heart rate training advice

Yesterday I listened to the interview with Joe Friel on Enduranceplanet.com (it's the September 1st interview). The interview was pretty good and worth listening too. So go listen... then come back!

The title of the interview was "heart rate training", which is the topic of "Joe's new book" that is coming out soon.

The one concept that I really liked was when he talked about the heart rate monitor measuring "input" while metrics such as pace, speed, etc. measure "output". This is a great way to explain this relationship and a way that I hadn't conveyed before to the people I help out.

Why is this important?

Training with a heart rate monitor over a period of time can teach you a lot about yourself and your physiology. Many of the people that I train with have been subjected to my discussions of heart rate numbers in relation to paces and efforts. (For that I apologize!) And recently I've seen some good things showing up in the numbers - and that is a good result to see entering into a taper.

Develop your own "fitness test"

One of the best ways that I like to monitor a person's fitness, using a heart rate monitor is to develop a "fitness test". An example of a fitness test that I have Nikki doing right now is:

run: 8.2 mile route (a route that she mapped out - it's kind of tough)
heart rate: 150bpm (she complete's the run staying at this hr the entire time)
pace/duration: this is the evaluation piece

Improvements are witnessed when the run (distance) requires the same input (heart rate) and results in a better output (faster time).

This is a very simplistic way to use a heart rate monitor to evaluate a training plan, training program and/or general fitness. I have used it over the years (since 2000) and it has given me a pretty decent way to evaluate myself heading into a race.

Heart Rate Training ISN'T Perfect

There are a lot of things that can influence heart rates, so I'm not saying that using a heart rate monitor is the end-all of training. But it is a good way to keep a person honest regarding their current level of fitness (ask some of my athletes how honest it keeps them *smile*).

There are also a lot of other variables that a person has to look at when training with a heart rate monitor that I haven't discussed. Such as how do you determine your training zones and/or determine what a maximum heart rate is. (For example: How did we determine "150 bpm" for Nikki?) I don't want to get into that issue now... maybe at a different time.

Let's just say that there are several different methods - but no "golden rule". If you want a method to review now, check out Joe's other book "The Triathlete's Training Bible."