What is the importance of knowing your heart rate?

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Replies

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited December 2015
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    If you don't know your zones, here's a quick and easy guide.

    1. Old lady pace
    2. Chatty pace
    3. Feel good hard
    4. Feel bad hard
    5. I am going to die
    6. Flat out

    Your guide demonstrates how many people don't need to monitor HR and can instead monitor their perceived level of exertion. :+1:

    I don't know, brain is a tricky thing sometimes. The other day I did not feel like working out because it's a time of relaxing and holidays, but I did it anyway. During my run I felt like I was flatout going to die and that I was pushing so damn hard, but then I looked at my heart rate and found it to be in the high 140s. That's usually a 5 for me on this scale but it felt like a 9. The number helped me realize that my mind was being whiney and playing tricks on me because I didn't want to workout, and surely enough I was able to maintain the pace for the entire 30 minutes. Had I relied on perceived level of exertion alone I would have been in active recovery instead of my intended endurance pace.

    I guess it doesn't really matter, but some people are empowered and motivated by data, so it's a good tool to use. Do you absolutely need it? No. Is it helpful to some? Absolutely yes.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    If you don't know your zones, here's a quick and easy guide.

    1. Old lady pace
    2. Chatty pace
    3. Feel good hard
    4. Feel bad hard
    5. I am going to die
    6. Flat out

    Your guide demonstrates how many people don't need to monitor HR and can instead monitor their perceived level of exertion. :+1:

    I don't know, brain is a tricky thing sometimes. The other day I did not feel like working out because it's a time of relaxing and holidays, but I did it anyway. During my run I felt like I was flatout going to die and that I was pushing so damn hard, but then I looked at my heart rate and found it to be in the high 140s. That's usually a 5 for me on this scale but it felt like a 9. The number helped me realize that my mind was being whiney and playing tricks on me because I didn't want to workout, and surely enough I was able to maintain the pace for the entire 30 minutes. Had I relied on perceived level of exertion alone I would have been in active recovery instead of my intended endurance pace.

    I guess it doesn't really matter, but some people are empowered and motivated by data, so it's a good tool to use. Do you absolutely need it? No. Is it helpful to some? Absolutely yes.

    But maybe, it felt hard for a totally valid reason (e.g. missing sleep, recovering from yesterday's workout, not enough fuel, etc.), and your body was right to ease back a bit that day.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    tomatoey wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    If you don't know your zones, here's a quick and easy guide.

    1. Old lady pace
    2. Chatty pace
    3. Feel good hard
    4. Feel bad hard
    5. I am going to die
    6. Flat out

    Your guide demonstrates how many people don't need to monitor HR and can instead monitor their perceived level of exertion. :+1:

    I don't know, brain is a tricky thing sometimes. The other day I did not feel like working out because it's a time of relaxing and holidays, but I did it anyway. During my run I felt like I was flatout going to die and that I was pushing so damn hard, but then I looked at my heart rate and found it to be in the high 140s. That's usually a 5 for me on this scale but it felt like a 9. The number helped me realize that my mind was being whiney and playing tricks on me because I didn't want to workout, and surely enough I was able to maintain the pace for the entire 30 minutes. Had I relied on perceived level of exertion alone I would have been in active recovery instead of my intended endurance pace.

    I guess it doesn't really matter, but some people are empowered and motivated by data, so it's a good tool to use. Do you absolutely need it? No. Is it helpful to some? Absolutely yes.

    But maybe, it felt hard for a totally valid reason (e.g. missing sleep, recovering from yesterday's workout, not enough fuel, etc.), and your body was right to ease back a bit that day.

    If that was the case, my perceived level of exertion wouldn't have changed back to normal once I realized I was not going as hard as I thought. It's a personal thing, but I often confuse "I don't want to" with "I can't".
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Resting HR gives me an indication of my fitness level. (That's probably useful/interesting for many people.)
    Ditto for speed of recovery.

    Knowing my actual max HR gives me confidence to push harder knowing I'm not about to expire on a long hill. My max is higher than the standard formula 220 - age (176 versus 165).

    I also do endurance cardio (cycling) so knowing my sustainable HR for 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours + is helpful.
    I've done 6 zone HR training in the past and it was helpful for endurance base building.

    For majority of people would think it's more "interesting" than useful.
  • jswigart
    jswigart Posts: 167 Member
    I use heart rate during cardio exercise to calculate calorie burn.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    soccerkon26 wrote: »
    I just got a Fitbit charge HR and have found out my resting heart rate is about 60 and my highest heart rate when working out is about 180.

    If you're using a basic, entry level, device then the only data it'll give you that has any meaning is resting herat rate. Tracking the trend in that will indicate improved cardiovascular capacity, and give you a moderately objective measure. It'll also indicate when there are times you should back off your training, as RHR elevation is an indicator of being fatigued.

    If your preferred activity can benefit from knowing your HR and training according to HR then having a more sophisticated device can help. Something like running, cycling, rowing means that the discussion above might be of value. That said, I do agree with the point about RPE being good enough for the vast majority of people.

    HR can be a proxy for calorie estimation in a limited set of circumstances; steady state, aerobic range training.

    There is a debate around the relative accuracy of optical and electrical measurement, although at the moment it's a bit pointless. Up until very recently wrist worn optical devices have been at the bottom end of the market and whilst testing indicates comparable accuracy there are issues with consistency and reliability in optical measurement. They're only just becoming available on mid range and higher end devices and manufacturers have put some mitigations in place to aid reliable measurement. I haven't seen any long term trials yet, although early indications from reliable sources are looking reasonably positive.

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