#1 Thing I Want To See More Of In 2018: Intelligent Heart Rate Monitor Training
#1 Thing I Want To See More Of In 2018: Intelligent Heart Rate Monitor Training
In the last year we’ve seen “fitness monitoring” go mainstream. Personal trackers have become a huge market and training models have been designed around “staying in the zone.” I think overall this is a great development. Monitoring of internal markers like heart rate is something that professional athletes have done for decades that can greatly serve to improve the training of general population clients as well.
However, I think some education as to WHAT were trying to learn from monitoring is hugely important. When people wear a heart rate monitor for training I often see 1 of 2 mistakes happen.
1️⃣They don’t adjust our training based on the data.
2️⃣They assume harder is always better.
The video and picture above are examples from my first two workouts of 2018. I want to share how I use the @myzonemoves system at @bodybyboyle to modulate training for both myself and my clients.
1). For my conditioning on New Years Day I did KB Snatch intervals with a 24 kg bell. I did 5 reps on each side for 10 rounds. Rather than doing 10 reps and resting the remainder of the minute or setting some arbitrary work/rest interval like “30 on/30 off” I based my rest off my heart rate recovery. I would allow my heart rate to return to 70% of my max before repeating. This is important because when I started the intervals My recovery equated roughly to 20:40 but by the time I was done it was much closer to 20:50. Although this adjustment seems small it makes huge difference in terms of complete recovery and subsequent intensity during the work interval.
2). On January 2nd I did a Cardiac Output workout on the Airdyne for 45 minutes. The goal was to maintain consistent low/moderate intensity work throughout the entire bike ride. As you can see from the picture I maintained consistent heart rate around 75% of my max for the duration. The visual feedback from the monitor made it much easier for me to maintain the correct work intensity throughout the workout.
If you aren’t currently using an HR monitor I encourage you to pick one up and use it to modulate your training program.