Heart Rate Based Training

By Max Wunderle

For many beginning triathletes, the entire concept of heart rate based training can be confusing and intimidating.  All it takes is the reading of one article about how last year’s winner at some Ironman averaged 174 beats per minute while the reader’s max heart rate (they think) is 140!  Then, this same 40 year old person goes to their local gym where their stationary bicycle says that their heart rate should be in ‘X’ zone for fat loss and ‘Y’ zone for aerobic development.  On top of everything else, this same athlete gazes over at another 40 year old on the bike next to them and sees this athlete barely breaking a sweat at 130 beats per minute!

My intention here is to make this entire concept very simple to understand and even simpler to execute.  Let’s start with breaking away from heart rate and talk about a similar scenario of power/fuel management.

What does the sticker read on every new car?  “X” MPG city, and “X+” MPG highway.  Every car features less efficiency (or average MPG) when used in the city versus driven on the highway.  Why?  As most of us know, city driving demands repeated use of both the accelerator and brake, causing the car to speed up and slow down at more frequent rates than that experienced in highway driving.  This constant stopping and starting uses more fuel than the constant, measured effort of a car staying at one speed and not subject to repeated accelerations and braking.  Hence, highway driving (consistent, measured speed) is more efficient, over the long haul versus city driving (inconsistent, variable speed).

OK, let’s bring this metaphor into heart rate training.  Heart rate based training is an exercise in better understanding the proper speed(s) that our engines work at while using the lowest amount of fuel.  Additionally, there are those of us who have very powerful engines with low endurance (Ferraris), others that have a good blend of power and endurance (BMW), and some that low power and very good endurance (Prius).  So, successful heart rate training takes both the genetics of the individual and the goals of the activity into consideration.  Furthermore, the importance of heart rate based training ensures that we get the most from our engines without overheating or not working hard enough.

So, you now understand this concept and you want to incorporate it into your training regimen.  Step one calls for defining your maximum heart rate or lactate threshold (the lactate threshold is the point at which your muscles begin to burn glycogen instead of carbohydrates and is a state that cannot be sustained for long periods of time).  This is the singular most important step as this number will define all further training time frames and effort levels.  The best way to do this is to execute a field test with or without a partner.  So, find yourself a treadmill or stationary bike and complete the following test:

• Secure a heart rate monitor that allows you to track your heart rate at any given moment in time as well as offers an average for the entire training time
• Warm up for 15-20 minutes with the final 3-5 minutes at an average heart rate of 125-140 beats per minute
• Press the lap button or reset your heart rate monitor.  Run/Bike for the next 15 minutes at a very high rate of speed—you should not be able to carry a conversation and should feel as though you are working at an 8-9 level on a scale of ten—stop your monitor at the end of this effort
• After recording your average heart rate for the 15 minutes of hard effort, warm down for an additional 15-20 minutes

Voila!  Now, take the average heart rate reading for the 15 minute hard effort session and add 8-10 beats.  This figure is your hypothetical maximum heart rate.  All future race and training efforts will be based on this number acting as the highest possible level of output.  Here’s an example of what this means for an individual’s goal heart rate for various triathlon distances.

John Doe                  184 Max Heart Rate

Event                          Event Duration                     Target HR %             Target HR     
Sprint triathlon           (1-1.5 hrs)                                  90%                        165
Olympic triathlon        (2-2.75 hrs)                                85%                        153
Half Ironman              (4.5-5.5 hrs)                               80%                        147
Ironman                     (9-16 hrs)                                   75%                        138

Armed with this kind of information, you can now fashion your training to deliver the results you are looking for.  Training at a higher % of your max heart rate will deliver a different kind of fitness versus training at a lower % of your max heart rate.  But, higher is not necessarily better!  If John Doe’s goal is to win his local sprint triathlon, he would create a training plan that called for a good mix of 85-90% heart rate activity and muscle generation activity to ensure he expanded his muscular endurance and aerobic capacity.  Conversely, if John were a first time Ironman entrant, he may never see 150 come up on his heart rate monitor. 

In short, heart rate based training ensures your efforts are indicative of the goals you are trying to achieve and allow you to measure your pacing efforts at any given time.

Happy training!

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