Essentially, heart rate training means taking regular readings of your beats per minute, usually through a heart rate monitor mounted on a chest strap that communicates with your watch. Some runners prefer to use wrist-based readings, which most smartwatches now offer as standard.
Target heart rate during moderate intensity activities is about 50-70% of maximum heart rate, while during vigorous physical activity it’s about 70-85% of maximum.
Training at 80-90% of your max heart rate (more on that below) ensures that you develop your lactic acid system, as you use the glycogen in your muscles and build up lactic acid in your legs.
Like using a high target heart rate to ensure your high-intensity sessions are performed at the right levels, heart rate training can ensure you include a good mix of workouts in your training plan. Moreover, using heart rate to guide your runs means you’re more likely to have enough diversity in your running.
You can calculate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. For example, if you're 45 years old, subtract 45 from 220 to get a maximum heart rate of 175. This is the average maximum number of times your heart should beat per minute during exercise.
There are five heart rate zones, all of which correspond to different percentages of your max heart rate (MHR), which you'll learn how to calculate later....You can also think of these in terms of effort level:Zone 1: Very light.Zone 2: Light.Zone 3: Moderate.Zone 4: Hard.Zone 5: Very hard.
When your heart rate increases from a resting state, the muscle is exercising at a more intense rate than before. As a result, the heart gains strength and resiliency through the effort.
Aerobic Heart Rate Zone vs Anaerobic Working out at 70-80% of your max HR (moderate intensity) will improve your aerobic fitness level. This will allow you to build endurance and create lean muscle for things like distance running or cycling. It's also good for your overall cardiac health.
A 'heart rate zone' is essentially a range within which your heart's beats per minute sit. So you might train in a zone where you're working at 70% of your top effort level, known as your 'maximum heart rate'.
Vigorous: 77% to 95% of MHR This is the zone to aim for when training for endurance. It spurs your body to improve your circulatory system by building new blood vessels and increases your heart and lung capacity. Aiming for 20 to 60 minutes in this zone is believed to give the best fitness training benefits.
Heart rate is important because the heart's function is so important. The heart circulates oxygen and nutrient-rich blood throughout the body. When it's not working properly, just about everything is affected.
Training using a heart rate monitor may be holding you back from reaching your potential. No, really. In my experience as a coach and athlete, training by heart rate is less accurate and more problematic than training by pace and feel unless you are a very experienced runner.
To determine your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. For example, a 35-year-old's maximum heart rate is 220 minus 35 — or 185 beats per minute. To enter the fat-burning zone, she'd want her heart rate to be 70 percent of 185, which is about 130 beats per minute.
No. Max heart rate in itself is not an indicator of fitness. It does not rise as your fitness improves or if you exercise regularly, nor is it a sign that you are more fit than someone else if you have a higher max HR than they do.
Heart rate zone 4 is where the going gets tough. You'll be breathing hard and working aerobically. If you train at this intensity, you'll improve your speed endurance. Your body will get better at using carbohydrates for energy and you'll be able to withstand higher levels of lactic acid in your blood for longer.