I was talking to a friend the other day about her training and found out she was training with a heart rate monitor. Now for those of you that know me, you know that I'm not a huge fan of Heart Rate Training. Why? Well there are many other factors besides exercise intensity that effect heart rate.
If you want to learn more specifics about those factors you can check out a article I wrote titled "To Live and Die by the Heart Rate monitor" ( http://www.etacoach.com/resources/fundamentals/TF02.php ).
Interestingly enough i did not totally disagree with her decision. She is notorious for "hammering" her workouts and going to fast. My obvious solution for this would be to have her use a GPS and Power Meter while training. Even with a GPS and Power Meter she continued to push the pace. We all have that itch to run faster min/mile pace or cycle at higher watts, so having these numbers in front of her did not help. Heart Rate on the other hand is keeping her under control.
The take away message is here is Heart Rate training may not be a bad idea for those that have trouble "hammering" all the time, and not keeping their easy workouts EASY. When you keep your easy days easy, your harder key workouts will be much more quality.
Keep in mind when using Heart Rate Monitors you need to be certain your using the proper testing protocols to acquire your appropriate Heart Rate Training Zones. The old 220 - Age has no validity whats so ever. I generally have athletes run/cycle a race that is close to a 1/2 Hour or Hour (or do similar Time Trials) and correlate it with their MLSS (Mean Lacate Steady State) or LT (Lactate Threshold). From there i can assign appropriate training zones using Heart Rate.
Lastly remember to test your self every 4-8 weeks to acquire new training zones. You will become more fit every few weeks, therefore you need to re test to ensure your training in the appropriate training zones. If you don't re test you might be training way to slow or fast!
Happy Training
Coach Jason
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