Low HR Training

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FACTORS THAT AFFECT HEART RATE DURING RUNNING (Read 355 times)


Future running partner.

    I found this article on pfitzingers website that I thought was very interesting, particularly for those of us that obsess about heart rate every day. It kind of explains daily variations in pace and perceived effort while training with the same heart rate limitations every day. FACTORS THAT AFFECT HEART RATE DURING RUNNING
      Thanks for posting that article. What I found interesting is that the article seemed to be saying that you should adjust your zones:
      Heart rate increases at high temperatures. Your heart rate is higher when running on a hot day. As the temperature increases from 60 degrees to 75 degrees, a runner?s heart rate at a given speed increases by about 2 to 4 beats per minute. When the temperature increases from 75 degrees to 90 degrees, you can expect your heart rate running at a given speed to increase by approximately 10 beats per minute. High humidity magnifies the effect of high temperatures on heart rate. To gain the same benefits as on a cool day, you should increase your heart rate zones by 2 to 4 beats per minute when the temperature is in the 70?s and the humidity is low. On a high humidity day in the 70?s or a low humidity day in the 80?s, you should increase your zones by approximately 5 to 8 beats per minute to correct for the heat factor. In more extreme conditions, such as a high humidity day over 80 degrees, you cannot accurately adjust your heart rate zones for the conditions. On the most brutal summer days, it is wise to adjust your training schedule to avoid high intensity training..
      The advice above surprises me because my impression from everything I read on this forum seems to indicate the opposite. If it is very warm out, you do not adjust your zones to account for the heat and run at a higher heart rate. The above advice says to adjust your zones to "gain the same benefit", but it probably should say to "maintain the same speed" which is not necessarily the same thing. It surprises me when I read things like this. It surprises me that more in depth studies have not been done with reguard to MAF. For example, we know that the MAF threshold corresponds to the point where we are burning approximately 75 to 80 percent fat for fuel. But, does this point move 10 beats higher on a really hot day? Has someone tried this? Has someone ever been lab tested under those two conditions to see what happens? Does the MAF point move depending on the time of day, since the HR seems to be lower in the morning?
      BeeRunB


        He's correct only in that heat affects the HR. His mistake is that he thinks a workout done at a certain pace can only be equalled if it's done at the same or faster pace. You don't need to increase the ceilings of your zones The HRM will make sure you are getting the same workout, even though it may be slower, or faster if it's cooler. Just like when you run a race all out in cool then race it all out in hot, you'll be slower in the heat. Equal workout. And the heart rate was probably the same. --Jimmy


        run-easy-race-hard

          He's correct only in that heat affects the HR. His mistake is that he thinks a workout done at a certain pace can only be equalled if it's done at the same or faster pace. You don't need to increase the ceilings of your zones The HRM will make sure you are getting the same workout, even though it may be slower, or faster if it's cooler. Just like when you run a race all out in cool then race it all out in hot, you'll be slower in the heat. Equal workout. And the heart rate was probably the same. --Jimmy
          Exactly. The problem with the article is that it's misleading. It's correct that there are variations in heart rate due to many factors day to day. However, it sort of implies that no matter what those variations are you still have the same performance capability. If it's hot out, your performance will be diminished. If your heart rate is running high for the day, likely it's the sign of a problem and your performance will likely be diminished. If you're running up hill the whole way, your performance will be diminished. The HR monitor takes into account all of these things and helps you equalize relative to all the factors and get you the best you can no matter what the conditions are, in training or in a race.
            Now that I have been running for most of the past year, and have done a lot of reading on line about the various types of training and philosophies, it appears that their are a few different camps with respect to training. One camp bases the training on pace. Another camp bases the training on Heart Rate. A third camp bases training on perceived effort. And many good training programs, I think, incorporate some of all three of these to different degrees. It just appears that this article was written by someone whose training was mostly pace based, and they were trying to fit the Heart Rate monitor methods into it. I am definitely an advocate for mostly doing Heart Rate monitor type training. It just appears to me that this is about the most objective way to measure workload and effort and to guard against over training. When I was younger, and much less susceptable to injury, and I recovered very easily, almost any training method worked, because being precise about workload, etc. was not so important. Their just was much wider room for error. Now that I am 49 years old, I just find that I really have to be careful and measure things more accurately, and that is why I really like HR monitoring. I do not know how many tiimes I have just felt good, and my pace would just increase without me even realizing it, and then all of a sudden I was doing a tempo run, when that was not the right thing to do. The HR monitor has been so valuable to me in holding me back. Is it perfect? No. I think that is why it is probably a good idea to also mix in pace and perceived effort into it too. But, I mostly go by the HR monitor. Sometimes the HR monitor is not perfect because of an example I had cited earlier. I was having a low heart rate due to not enough recovery. The HR monitor was telling me I had a nice low HR for the pace I was running, but I felt sluggish and weak.