Fitness strategies

[Andrew]

Morning,

Just last week bought myself a shiny new heart rate monitor from Polar. For the time being I'm enjoying looking at HR and work rates during certain phases of training. However, what I really want to do is get more serious about the exercise I'm doing and take it up to the next level.

The tool (an RS800CX) reckons I've got a VO2 max score of 54 which, for my age (33) is pretty good. That said, I shoudl be able to run a lot faster with that score than I actually can so I'm not too sure about its accuracy.

So, does anyone else train using HR zones? Does anyone else know what the hell I'm on about? If so, share with me what you think, since if I'm supposed to be working in a zone 70-80% of my max HR, it feels like I'm going backwards and as a result I spend most of my time between 80% and 90%. Most advice suggests this isn't effective but at the level below I don't feel like I'm working at all.

I'm doing a mixture of canoeing, cycling and running which sees me doing an hour one of those most days of the week. Cycling could be anything up to 60 miles a week, running up to 20 miles and canoeing 25 miles.

Anyway, I'd appreciate a general thread about fitness in general for those that are serious about improvement. I know Mac and Mook are very much into keeping fit - but do you tackle it with any degree of science? I seem to recall Mac does.

I did wonder about signing up for a lab test to get more accurate HR max and VO2 max scores.

[Dave]

Andrew,

i'm with you.. I use a Garmin Edge 705 on my bikes.. it's a sort of sat nav for bikes but shows heart rate, cadence, speed, distance, altitude etc.

I use Heart rate more and more to show how hard i am working. For example, when climbing a steep hill my heart rate will climb anything up to it's max (which for me is around 177 bpm).. i know that if i'm around 150bpm I'm working hard but can continue at that level.. at around 130bpm i am still going quite well on the bike, but i am recovering.

Use this to calculate your zones.. you will find a zone which suits you best. You can't work in zone 6 for long as you will tire very quickly.. I find that on the bike.. again, when climbing a steep hill and I'm giving it too much and find i am in zone 6, i know i haven't got long left before I tire too much.. so either you need to slow down or drop a gear. Get my heart rate back down to zone 5 or 4 and i can continue for longer.

Heart Rate Training Zone Calculator

The reason for training in different zones is because you need to teach your body to work on different energy cycles. For endurance work you need your body to be burning fat rather than your carbohydrate stores. Buring fat will take you a lot further than your carbohydrate store which you'll use up very quickly and then be in debt.

I've only just touched the surface on this subject. There are books and books on this stuff and some of it gets very scientific. Read around the internet for a better understanding. Magazines such as Cycling Weekly or cycling active also carry a lot on this type of stuff.

[Andrew]

Nice link Dave. I've only got 5 zones on my Polar and according to your link I'm in 3, 4 and 5 most of the time (mostly 4 for up to an hour). I don't often get above 170 bpm despite my theroetical HR max being 189 (lots of calculations to work this out, your site uses a formula* (edited this bit) which gives 187 for me, others recommend other similar metrics although lab testing is the only real way).

So I probably need to do more in zone 3, but good god does it feel boring. Especially when running, I've got to drop the pace to 9min/mile or less where normally I'd be alright at 7:30 or less.

A mate who was a PTI in the Paras suggested one of the things I'd have to get over mentally was not pushing myself during every session and some being really easy to the point of relaxed. Even on the commute in today (15 mile cycle) I was working the whole way - not busting a gut but working at 80-90% for most of the time.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Andrew

[Dave]

Absolutely right,

You will find out your own max heart rate after using it a few times.. On the formula I should be around 182, but when i'm using as much energy as I can on the bike and absolutely exhausted my max seems to be around 177/178... so that's the number i use as my max.

When you are running and in zone 3/4 then there is nothing to stop you sprinting for 20 mins and then dropping back in the lower zones for recovery. That's what i do.. i will cycle in zone 3/4 and be pushing on, but not using every ounce of energy.. i'll then pick up the pace. When you get to the point of exhuastion or not being able to continue much further then drop back into a zone where you can continue but recover.

