Understanding my heart rate data

[Rob3rt]

There goes another HR training thread!

 

[david k]

had an ecg ages ago, it said i had some slight valve issue or something that most people have, it had a name but cannot remember, but that was in response to an overactive thyroid that is now sorted, what would i be looking for in an ecg?

 

[Garz]

had an ecg ages ago, it said i had some slight valve issue or something...what would i be looking for in an ecg?

Err to see if it had deteriorated since or for any other defects.. unless you meant your HRM and not the ECG?

 

[david k]

no meant ecg, not sure what i would do with the info, anyone advise please?

 

[Crackle]

The answer is not much unless you know the zones are accurate or you actually intend to train with them.

In general terms, if you're using HR as an indicator, then for a given ride you can see how much time you spend in a particular zone/zones. As you ride more then the time in a higher zone, for the same effort, should come down. Or you could aim to spend more time in a higher zone or more time in a lower zone when doing a recovery ride. You're looking at building a set of data results over time for a given ride and from that you can evaluate your fitness at a given time. That is in very rough terms as there are lots of variables but if you're using HR as an indicator rather than a training tool it works that way.

Just as important is resting HR, and recovery HR. HR will also confirm if you're fatigued or ill. A low HR when you would not expect it, might be fatigue or a high HR might be illness. It could be neither, you need to relate it to how you feel but again, as an indicator, it's confirmation of what you already suspect.

Training in zones is a different matter and a pretty huge area to understand and I suspect you don't need more than the basics but if you want a start to HR usefulness then start with that.

I fully expect to be shot down in flames now, as is the nature of these threads.

 

[david k]

cheers crackle, that makes sense

for now, i think just using it as a rough guide to how much effort at any given time, it at least shows me if im at a high HR and i now know that this will tire me quickly so helps me keep a steady effort

 

[Crackle]

cheers crackle, that makes sense

for now, i think just using it as a rough guide to how much effort at any given time, it at least shows me if im at a high HR and i now know that this will tire me quickly so helps me keep a steady effort

In fact if you do that you are using your HR to train in zones, very roughly but you are. If you want to ride further then you already know to stay below a certain HR. If you want to reverse that, you could ride above 150 each time for a longer period until you increase the length of time it takes you to fatigue. Alternate that with some slower rides and you are doing some basic zone training in a structured way. You could do the same thing on perceived effort and after a while of doing it, it will become dialled in, like cadence. The more you want to get out of it the more you start to refine your training in zones. Once you've got a volume of data it'll start to make more sense as you equate it to speed and feel etc...

 

[david k]

that is good insight into what im doing, maybe without knowing it. i plan to use my HRM more often and to try to analyise the data when i have an idea of whats happening more accurately

thanks for your help

 

[lukesdad]

If you want to use HR as a fitness or training aid you need to devise a regular ramp test.

 

[Andrew_P]

yeh a garmin, got this off endomondo, dont know why it spread out so much?

I find one of the best things about Garmin Connect is the HR graph,

Just as important is resting HR, and recovery HR. HR will also confirm if you're fatigued or ill. A low HR when you would not expect it, might be fatigue or a high HR might be illness. It could be neither, you need to relate it to how you feel but again, as an indicator, it's confirmation of what you already suspect.

Training in zones is a different matter and a pretty huge area to understand and I suspect you don't need more than the basics but if you want a start to HR usefulness then start with that.

I fully expect to be shot down in flames now, as is the nature of these threads.

Bizarrely I had a bad chest infection and the effect on my HR was that I couldn't get it as high as normal nor could I rev it in the same way it was just flattening out. It took two new straps and a an upgrade to an 800 fro me to finally suspect it was my body telling me something. The upgrade was something I wanted it gave me the excuse that my 705 could be at fault which was handy. A week off the bike and antibiotics and it went back to normal.

Back to the original post, David K how long have you been using a HR monitor? Do you have any historical data to compare it too?

Not sure if you are looking at using it to train?

 

[Rob3rt]

I find one of the best things about Garmin Connect is the HR graph

Rather contradictory, I find one of the most lacking area's of Garmin Connect to be anything related to heart rate!

I notice the OP still didn't bother to clarify the original information, guess he doesn't care for a bit of advice regarding the distribution of accumulative time spent in each zone (i.e. possibly one of the most useful things to be able to interpret).

 

[david k]

Cheers loco,

ive been using it off and on for a year, some of the training with HRM it seems needs a greater understanding of my own HR and more data. Whilst useful im not that deep into it, more a breif understanding is all i really need. For now ill look to use my HRM more and look closer at the results to see what i can learn and to see if it can be used to help me.

Robert - not sure what you dont understand, although not in neat lines all the information is there - what are you struggling with?

 

[Rob3rt]

Cheers loco,

ive been using it off and on for a year, some of the training with HRM it seems needs a greater understanding of my own HR and more data. Whilst useful im not that deep into it, more a breif understanding is all i really need. For now ill look to use my HRM more and look closer at the results to see what i can learn and to see if it can be used to help me.

Robert - not sure what you dont understand, although not in neat lines all the information is there - what are you struggling with?

I just wanted you to clarify/tidy up the format, to make it easy for those looking at it, that is all. It Call me awkward if you like, but basically, I wanted to see if you would bother to put it in an orderly format as a courtesy, if you bother to put a little time in to present the data nicely, I for one feel much more inclined to take a bit of time to try to help (we get loads of HR training and similar threads and most of them are junkers, so before spending time on it, I try to make a distinction between which ones are worth it and which ones the OP will actually take on board peoples advice). That's all really. Ironically, I probably spent more time trying to get you to do this than would have taken to answer your question, more fool me!

Also, I don't really understand what you don't understand as you have essentially said, here is a load of numbers, tell me about them. The information you posted is self explanatory, it tells you how long you spent in each zone that is all! Now if you care to contextualise the data or elaborate on what you don't understand about it, then the analysis can become much more nuanced for very little effort.

 

[david k]

in terms of the data presented - i guess the question was do these times in these zones seem normal? if they do then they are more likely to be accurate and more of use, this was about my best ride in terms of ability 40miles at around 16mph average. this is my max ish workout, are the zone what would be expected?

 

[Rob3rt]

Well, that really depends on what you aimed to achieve in the given ride?