Heart Rate Monitor Training

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Heart Rate Monitor Training

• Galway Triathlon Club Info Series

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Basic Physiology

• Body uses oxygen and fuel to generate energy.
• The cardiovascular system delivers oxygen to the
  skeletal muscles, which then use this oxygen to
  "burn" various fuels (carbohydrate and fat) to
  yield mechanical energy.
• During rest, your body adapts to make you
  stronger. This is accomplished by improvements in
  cardiovascular and muscular function. The heart
  becomes stronger and more efficient, and the
  skeletal muscles become better at extracting
  oxygen from the bloodstream. Within muscle cells,
  the mitochondria boost their enzyme systems to
  oxidize fuels.
• improved aerobic fitness reduces heart rate at a 
  particular effort level.

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Heart Rate Monitors

• A heart rate monitor is a very valuable tool for
  the endurance athlete.
• It provides essential real-time feedback on how
  your body is performing.
• For the new athlete, it can act as a work
  limiter, placing a limit on how hard you work so
  that you avoid injury and overtraining.
• For the more experienced athlete, it can be used
  to train with greater refinement.

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Heart Rate Range

• Resting Heart rate
• Taken at rest, usually when you wake up in the
  morning (before getting out of bed). Often a good
  indicator of the body feeling under stress.
• Maximum Heart rate
• Very difficult to determine!
• Range Max Resting (very individual)

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What happens betweens rest and max HR?

• Aerobic
• Aerobic means 'with oxygen'. During aerobic work,
  the body is working at a level that the demands
  for oxygen and fuel can be meet by the body's
  intake. The only waste products formed are carbon
  dioxide and water. These are removed as sweat and
  by breathing out.
• Anaerobic
• Anaerobic means 'without oxygen'. During
  anaerobic work, involving maximum effort, the
  body is working so hard that the demands for
  oxygen and fuel exceed the rate of supply and the
  muscles have to rely on the stored reserves of
  fuel. In this case waste products accumulate, the
  chief one being lactic acid. The muscles, being
  starved of oxygen, take the body into a state
  known as oxygen debt. The body's stored fuel soon
  runs out and activity ceases - painfully. This
  point is often measured as the lactic threshold
  or anaerobic threshold or onset of blood lactate
  accumulation (OBLA).

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LTHR Testing

• Near the start of your training, you should do
  some testing to determine your Lactate Threshold
  Heart Rate (LTHR). You then use this LTHR to
  determine your training zones.
• Run/Bike 30min TT (avg HR for last 20mins)
• Swim pace better indicator (1000m TT)

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Heart Rate Zones
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HRM Issues

• Pace/Speed
• Perceived Exertion
• External Stresses increased resting HR
• Cardiac Drift
• Let the HRM guide you but dont be a slave to
  its output!