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Heart rate training: Are you in the zone?
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Did you know that in a single day, about 100,000 heart beats shuttle 2,000 gallons of oxygen-rich blood many times through about 60,000 miles of branching blood vessels that link together the cells of our organs and body parts? What's even more amazing, is that the heart actually improves its strength and performance when we push it to work harder in regular intervals. Now, if we could only get our cars to start working the same way...
Our heart rate, or the rate at which our heart beats to pump oxygen rich blood to our working muscles and organs, is a measurable physiological sign that informs us of how hard we are working. As we gradually stress the heart muscle, its capacity for work becomes more efficient. This means we can continually encounter new, more challenging tasks without strain. Thus, the training effect!
Heart rate training can:
- Teach you about your body’s reaction to exercise
- Keep you from starting out too hard (as beginners are often tempted)
- Helps you control the intensity of your exercise routine under varying circumstances
- Provides feedback on your improvement and recovery
- Helps you make sure you work out at the right planned intensity for getting the best results out of your training program (hard enough on hard days, light enough on recovery days, enough recovery between intervals, etc.)
- Enables you to track and accurately adjust your training program according to your body’s reaction to training, providing an early warning of overtraining, dehydration, illness, etc.
Exercise zones are ranges between the lower and upper heart rate limits expressed as beats per minute (bpm) or as percentages of your maximum heart rate (HRmax). HRmax is the highest number of heartbeats per minute your heart can tolerate during maximum physical exertion. The three exercise intensity zones and their effects are outlined below:
Light or Health Intensity Zone: 60-70% of your HRmax (HRmax %).
The primary purpose of this zone is to work your heart hard enough to get stronger for a steady moderate pace. Fat is the body's main source of energy at this level of intensity; but in order to use this intensity as a method for fat loss, you have to be willing to go the distance. No less than 45minutes to an hour or more. This zone will:
- Improves the ability of your heart to pump blood
- Increases the sum total of capillaries in your extremities
- Increases the cardiovascular capacity of your muscle tissue, tendons, and ligaments
- Improves endurance
Moderate or Aerobic Fitness and Steady State Intensity Zone: 70-85% of your HRmax
This is the fastest pace you can maintain and still remain comfortable enough to talk while exercising for most regular exercisers. Exercising in this zone is particularly effective for improving aerobic (i.e. cardiovascular) fitness. If you are out of shape, your muscles will use carbohydrates for fuel when you are exercising in this zone. As you get fitter, your body starts using a higher and higher percentage of fat for fuel, thus preserving its limited stores of muscle carbohydrate. Exercising in this zone results in:
- Accustoms your body to exercising at a faster pace
- Begins to raise the speed you can maintain without building up lactic acid
Hard or Improved Performance/Anaerobic Intensity Zone: At 85-100% of your HRmax
Exercise in the hard intensity zone definitely feels "hard". You will find yourself breathing heavily (read- "panting"), having tired muscles and feeling fatigued. This intensity will bring you to or near your anaerobic threshold. This is the level at which your body cannot keep up with the demands of the muscle, and therefore starts to build up a by-product of lactic acid. (THE BURN!) Exercising in this zone is intensive, so it provides some unique benefits:
- Increases muscles' tolerance to lactic acid
- Increases the enzymes in your muscles that are responsible for fat metabolism.
- Used for racing, breakaways, time trialing, and running hills
- Improves your sprinting and hard, short effort ability
Look at what you are trying to accomplish with your exercise program and combine these zones with what your choice of activity needs most. Those involved in sports like soccer or basketball would likely do well with alternating between the Endurance Zone at 60-70% max heart rate. People who need quick bursts or powerful energy, like baseball players or those in the police force, will benefit most from training at the hard, anaerobic high intensity zone. For the best bet, alternate between each zone throughout the week for a new challenge!
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