?HR Monitor?

[beetle]

Bit late now to offer a HR suggestion but I have the Cardiosport Go30 http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/ca...ort_go_30.html which I bought in the UK two years ago. It is quite similar to the Polar F6 but doesn't have Ownzone etc.

It'll be interesting to see what your Dr says but it may take a while using the HR monitor before you find what is normal for you doing different activities. I find my HR quite different for swimming, cycling, running and rowing for thhe same RPE. My HR is highest when cycling, then running, then swimming, then rowing for much the same RPE. I think most people have variation between sports and though running and cycling tend to be higher a lot has to do with your skill in each sport too.

I tried the preset HR for my age and the Ownzone feature.
I also had the perceived rate of exertion chart (PRE)
<snip>
Now here is the dilemma - when I stay in the HR zone recommended I was only walking about 3 mph, even if I did a brisk walk my HR jumped up too high, slow running was out of the question.
My PRE was about at get up from the couch to get a beer level

I bumped the parameters up to HIGH and then could do a sloooooow run. but now the HR was at 145-150. I decided to keep running the track and see how long I could go. I was doing a 12 min mile and ran for an hour, barely broke a sweat and could carry on an easy conversation. But my HR was steady at 145-50 which is the supposedly 80% rate for me where I should only be speaking in short sentances, passed lactate threshold, and breathing heavily

I'm not 100% sure but I'm pretty sure that polar just use a fairly simple algorithm to work out HRM (like 220 - age) and then apply that to an ideal workout rate of 65 - 85% MHR which to be honest may not be ideal for you.

I am training ATM in a range of 70 - 75% MHR and it feels very easy BUT I'm pregnant and want to keep my base fittness and exercise as far into pg as I can. Though this is the reccomended zone for base training for normal training I agree it feels pretty easy.

Just keep in mind that Polar's own zone is really designed for people who don't know their own HR tendencies and want a generic plan for training to lose weight/imrove general fitness. I would say 65 - 85% would be a good range if you were doing a long endurance session but wrong if you are doing intervals or something like a spin class where your HR is up and down a lot for on/off efforts.

Also, you prob have a different HRmax to what the watch is assuming. Now that you have the watch you can work it out yourself, Polar probably incude a test in their handbook. But you could do something like this:
10-15 min warm up 60% (estimated) HRmax
1-2 min rest or easy spinning/walking
7 - 10mins maximum effort. Pick a distance in that zone on the bike or running and try to get your best time for it. You will reach you HRmax in the last few minute assuming you are working really hard all the way to the end. If you are on a treadmill you will be able to see your HR without looking at your watch which could be helpful. Though your watch gives maximum heart rate I'd be a bit wary of 100% trusting that figure at the end of your test unless you saw it consistently as readings can sometimes be a bit inacurate (I got a 220 on mine once which was clearly wrong).

I wore it to spinning class yesterday and set it on manual. my HR went up to 173 and I could still speak short phrases - I hadn't hit the no talk zone. when we lessened the pressure and sat down spinning at about 85 -90 my HR
dropped to 134 in about 30 secs.

HR recovery time is a great way of checking your fitness improvement. One of the features of my watch that I love is that you can set a recovery HR and it gives me the time I take to return from about 90%HRmax to that level. As the time shortens you can see that your fitness is improving (which is why you shorten the recovery in interval session the better you get). It worth looking at your HR about 2 mins after the end of a 90% effort to get a HR recovery reading and noting it for refference. Then every week or so see how long it takes for your HR to return to that figure, if your training is working the time should reduce.

Sorry for the ramble but I remember it took me ages to get my head around my HR monitor, I still havn't mastered the art of HR training though. I hope you don't mind all the suggestion/comments.

[eclectic]

thanks beetle for all the info - Soooo much to learn and to figure out.

Knowing my body and how it reacts will be worth it in the long run.

I may have to have someone help me with the max HR check - I am a weenie and when something starts to hurt or is uncomfortable I wimp out. I need the person over me saying "COME ON YOU CAN DO IT - KEEP GOING! ALMOST THERE!"

I plan on running again tonight so will see how it checks out

thanks again for the great response!

[beetle]

No dramas, I'm new to Tri too and just found the "new to triathlonites" thread so am off to read my way through it. Enjoy your run tonight.