 170 bpm, which is high by formula, but seems right to my body. I've actually found myself tiring quicker when I consciously slow my pace to 160 bpm. In my opinion, I simply have a more efficient form and cadence when I'm around 170 bpm. Anyone else have an opinion on this?
WildwoodGuy
494
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1692 days
trainDaBrain posted 4 years ago.
great thread. you should read "Why We Run" by Bernd Heinrich. He's an accomplished biologist and world class ultra-marathoner. it's fascinating reading and covers topics such as you just mentioned. There's a pace for people that is often more efficient for their system if they run faster. Experiment on a treadmill. Running slower can be harder to do than running faster.
This is more of mechanics, and Heinrich's goal in the book was to illustrate the means by which one could conserve energy, a higher heartrate isn't exactly conserving energy, but there is something to be said for going faster, and feeling better about it :)
As your cardiovascular system adjusts to the training, you develop more capillaries, blood flow improves, it starts to take less effort to do the same exercise. the cool thing about heartrate monitors is that you can catch this shift, and using measurements like time, distance, and rate of percieved exertion, using them with the heart rate monitor. 170 may be where you're heart rate is now, but keep doing what you're doing and it will begin to drop. you'll be using less energy to accomplish your goal times. that is if your goal is to stay at a certain pace. that's usually not the case. :)
hope that helps, and if you have time check out the book "Why We Run". Neat stuff.
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1965 days
mike101 posted 4 years ago.
What you're experiencing is normal to most athletes when they first start using a hr monitor. We condition our bodies to work at a certain elvel and over time our body will. TDB is correct, as time goes on we will begin to see changes. I would add to that statement a little. If we practice the same ol' we will get the same ol' results.
You mention walking to keep your hr in a lower zone. Again normal and the hardest part to accept. The question you should ask yourself is are you willing to dedicate yourself to hr training and accepting the practices necessary to make it succesful or not? That sounds harsh but it is reality.
I also agree with TDB on his comment about Heinrich's book. Running at a slower pace is not always a more efficient pace. I run much more comfortably at 155 bpm than at 142 bpm. That said if running a marathon I want to be able to run the quickest pace possible at the lowest hr possbile for as long as possible.
For example, my last long training run was 20 miles. i was able to run at 9:30 pace (slow but remember it was a long training run not speed run) for 14.5 miles before my hr left 142. I finished the 20 mile run at 9:30 pace with average hr of 146 and max of 156. Training the body to function at lower hr's also allows me to run at higher tempos for longer periods of time without as high of a hr. Last 10K was 44 minutes (7:05 pace) with average hr of 162, my max is 189. I guarantee you I could not carry those numbers a year ago.
"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it."
Margaret Fuller
2334
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2427 days
Tribro posted 4 years ago.
Great discussion. I'll just chime in with my 2 cents.
1. Why We Run is a great book, recommended reading for anyone serious about running and inspirational.
2. I still walk at times to keep my heart rate low. I've been a little off on my training this year and have now recommitted to it, and I have to walk on the hills until i get my running fitness back. Stick with the HR training, it'll be worth it in the end.
I just got through reading the heart rate question thread and wanted to take it in a little bit of a new direction. I train sporadically with my HRM now, and have in the past used gauged my own performance based on "perceived exertion". Admittedly, this perceived exertion was completely based on past experiance, and not some formula (although, I'm speaking now without performing the google search recommended, so I'm not yet educated on this whole thing.)
As for my question. I'm finding that my head perceives my exertion MUCH lower than what my HRM tends to say about what my heart is doing. I'm 20 lbs overweight on my 5'5" frame and I tend to run relatively comfortably at an 8mm pace, but my heartrate is always quite high percentage wise. Up around 90% or more.
However, my perception is I probably have 20%-25% more "in me". Thinking like a car, there's still a bit until a "redline" of 100%.
Conversely, I have really tried to maintain workouts in the "fat burning" zone, and quite literally can not keep my HR there. I would be walking, and my pride won't allow me to do that!
So, I've been exercise to benchmarks (mile pace, average speed on bike, that sort of thing) that I have historically learned I can do, and I have kinda said HR be damned. I keep checking HR to develop a feel for beats vs. perceived exertion.
Is this a bad technique? I am beginning to think maybe the old general calculation for HR thresholds may not pertain to me particularly well. Has anyone else discovered a marked difference in HR and perceived exertion?
Oh, and by the way. I have been following somewhat silently for a while and have really enjoyed the "newbie" advice. I'm very typical in that I have the mental hurdle of swimming (I like to say I can swim well enough not to drown!)...and I have been working at it. It's been about a month now of forcing myself into the pool and I am loads more at ease with the breathing, and I'm even very comfortable bilaterally! So, I'm starting to see a mindset change...I might ACTUALLY be able to do one of these! We'll see next summer. So, thanks for the encouragement, even if it's directed at someone else!
Thanks,
Trevor