One of the first pieces of equipment I bought when I started running was
a heart rate monitor. With its help I was able to stay in the aerobic training
zone, especially during my long runs.
Most coaches advise to stay within that zone for the majority of the
training, i.e. for over 80% of the training, especially for beginners, but also
for long distance specialists. In this zone, physiological changes happen which
enable the body to become more efficient in the utilization of Oxygen. More vascular
capillaries are created around the muscles, which carry oxygen more directly to
more muscle fibers. Additionally, training in this zone is less stressful to
the body and helps avoid injuries. Due to the lower intensity, the body can
recover more quickly and is sooner ready again for the next training session;
hence a bigger training volume can be completed. In this zone most of the
energy produced is generated using body fat while Glycogen is spared. This zone
is called zone 2 in which the heart rate range is 65-75% of Maximum Heart Rate
(MHR).
How do you find out what your MHR is? There are several ways to do that
which I will mention in future posts, but for beginners, the easiest way is to
subtract your age from 220. So, if you're 30 years old for example, then your
MHR is 220-30=190. With that, your zone 2 range would be 123-142.
So, what are the other zones? Zone 1is the rest and recovery zone in
which the effort is below 65% of MHR. Zone 3 is from 75 to 85% and is better to
be avoided in training. Then there is zone 4 between 85 and 95% which is the
zone in which speed or strength is developed depending on the type of training
done in this zone. And finally, there is zone 5 from 95-100% which is all out
effort for instance in the final sprint before the finish line.
Let me return to the initial point of this post, which is that a heart
rate monitor is a worthwhile investment. After I started with a cheap heart
rate monitor and watch with basic functions only, I progressed step by step to
a Garmin watch with many more features, most importantly the GPS supported
functions of measuring pace, speed, and kilometers, and the ability to record
and upload your training sessions onto a Garmin website such that you can share
it with others like your training partners or your coach, who can use your data
to track your progress and design an individualized training plan for you.
Very interesting! Please elaborate further on this in following posts.
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