New to heart rate training
- Thread starter Gary Stanley
- Start date
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Rob3rt
Man or Moose!
- Location
- Manchester
I tend to agree with VamP here, the best indicator of fitness is performance and a HRM is not very useful in quantifying performance for various reasons.
However, if you are into doing such things as timing your recovery etc then the HRM can be useful for giving an indication of general fitness changes. That said, the post by someone about about waiting for your HR to drop by 45 and it being "very good" or something, well that is, but its very nature bunkum. HR is very individual and also very variable, day to day and hour to hour so an arbitrary number has no use. You should probably just observe trends in your own data and forget about numbers such as "45" and phrases such as "insert number is very good".
However, if you are into doing such things as timing your recovery etc then the HRM can be useful for giving an indication of general fitness changes. That said, the post by someone about about waiting for your HR to drop by 45 and it being "very good" or something, well that is, but its very nature bunkum. HR is very individual and also very variable, day to day and hour to hour so an arbitrary number has no use. You should probably just observe trends in your own data and forget about numbers such as "45" and phrases such as "insert number is very good".
gavroche
Getting old but not past it
- Location
- North Wales
Argos have a HRM for £20. Is it worth buying it?
Dusty Bin
Guest
Depends if you want one as a toy, or as a useful HR measurement/tracking device...
GmanUK65
Über Member
- Location
- Wallsend, Newcastleupon Tyne
Yes I agree in what you as I found out in another thread I started on lactate training (something I know nothing about except the name) but, if I am wrong in things I say then they should explain why I am wrong instead of putting me down and taking the mick. I mean they must have been beginners some time in the past
GmanUK65
Über Member
- Location
- Wallsend, Newcastleupon Tyne
Ive got a Polar CS200cad it cost me £99 which was on offer, but when I bought my road bike I left it on my hybrid and bought a normal cycling computer for the road bike. I now have the Polar on my road bike but just use it as a HRM. I could also use it for cadence but the muckle big sensor makes the bike look a mess so I am not going to bother. Talking about cadence, how important is it?
Biker Joe
Über Member
- Location
- Nr Harlow, Essex.
When you look at the peloton during a pro race, not that important as I see it. They are all travelling at the same speed but their cadence varies enormously.
You ride with what is comfortable for you I think.
I have cadence on my cycle computer and I like to keep it around the lower 80s mark. That suits me fine.
I'm no expert on the matter. There's probably other opinions.
GmanUK65
Über Member
- Location
- Wallsend, Newcastleupon Tyne
I know this looks like a list of posts I am doing but I tried this one in another website forum yesterday but havnt any replies yet.
One of the threads I have started is about lactate training, asking on how it is done. I have now realized that I dont think I am ready for this yet. The reason for this is because I have read/been told that before doing this I have to get my body used to working aerobically; another way of putting this is what Ive read - making my body an aerobic engine. How would I train my body to be this?
I dont know if this is correct but I went for a 70 mile ride yesterday and most of that ride I kept my HR in an area where I believe is aerobic by constantly changing down gears when going uphill and changing up gears when going downhill (obviously my HR went right down when I came to road junctions and traffic lights). Could this be a correct method for building a so called aerobic engine, or should I purposely occasionally go anaerobic?
One of the threads I have started is about lactate training, asking on how it is done. I have now realized that I dont think I am ready for this yet. The reason for this is because I have read/been told that before doing this I have to get my body used to working aerobically; another way of putting this is what Ive read - making my body an aerobic engine. How would I train my body to be this?
I dont know if this is correct but I went for a 70 mile ride yesterday and most of that ride I kept my HR in an area where I believe is aerobic by constantly changing down gears when going uphill and changing up gears when going downhill (obviously my HR went right down when I came to road junctions and traffic lights). Could this be a correct method for building a so called aerobic engine, or should I purposely occasionally go anaerobic?
Dusty Bin
Guest
It's a good idea to have a decent aerobic base before you start launching into HIIT work. What are you actually trying to achieve with any of this?
lukesdad
Guest
Post 2 gave some advice, perhaps if you had acted on it before your first,post 15 would not apply. Interesting you refer to beginners as I believe beginners is where this thread belongs.
lukesdad
Guest
Base miles.
Hang on - the thread title is 'heart rate training' - and the 'first sensible post' is from someone who says he doesn't use his HRM to get fitter?
Correction- the title is actually "New to heart rate training" if you want to be pedantic. When I said sensible, it was exactly that, no digs and no wise comments - the guy is obviously fresh to this. How you use your HRM is entirely up to you - as with HR subjects especially on forums though there is always people that argue over it's uses or how accurate it is.
The key to begin using one I'm afraid is setting it up to be a reflection of your health. We all know the arbitrary x minus age is terrible and you should firstly set this after a solid effort where the theoretical max is attempted. After this at least your 'zones' are realistic and you can 'train' to your hearts content (pun intended).
GmanUK65
Über Member
- Location
- Wallsend, Newcastleupon Tyne
Base miles? This is something else I have read about in this subject. What is base miles? How can you tell if you have ridden these base miles? Are these base miles counted from how many miles you have ridden where a HRM does not matter, or miles ridden with a HRM. In the last 3 weeks I have ridden 304 miles on my road bike but only 84 miles of this a HRM was used
david k
Hi
- Location
- North West
defo in the zone mate, top post
david k
Hi
- Location
- North West
i use a HRM sometimes, it can help you ensure your not pushing to hard or taking it to easy but mostly i use it just to add a little more interest to reviewing my rides. i dont have any specific goals, you dont need to be a pro or serious amateur to want to use some additional 'tools' to help keep the interest