What you'll end up doing is training on heart rate rather than speed. That's where i am now. So rather than doing a distance over speed, I'll work on my heart rate.. so if i'm pushing 160bpm then i know i am working hard. If i've averaged 15mph over 40 miles then i know I've done ok, but so many things make a difference to speed, like weather, traffic, wind etc . Running off heart beat is so much more accurate.

[Mook]

I don't measure HR any more - I used to on the treadmill and bikes at the gym, to see what I was producing.

If you feel like you're going backwards, then interval training is one of the best ways to get your speed up - I do this with cycling and Spin (in the gym) contributes to this as well.

For running, take your normal pace, back off to 80% of it, run at that speed for 5 mins, then go flat out for as long as you can, then back off to 80%. This really worked for me and, now you mention HR, I might have a look this weekend and see where I'm at.

[Andrew]

Of course, thanks guys. No idea why I didn't think of the interval training on the bike during the commute - doh! I average about 20mph on the flat commute so it is a consistent effort rather than intervals - I'll try that on the way home this eve. During my runs I tend to knock out 8 miles at a time and an 8 mile interval could leave me knackered a good way from home!

Did intervals on the water last night which were tough, but canoeing is an interesting sport where I tend to find my muscles failing with fatigue long before my CV levels run out - that will change with more training of course.

I checked my resting HR the other day and at times it was in the 30s. I'm not sure that is healthy but it seemed to settle in around 45bpm.

I went to watch the marathon last weekend and I've never managed a sub 4 hour time in the 4 times I've done it. Watching the 3 hour guys go past I felt a bit rubbish since some of them didn't look uber fit - maybe some people can just run and I've got to accept that no matter how fit I get, I'll never post a 3 hour marathon (and the target is really sub 4 but with a VO2 max score like I have something around 3:20 should be possible).

[Mook]

I see myself as being fit, but I'm slow when it comes to running. I've no idea why - I'm just not built for it. For me, it's only ever about bettering my own times/distances etc.

[Soulboy]

When I do cardio struff at the gym, I set the cardio monitor for 155 and try and sustain 150-160 for the duration of each exercise (30 mins+).

I should also state that I am a mere 46

But I know that when I am doing stuff without the monitor (sparring/punchbag/tennis etc) I must be working at a much higher level in short bursts.

I am also with Mook on the running. I wonder if its poor technique, or whether I just find it painfully boring and tedious. Whatever, I just cant do it.

[Dave]

I don't enjoy running as I find it very high impact and my knees and hips ache afterwards.

The secret to it though is finding a pace that suits you.. it might be quite slow to begin with, but what a lot of people do is set off far to fast and within a mile you are knackered.

[Andrew]

I used to have the same ache problem, until I found Lamberts Glucosamine and Chondroitin complex. 2 a day, no more aches and pains. I'd not believe it if I wasn't using it - I'd urge everyone who suffers like that to try it. It means I've trained pretty hard now since the start of 2009 with no injuries. I also (pi55ed) decided on a 6 mile run through London on Saturday night in jeans and flat Timberlands - no aches on Sunday at all (despite a 5 miler on the Saturday morning too). I put it down to the supplements.

I bought a set of scales on Sunday which measure your body fat %age. Anyone else tried these? I'm not overly impressed - it reckons I'm obese to the point of requiring some medical intervention (although that is the rubbish BMI index which I ignore anyway). The body fat %age is over 30% though - a mate's wife I was chatting to last night only had 29% after giving birth. Clearly it is a load of old rubbish - there is NO WAY I've got a %age that high!! It did also suggest my hydration levels were low. I'm beginning to wonder if these were an utter waste of money!

[Mook]

Probably was Andrew. You just need some calipers and normal scales. I'm 12.5% at the minute, which is fine for me for now. Going to single digits is waaaay too much work in terms of what you can and can't eat when.

Stupidly, when I went for a check up recently, I was weighed and my height was measured. I'm 6'1" and weigh 90KG. She said I was overweight - all the charts assume that everyone carries fat, not muscle.

Calling me overweight is like saying 8 Mars bars a day is good for you...

[Andrew]

Yeah, I know I'm not overweight and certainly nothing like 30% body fat - under 20% I'd say. I'll weigh the car with them later, that should put them out of action.