Heart rate training. Demystifying training with a heart rate monitor

Have you tried training with a heart rate monitor? There are advantages and disadvantages. In this article, I will give a complete review of heart rate training, why you should consider training according to heart rate, and specific suggestions for minimalist training with a heart rate monitor..

Forget about finding your heart rate zones

The typical approach: You need to calculate your different training zones before your heart rate training can begin. Then you need to run for 5 minutes in zone 2 before progressively gearing up to zone 4, peaking in zone 5, which you stay in for 4 minutes.

Does that sound too complicated to you? Heart rate training can be made simple!

Reasons to consider heart rate training

Minimalism is a rapidly growing trend in running training. Heart rate training is anything but minimalism. But here is the number 1 gem: you don’t have to wear the heart rate monitor for every workout.

By training with a heart rate monitor for just a few weeks, you can learn so much about your body that you will never need to train with a heart rate again. You will quickly learn what speed you should be running at, whether you are running too fast or too slow.

Here are a few reasons to consider training with a heart rate monitor (just once in a while):

• It’s fun to see your resting heart rate drop as you get in better shape. I’ve had mine all the way down to 37 beats per minute and was considering changing my name to a famous cyclist named Michael Rasmussen (-:
• Seeing your heart rate gives you something to focus on
• You can use your heart rate to keep a steady pace. When there are hills, you (at least I do) tend to run too fast. In fact, you should run very slowly up hills to keep a steady heart rate throughout the race.
• If you have ever measured your heart rate while running, I guarantee that your “easy run/easy pace” has been done at too high a pace.

That last point is really important. Too many people run too fast when they are supposed to do a “slow run” or whatever it is called in your running program. This means you are not following the program. If you do not follow the program you will typically not be 100% recovered for your next workout. Boom, now you are in a vicious cycle.

You will find Here are a number of running programs where I have specified exactly what pace you should run at, based on your level.This creates safety and reduces the risk of injury.

Distinguishing bad training from good training is probably the best reason to consider heart rate training.

3 step guide to simple heart rate training

I’ve made it incredibly simple for you. I’ve cut out everything unnecessary, so you have the most essential thing to do a good heart rate workout that will move you forward in terms of training.

I’ve used the method myself. I love keeping things simple – and that’s what I’ve done here.

The basis of the “training program” is that you only have 2 types of training. Easy and hard. The intensities for the two training types are determined by your maximum heart rate.

Find your maximum heart rate

I promised you we’d keep things simple here. Find your maximum heart rate using the following formula

220 minus your age.

If you are 30 years old, your theoretical max heart rate is 190. The method is not very accurate, but it is a good start.

Light exercise – this corresponds to 65 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate

Between your hard runs, always do an easy workout. Here you should be between 65% and 70% of your maximum heart rate. If you have tried it before, you will quickly find that it works.very slowly. Slowly as in “can it really fit?”.

To make it simple, you can just multiply your maximum heart rate by 0.7 (30 years = 190 * 0.7 = 133).

In between your hard workouts, do this easy run. How long should you run? It can be anywhere from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. The most important thing is that you in no way Push yourself. It should feel so easy that you feel like you’re not getting anything out of it.

Hard training – now it gets fun. 80-90% of maximum heart rate

Always focus on the hard workouts. I call them quality workouts. You should have 2 to 3 hard runs a week. Find out what works best for you.

Running between 80% and 90% heart rate is a very wide range. To put it simply, you will typically be able to run between 20 minutes and 40 minutes at 90%, while you can probably run for almost double that time (if not more) below 80% of your maximum heart rate.

Nothing more is needed – get started

It is 100% intentional that I have not given you a complete training program. The point is that you should feel free and not programmed by a ridiculous training program that has 1000 assumptions about who you are as a person.

It should be simple. It should be minimalistic, simple heart rate training. Find all the running programs here, where your level, pace and heart rate are taken into account.

What is your favorite heart rate-focused workout? Share it with the rest of us.