What's the Deal with Heart Rate Training?
By Ryan Hite, Fitness Services Coordinator
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Do you ever wonder if you are training at the right intensities? Have you been training extremely hard lately and not seeing the results you want? Keeping track of your heart rate is a great way to monitor your training intensity to make sure you receive all the benefits of training.
Whether you are using one of the new heart rate monitors for check out at the SRC or you are just taking your pulse the old fashion way (count the number of heart beats in 10 seconds and multiply that number by 6 to get beats per minute), understanding your exercise heart rate can be helpful in your exercise regime.
This article will focus on five basic training zones and provide some training benefits in each zone. These zones are calculated as a percentage of maximum heart rate (max HR). If you do not know your actual max heart rate, then you can use the 220 - your age formula (220 - age = predicted max heart rate). Keep in mind that the 220 - your age formula can vary a bit in accuracy person to person. Once you have your max heart rate, multiply your max heart rate by the percentages of each training zone to get your upper and lower limits for that zone.
Zone 1: 95% - 100% of max HR
Zone 1 is an anaerobic training zone and the highest intensity zone. This zone will improve neuromuscular efficiency and sprint speed. Workouts in this training zone should be short; up to 2.5 minutes per work bout, with plenty of rest in between. Training at this intensity should not comprise more than about 5% of totally weekly volume in an endurance athletes training program.
Zone 2: 87% - 95% of max HR
Zone 2 is also an anaerobic training zone. This zone will improve anaerobic tolerance and maximum oxygen consumption. Workouts in this training zone should be kept to about 3-5 minutes with up to two minutes of rest in between intervals. As a general rule of thumb try to limit zone 2 training to less than about 10% of weekly volume.
Zone 3: 80% - 87% of max HR
Zone 3 is a lactate threshold zone. This zone improves the body's ability to buffer lactate, which is one of the limiters to aerobic performance. Training in this zone proves extremely beneficial for endurance athletes. Workouts in this training zone should be 8-30 minutes. If this zone is used for interval work, rest periods should be shorter than 5 minutes.
Zone 4: 65% - 80% of max HR
Zone 4 is an aerobic endurance training zone. This zone increases fat metabolism, increases aerobic endurance, and conditions the body to withstand higher amounts of stress. Training in this zone should last longer than 30 minutes. This zone places a high emphasis on volume and should comprise the majority of your weekly training.
Zone 5: 50% - 65% of max HR
Zone 5 is an aerobic recovery zone. This zone is extremely light in intensity and should be used primarily for recovering from higher intensity workouts. Training sessions at this intensity should last between 20 and 60 minutes. Do not spend too much time training in this zone-it does not elicit a high amount of training benefits like the other four zones.
Hopefully these five training zones will help you to better organize and keep track of your training. Remember that in all of these training zones it is important to listen to your body-If you are feeling run down and over trained, take some time off or complete an easier workout. For more assistance in planning your workout, schedule an appointment with a UREC Personal Trainer.