Heart Rate Monitor Training for Cyclists
by Bill Becher
A few years ago I took a one day course in Formula Fords at Riverside Raceway and was surprised to find race cars don't have a speedometer. What they do have is a big tachometer mounted right in front of the driver.
A heart rate monitor (hrm) is a tachometer for a cyclists engine. It tells you how hard or easy your motor is working, a necessity for modern training in any endurance sport. If I had to choose between getting a cycle computer or a heart rate monitor, I'd choose the monitor. The photo of Laurent Jalabert, winner of Velo News' 1995 Cyclist of the year, shows him wearing a hrm.
Heart rate monitors used by cyclists consist of a chest strap that picks up and transmits electrical impulses from the heart, like an EEG, and a receiver, usually worn on the wrist, which picks up the signals, and converts them to a digital display. Basic models cost about $100 and display only heart rate. Fancier hrm models record average heart rate, allow setting alarms for high and low heart rate limits, include clock functions, or even allow sampling heart rate at 5-60 second intervals and recording an entire workout. For most of us this basic model is plenty. Polar is a well known brand which works well.
In order to use an hrm effectively, you need to know your maximum heart rate. This is genetically determined, and slows with age [reaching 0 when you are very old]. Maximum heart rate is sometimes given by the formula 220-age, but this is only a guideline that may vary 10-20 beats and is not especially useful for training. The only way to determine max. heart rate for training is to go out and do an effort that will get your heart rate to it's maximum for that exercise. One way to do this is to warm up thoroughly, for at least a half hour, then do 3 hard one minute maximum efforts up a hill with only 30 seconds rest between intervals. The highest heart rate observed is you max. heart rate. [Note this is like the effort in a hospital stress test, except there's no doctors, nurses, or crash cart handy if you have a problem Only do this test with your physicians, okay, especially if you or your family has a history of heart or circulatory problems, or you are over 35.]
Aerobic v anaerobic training
Generally our muscles achieve power by burning stored energy with oxygen (aerobic). At high levels of exertion, another (anerobic) system produces energy without oxygen. The byproduct of anaerobic activity is lactic acid buildup, the common burning sensation in your legs when you go too hard up a hill. The heart rate at which this system kicks in is generally referred to as your anaerobic threshold, or AT. There are various way to measure this, the only accurate one is to take blood sample at various heart rates on a trainer and analyze the samples. A good estimation of anaerobic threshold is the level which a cyclist can sustain over a half hour of sustained effort, such as climbing a big hill or riding in a time trial. AT is generally between 80-90% of max. heart rate, averaging 85% for a cyclist in good shape. One of the chief aims of training is to raise the AT so higher heart rates can be sustained for longer periods of time.
Training Zones
Many of us have seen wall chart in gyms showing "your heart rate training zone". These charts are overly simplistic, as there is not one "training zone", but many zones. The USCF National Team Coaches use 5 Zones:
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* Note the gap between Zone 3 and 4 is because too many cyclists training at this intensity, which is too low to train your anaerobic threshold and too hard for endurance training. ** some of us.
More info: Training for Cycling, Carpenter Phinney Velo Press, and Serious Cycling Edmund Burke, Human Kinetics, or call Jim Whittaker at VeloTek 913 492 0571 for personal coaching.