How to determine your target heart rate
There are some basic rules you should know when you start to use a Polar heart rate monitor. First of all it is important to know that your heart rate is affected by several internal and external parameters. It takes months (if not years) to get enough experience to understand how the heart rate reacts.
Your Polar heart rate monitor works best for pacing at aerobic cycling, since there is a slightly delay on the pulse frequency. If you accelerate the bike to a new steady state pace, you will reach the steady state pulse a few minutes later. That is really important to know, and I guess that is why many riders push too hard in the beginning of intervals, because they are trying to get their heart rate up in the target zones. That is a big mistake that could easily be avoided if these riders used a power meter.
In short intervals with a length of less than 2 minutes, I will recommend that you don’t use your heart rate monitor for pacing.
How do you determine your target heart rate?
There are several formulas around on the internet that can be used to calculate target heart rate zones. I have seen formulas with more than 6 different target zones, but I normally prefer to use less. You can easily define your own target zones when you use the Karvonen formula. Remember that there are several factors influencing on the pulse, so don’t make the intervals to small.Karvonen’s formula: Target HR = Intensity% x (Max.HR minus Min.HR) + Min-HR
Example: Calculation of Target Heart Rate
Intensity=75%, Max.HR=190, Min.HR=54
T-HR = 75% x (190 – 54) + 54
T-HR = 156
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trevor hough said,
November 24, 2006 @ 7:23 pm
i was wondering if anyone could answer a question for me. I am a 40 yr old male, long history of running and cycling. Resting heart rate 45, when mountain biking my heart rate can easily get to 185, supposedly max heart rate is 180. Heart rate returns to around 130 within a minutes recovery. Is this high max heart rate normal, are there genetic variations in max heart rate.
Thanks
Trevor
Jesper Therkildsen said,
November 25, 2006 @ 5:27 pm
There are great variation in maximum heart rates. The standard calculation is 220 minus age, but there is a standard deviation of about plus/minus 20 beats. There is no best maximum heart rate. Thus, there are professional riders with low maximum heart rates and other riders with maximum heart rates >210.
/Jesper
Heart Rate Monitor Guide said,
January 17, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
[…] Be patient It is not necessary to use a special heart rate focused training program when you start to use it. As I said, just wearing the monitor for the first month is a very good education. I remember when I started to use a heart rate monitor for the first time back in the mid 90’s. At that time I had read some literature about general exercise physiology and heart monitors, but I lacked practical experience with the monitor. The result was that I made some target intervals for my heart rate which triggered the alarm system to beep most of the time. After a few of these rides I started to ride without target zones until I knew more about how my heart rate reacted during cycling. The lesson I learned was that you have to be patient and wait a while before you start doing intervals based on heart rate target zones. […]
Coach Matt said,
February 7, 2007 @ 6:57 pm
Trevor - you bring up an important consideration - Max Heart Rate based calculations are inherently inacurate. The original 220-age calculation was completely arbitrary and not designed to be a performance based calculation. Each individual has their own heart rate max that doesn’t often correlate to a MHR calculation. More important and relevant is your Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR). A simple way to estimate your LTHR (and develop training zones from there) is to do a simple breathing test. After a short warm up gradually increase your effort until you feel your breathing change to one that is slightly labored (need a breath between sentences) and you feel a slight “burn” in your legs. As soon as you feel that note the HR, back off and repeat to try to calibrate within a couple of beats - though anecdotal (you can also do a full fleged blood lactate profile) it is a good starting point for creating responsible training intensities> Think of it as below LT you have nearly limitless capacity, above LT you are on a short clock!!
best
matt
Scott McDiarmid said,
June 15, 2007 @ 8:05 pm
Hi,
I’ve done a couple of Max HR tests over the years (I’m 40 now) which comes out at about 210 bpm. I guess my threshold is approx 185. Is there any specific research to indicate that high heart rates like my own are less efficient or hinder performance?
Thx
Introduction to training with power meter said,
June 25, 2007 @ 11:27 am
[…] Power meters like SRM, Ergomo and Powertap are very useful if you want to optimize your training and start getting better results. Before you throw away all your pocket money consider how serious you are with your training. If you find it very difficult to stick to a rigid training scheme, doing specific intervals in heart rate target zones, then a power meter might not be the best choice for you. If you think that analyzing your performances or registrating your training sessions is a waste of time, then you are probably not ready for cycling with a power meter yet. But if you get excited when you turn on your computer immediately after parking your bike, watching your heart rate file, then you will likely be even more excited about the data from a power meter. If you like to make training plans or have a cycling coach who works out plans for you, then a power meter will be a very powerful tool, which gives you opportunity to make better training plans. […]