Using a Heart Rate Monitor
Using the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) to control how hard you are working during an activity is a very good basic way to monitor work rate but can be very subjective. In order to gain a more accurate readout I would advise you to purchase a heart rate monitor, they are available from many sports shops and via the web. Wearing a heart rate monitor while training enables you to accurately record how hard you are training, how your cardiovascular fitness is improving and enables you to progress safely without pushing yourself to hard.
Once you have purchased your heart rate monitor you will need to determine your Maximum Heart Rate, this is the highest rate you can achieve in an all out effort to the point of exhaustion. There are many different ways to determine this value, some are far more accurate than others. The standard 220 – your age formula has long been proven to be inaccurate because max heart rate doesn’t just rely on age. A better formula would be (210 minus half your age; minus 5% of your body weight in pounds; plus 4 for men or 0 for women). Although this is a much better formula without doing VO2 max testing or a maximal stress test you can never have a pinpoint number but you should be very close.
So now you have you Heart Rate Max, what do you do? Well, the first thing is to find 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% of the max heart rate. These are generally classed as zones starting with 50% as zone 1 and 90% and above as zone 5. Now you can start having some fun and working on gradual progressions through the zones as your fitness levels improve. Zones 1 and 2 are generally used for warm ups and zone 3 is a great place to improve aerobic capacity as well as burn calories. Once you have a good strong cardio base you can incorporate 15% of your time in zone 4, this will help to improve your threshold and also is the best zone for burning the greatest number of calories in the shortest amount of time. Finally if you are feeling strong and want to involve some speed work into you programme then spend 10% of your weekly time in zone 5. Zone 5 will improve your tolerance of lactic acid but too much time spent in zone 5 can lead to total burnout and that’s not a good idea.
Putting it all together
Whether running, speed walking, cycling, rowing, hill walking, swimming, you can always benefit from wearing a heart rate monitor. It is a good idea to plan your training session based on your long term goals and then to work backwards. For example, you have 12 weeks before a 5 mile fun run. Break the 12 weeks down into 3 blocks of 4 weeks. Spend the first 4 weeks building a solid aerobic base utilising zones 1-3. The following 4 weeks progress to adding 15% per week of zone 4 into your workout. Finally add 10% per week of zone 5 for 2 weeks and then ease off for the last 2 weeks before the big day.
Keep things exciting, varied and challenging every time you step out of the door to begin some cardio training. Try some different routines, run backwards for ¼ of a mile, skip sideways, run up some hills and then walk back down and repeat, create a mini circuit down the gym combining all the cardio equipment. The important thing is to keep the workout routine fresh and to keep challenging and surprising the body. Aim to work your cardio for no more than 30 minutes (that’s plenty of time to challenge the cardiovascular system) and ensure you have a day off between each session. Most of all enjoy your cardio workouts. The benefits of 30 minutes every other day far out ways the effort that you have to put in, one day you may even start to enjoy it!
Greg
Have you tried kettlebell training with a heart rate monitor, you will be amazed!!! If not you can download free workouts here: