Heart Rate Zone Training

Introduction

I know many runners who have spent a great deal of money to purchase high quality heart rate monitors and use these powerful devices for nothing more than an expensive stop watch.

Today I will briefly discuss the basics of using heart rate zones during your training and race. There are five basic heart rate zones, each with their own benefits and potential risks. Learning how work within each of these zones is essential for a good workout, and will add benefits that will enable you to reach your own personal goal.

Components of the System

I would like to mention, from the outset, that as humans we are unique in many ways. We differ from one another and have tough mental faculties, but relatively fragile biological bodies that are not mechanical devices that can be programmed to perform uniformly. In this discussion, it is essential that you understand your body, listen to it, and adapt to your environment and physical condition. Learn to work in harmony with your body and in unison with your environment. 

Calculating your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)

Every heart rate monitor owner probably knows that you have to calculate your maximum heart rate, because everything in heart rate zone training traces back to your maximum heart rate or MHR. This is unfortunately not as simple as it may sound. There is no consensus as to how this is to be done; the following table will demonstrate the various views.

Proponent	Formula	Result for a 43-year old male & female considered as having average running experience Male                 Female
Most commonly used Formula	MHR = 220 – Age	177 bpm	177 bpm
Martha Gulati Formula (2010)	Male MHR = 220 – Age Female MHR = 206 – (0.88 x Age)	177 bpm	168 Bpm
Londeree & Moeschberger Formula (1982)	MHR = 206.3 – (0.711 x Age)	176 bpm	176 bpm
Miller Formula (1993)	MHR = 217 – (0.85 x Age)	181 bpm	181 bpm
Jackson Formula (USA – 2007)	MHR = 206.9 – (0.67 x Age)	178 bpm	178 bpm
Whythe Formula (UK - 2007)	Male MHR = 202 – (0.55 x Age) Female MHR = 216 – (1.09 x Age)	178 bpm	169 bpm

The male range varies between 176 to 181 bpm (beats per minute) and the female range varies between 169 to 181 bpm. This may not seem substantial; however, there is a 3% variance for males and a 7% variance for females.

The question is which of these calculations are correct. Determining which you will use seems to be a case of preference. On the one hand the Gulati formula is based upon the most recent research, but the Londeree & Moeschberger Formula has stood the test of time with a multitude of athletes having used it. My advice would be to discuss your personal preference with a medical professional that specialises in sport medicine.

I personally use the most commonly used formula which is 220 – Age, which has worked for me in the past.

Measuring your Resting Heart Rate (RHR)

With your heart rate monitor attached, find a comfortable place to lie down and relax. After 20 minutes, review your heart rate history. The lowest number of beats per minute will be your resting heart rate.

Heart Rate Zone 1 (Fat Burn Zone 50 to 60% of MHR)

This zone is the easiest exercise zone and is ideal for beginners and those who would like to lose weight. To reach this is achieved by walking, this minimises the risk of injury while improving your overall health. It burns a high percentage of fat, but a small number of total calories.

Heart Rate Zone 2 (Fat Burn + Cardio-Respertory Zone 60 to 70% of MHR)

Moderate jogging should get your heart rate to between 60% and 70% of your maximum heart rate. In this zone you burn fat and calories while improving your general fitness. Exercising in this zone has distinct benefits. Essentially it improves your Cardioresperitory fitness. What this means is the following:

When you use your muscles they require oxygen to function, without oxygen the muscle fatigues easily which results in a lack of use or performance. Any athlete has a need to supply the muscles with as much oxygen as possible, however, to do this the heart needs to firstly have the capacity to move large volumes of oxygenated blood to the muscle area, and secondly to have the artery network through which to deliver the blood to the specific muscle.

Training in this zone has three primary benefits:

(1)    The heart muscle is enlarged which allows for more blood to be pumped through the body,

(2)    The number of small arteries increase, which allows the oxygen rich blood to reach the muscles, and

(3)    The lung capacity of the individual increases, which allows for a higher intake of oxygen per inhale, this delivers more oxygen to the muscles.

Heart Rate Zone 3 (Aerobic Zone 70 to 80% of MHR)

In the Aerobic Zone you have the same benefits as in zone 2 but with an increased intensity. The increase in intensity builds endurance, and trains the muscles to absorb and process oxygen and discard carbon dioxide with much greater efficiency.

Heart Rate Zone 4 (Threshold or Anaerobic Zone 80 to 90% of MHR)

Training in this zone is vital for any athlete, the professional athlete pushing for performance will spend more time here then the casual racer but both has the need to develop their lactic acid system. The aim is to find your anaerobic threshold (AT). Let me explain what happens when the body is under a high stress level during exercise. Where the heart rate exceeds 80% of MHR, the fat reserves in the human body is no longer sufficient to fuel the energy needed to sustain such activity. As energy source the body converts glycogen that is usually stored in the muscles into energy fuel. The by-product produced when glycogen is burned is lactic acid. It is important to note that lactic acid is not responsible for the burning sensation in your leg muscles during a hard work out nor is it responsible for the stiffness and tenderness felt 48-hours after workout.

To remove lactic acid from the muscles the muscle needs oxygen that would breakdown the lactic acid into carbon dioxide and water, both of which will be discarded by the body. Inefficiency in delivering oxygen rich blood to the muscles will result in the build-up of lactic acid, resulting in muscle fatigue.  The way to train the body to break down the lactic acid build-up is to train continuously at between 85 to 90% of your MHR for a period of 20 to 25 minutes at a time.

Heart Rate Zone 5 (Red Line Zone 90 to 100% of MHR)

This is a zone where prolonged activity is not possible. It is predominantly used to develop fast twitch muscle fibres, which develops speed. This speed development training is used during interval training and should only be done once a high level of fitness and strength has been developed.

Environmental Factors that Influence Heart Rate

(1)    Dehydration can increase the heart rate by up to 7.5%,

(2)    Heat and humidity can increase the heart rate by 10 beats/minute,

(3)    Altitude can increase the heart rate by 10 to 20%, even when acclimatized, and

(4)    Normal biological factors can result in day to day variations of 2 to 4 beats/minute.

Determining your Own Heart Rate Training Plan

The general rule is that you should identify what zone fits into your personal objective and to train within this zone 3 to 5 times per week for between 20 and 60 minutes at a time.

If your aim is weight loss, your focus would be on zone 1 gradually working your way up to zone 2. If you would like to increase general fitness and stamina your focus would be zone 2 working towards zone 3. For more competitive performance your focus would be on zone 4 and for speed development you would focus on zone 5.

Conclusion

I hope this article has given you a better understanding of the different heart rate zones and how you can use these to optimise your performance.

Thank you for visiting my blog

Genis     

Sources

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DAVIS, B. et al. (2000) Physical Education and the Study of Sport. UK: Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

McARDLE, W. et al. (2000) Essentials of Exercise Physiology. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

BEASHEL, P. & TAYLOR, J. (1997) The World of Sport Examined. UK: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd.

GALLIGAN, F. et al. (2000) Advanced PE for Edexcel. Oxford; Heinemann Educational Publishers

BIZLEY, K. (1994) Examining Physical Education. Oxford; Heinemann Educational Publishers

Donatello, R. (2005) Health, The Basics. 6th ed. San Francisco: Pearson Education, Inc.