Heart rate and what it means to your fitness!

Heart Rate Check!

If you’re a member of my training group, you’ve probably heard me say this many times. But why is heart rate such a key focus during training?

In my opinion, monitoring your heart rate is one of the simplest and most effective ways to gauge how hard you’re working.

Understanding Heart Rate Training Zones

When athletes are aiming to develop their aerobic systems, I recommend they focus on training within 60-80% of their maximum heart rate. This range helps build endurance without pushing the body into anaerobic territory too soon.

But how do you determine your maximum heart rate? A simple formula is 220 minus your age. This is a general guideline, and while it works for many, some athletes may have a maximum heart rate that differs from this calculation. It’s just a starting point.

Training at Different Heart Rate Zones

Once you have an idea of your maximum heart rate, the next step is to understand your training zones:

1. Aerobic Zone (60-80% of Max Heart Rate)This zone helps build your aerobic capacity, which is the foundation of endurance running.

   • Example: A 30-90 minute easy run.

2. Threshold Zone (81-88% of Max Heart Rate)Training in this zone improves your ability to run at a pace you can maintain for around 45 minutes—typically your 10k pace.

   • Example: A 5x3-minute threshold session with 1-minute rest intervals.

3. High Intensity Zone (89-100% of Max Heart Rate)This is your hard-effort zone where you work at a very high intensity.

   • Example: 8x400m intervals with 2-minute rest breaks.

Example Training Zones

Here’s how the zones would look for two athletes, based on their maximum heart rates:

For a 16-Year-Old Athlete (Max HR = 204):

• Aerobic Zone: 123-163 BPM (60-80% of Max HR)

• Threshold Zone: 165-180 BPM (81-88% of Max HR)

• High Intensity Zone: 181-204 BPM (89-100% of Max HR)

For a 45-Year-Old Athlete (Max HR = 180):

• Aerobic Zone: 108-144 BPM (60-80% of Max HR)

• Threshold Zone: 146-158 BPM (81-88% of Max HR)

• High Intensity Zone: 160-180 BPM (89-100% of Max HR)

Heart Rate in Action

Take a look at the heart rate graph of one of our athletes completing a session with efforts like 1x 2.5k, 1x 2k, and 1x 1500m at threshold pace with 1-minute rest intervals between each effort.

One thing that stands out in this graph is how quickly the athlete's heart rate drops after each hard effort. The faster an athlete's heart rate drops, the better their aerobic fitness. While this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the fastest runner, it’s a clear sign that their aerobic system is in great shape.

In fact, it’s not unusual for some athletes in our group to see their heart rates drop 60-70 beats in just 60-90 seconds after a hard effort. This rapid recovery indicates solid aerobic conditioning.

Key Takeaways

Here are a few important things to keep in mind when using heart rate to guide your training:

1. Monitor your resting heart rate regularly to track your adaptation to training.

2. On easy days, make sure you’re staying within your aerobic zone to allow your body to recover.

3. If you’re struggling to elevate your heart rate on hard days, it’s a sign that you might be fatigued and need more recovery.

4. For interval training, let your heart rate drop sufficiently before jumping back into your next effort. You can even base your recovery times on how quickly your heart rate drops.

Final Thoughts

By tracking your heart rate, you can better understand your body’s response to different types of training and ensure you’re working within the appropriate intensity for each session.

Here’s a final graph showing pace and heart rate during an alternation session—illustrating how both pace and heart rate fluctuate as efforts increase.

Keep training smart, listen to your body, and let your heart rate guide you to better performances!

Good luck, and happy running!

Have any questions shoot me an email.

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