Be Still My Heart....

Happy Monday! It's lunchtime, and as I enjoy my awesome salad the hubs made last night, I've been doing some heart rate research. This is going to be a long, number filled, not very exciting post....just a forewarning. But for anyone who uses heart rate to train, or judge exertion - it is good info. I've learned a lot this lunch hour!

I found a lot of good information here with respect to calculating Max Heart Rate. And then I linked to here for training zone information. There were five different methods for calculating a MHR, and 3 of those 5 methods gave me a MHR of 182. Here is the method I landed on (the 'bold' items apply to me).


Miller, Londeree and Moeschberger

To determine your maximum heart rate you could use the following, which combines the Miller formula with the research from Londeree and Moeschberger.

Use the Miller formula of MHR=217 - (0.85 × age) to calculate MHR
Subtract 3 beats for elite athletes under 30
Add 2 beats for 50 year old elite athletes
Add 4 beats for 55+ year old elite athletes
Use this MHR value for running training
Subtract 3 beats for rowing training
Subtract 5 beats for bicycle training

Using this method, I have a MHR of 182. (as opposed to the 179 I've been using). That's only 3 beats higher than before, so no big deal right? I then learned that the variance lies more in how you calculate the training zones, more so than the MHR.

The formula for figuring training zones accounts for your resting heart rate too, which I have not done. For example, here is how I should calulate my 'easy' or 'fat burning zone':

MHR (182) - Resting heart rate (55 this morning) = Working heart rate (127)

60% of 127 = 76 + RHR (55) = 131

So 131 - 144 would be my 'fat burning' or 'easy endurance building' zone. Which is quite a bit higher than the basic method I have been using, which puts the 60-70% zone at 107 - 125. Given that my heart rate sort of naturally lands around 140-143 on my easy runs, I am inclined to think that the method which uses the resting heart rate in the formula is more accurate for me.

So here are my new training zones based on what I've learned today (with my 'old' zones in red):

60% - 70% (Fat Burning and re-energize glycogen stores) 131- 144 (107 - 125)
70% - 80% (Cardiovascular conditioning) 144 - 156 (125 - 143)
80% - 85% (Improve Lactic Threshold) 156 - 163 **I tend to drift to this range towards mid to end runs (143 - 152)
90% (Speed) 169 (161)

Based on my old formula, I was supposedly doing 'Lactic Threshold' training for the majority of my runs. There is no way I have been working that hard, not at my slow pace! :-)

I feel better now, knowing where my heart rate peaks (around 140 - 143) on most runs, and that it seems to match up better with this scale. I would have to WALK to get my heart rate down to 125 for the 'fat burn' zone - I don't think I ever spent more than a couple of minutes in the 107 - 125 zone before. Keeping my rate between 131-144 is much more realistic and I don't have to 'try' so hard to manage to that, my body just sort of lands there.

As always, it's all about the numbers I guess! I just want to be sure I am working at the right exertion during this base building period. The payoff, will be better endurance, my weight will drop, and speed will start to increase! All good stuff!