Forums >Suggestions and Feature Requests>Heart Rate Zones
I've looked around my log, and I don't *think* there's a way to do this, but let me know if I'm mistaken.
I've been using a heart rate monitor for most of my runs, and it would be neat to be able to see my heart rate zones on activity graphs and maybe reports. I'm not asking for a zone calculator, but a place (in profile or settings) to fill in my 5 zones so that they can be overlaid onto an activity's heart rate graph. It would also be cool to do a report to see, for example, what % of my time is spent in each zone.
~Kate
Life is short. Running makes it seem longer.
Hi Kate,
There is no way to do this right now. I'm not sure how hard it would be to include zones in the graph. It all depends on what the graphing software is capable of. I'll add it to my list of todos, but there is no estimate on when it will be available. It would be better if the zones can be determined automatically. Anyone know how the max hr can be estimated?
eric
Eric,
It would be nice if max HR estimation was available, but the user was still able to enter a max HR if they happened to know it. The estimation of Max HR is not great. Here is the accepted estimation:
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/measuring/heartrate.html
This maximum rate is based on the person's age. An estimate of a person's maximum age-related heart rate can be obtained by subtracting the person's age from 220. For example, for a 50-year-old person, the estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220 - 50 years = 170 beats per minute (bpm).
You might want to read this, though, as to the accuracy:
http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/Robergs2.pdf
Live the Adventure. Enjoy the Journey. Be Kind. Have Faith!
Determining maximum heart rate is the subject of many articles and books with no strong agreement on the "right" formula.
The most common equation is 220 – age = maximum heart rate (MHR), but that does not play out well when you look at individuals as many can tolerate higher heart rates and others cannot attain the formula driven number. This formula was empirically derived from young athletes.
A study by Tanaka in 2001 looking at a broader age distribution showed that this formula often underestimated the MHR in older subjects and a revised formula fitted to the data resulted in this formula: MHR = 208 – 0.7(age).
Another look at this by Gellish in 2007 showed good correlation to stress testing results using MHR = 207 – 0.7(age) with a p value of <0.001.
Once you have the max heart rates determining zones depends on whether you use heart rate reserve (correcting for resting heart rate) and what percentages you use for each zone.
as many can tolerate higher heart rates and others cannot attain the formula driven number.
It is not really a question of being able to "tolerate" higher heart rates, as if some people are just tougher and able to "take it" more to go higher. It's really an individual ceiling that's set by your age, genetics, health, and tons of other little factors, including, to a smaller extent, environmental factors on any given day.
- Joe
We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.