Heart rate question

mycrobemini

I was reading about HIIT and trying to sort out if the interval portion of C25K qualified as a type of HIIT. That lead me to researching heart rate guidelines and I found the information below on www.thewalkingsite.com. From this, I spend most of my 30 minutes of C25K in the Endurance Zone, and roughly 4-5 minutes in the Performance Zone. I really need to burn fat, so now I'm unsure if C25K is the right thing for me right now.

Where do you all fall in the zones during your C25K workouts (if you have HRMs)?


TRAINING ZONES

Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --- 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate: The easiest zone and probably the best zone for people just starting a fitness program. It can also be used as a warm up for more serious walkers. This zone has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. 85% of calories burned in this zone are fats!

Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --- 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate: This zone provides the same benefits as the healthy heart zone, but is more intense and burns more total calories. The percent of fat calories is still 85%.

Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --- 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate: The aerobic zone will improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system AND increase the size and strength of your heart. This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. More calories are burned with 50% from fat.

Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --- 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate: Benefits of this zone include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better. This is a high intensity zone burning more calories, 15 % from fat.

Red Line (Maximum Effort) --- 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate: Although this zone burns the highest number of calories, it is very intense. Most people can only stay in this zone for short periods. You should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so.

timeasterday

I used to be much more into the Aerobic Zone but now my HR usually stays near 70% or lower most of the time, as long as I am not pushing it. Last week I ran my fastest 5K and my average HR for the run was 83%.

mycrobemini

Thanks Tim. So if I read this right, my average HR should decrease as I continue with the program, as long as I maintain my level of effort?

likitisplit

I've lost 33 pounds since December doing C25k and eating all my calories back.

Training Zones are great if you need to fine-tune your workouts but, for the average person, it's over-thinking it a bit.

Trust me, when you're logging 10 miles of running a week and using basic portion control, you won't regret completing C25k.

And, yes, runners tend to have lower heart rates than the average population.

KathleenKP

With weight loss and 9-14 hours of intense exercise a week, I have seen my heart rate drop significantly during exercise. My resting rate was already really good before I started all this, but my exercising rate is very high. I could talk briefly when my heart rate was189, at 40 years of age, which means I was above 100%. It also responds very quickly now and drops when I change to walking. I think the c25kprogram had the biggest impact on my heart rate. I did get cleared by a cardiologist years ago, who told *me* to disregard the charts from a heart rate perspective. Not everyone can use those charts.

mycrobemini

Thank you both for your comments; every little piece of new information is helpful for the overall perspective!

rduhlir

Honestly, I would toss the HR charts out of the window. They really don't give a good picture and often times just frustrate people. It is true that intervals are the mother of all fat burning methods, it is because of it working your glycolytic system and your lactic acids. But, honestly the first several weeks were you have the walk breaks are just that...interval sessions. And then, if you decide to continue on to the B210K program, you again bring in intervals. And as you get better and better at running and your aerobic capacity increases, your heart rate will decrease more and more. When I first started, it wouldn't take long before my HR was in the 170s. Now, it takes nearly all three miles plus speed work to get my heart rate up to that point.

If you are more worried about the fat burn rather than the over all fitness running offers then once done with C25K I would look into speed workouts to bring in alongside your running. Such as hill sprints or 4x400 (or 800) intervals. This will work the gylcolytic system and your lactic acids so that you are constantly burning in a fat burning way.

timeasterday

Thanks Tim. So if I read this right, my average HR should decrease as I continue with the program, as long as I maintain my level of effort?

Typically yes, as your cardio conditioning improves your heart isn't beating like crazy to complete a run. As I continue my training past C25K I will probably train by heartrate zones rather than worry too much about pace. I can program my Garmin to target certain zones for certain times/distances which will be great for intervals, tempo runs, and even easy runs.

KathleenKP

With weight loss and 9-14 hours of intense exercise a week, I have seen my heart rate drop significantly during exercise. My resting rate was already really good before I started all this, but my exercising rate is very high. I could talk briefly when my heart rate was189, at 40 years of age, which means I was above 100%. It also responds very quickly now and drops when I change to walking. I think the c25kprogram had the biggest impact on my heart rate. I did get cleared by a cardiologist years ago, who told *me* to disregard the charts from a heart rate perspective. Not everyone can use those charts.

I forgot to say that now my heart rate is usually 167, a drop of 19 beats per minute. And I am working harder running than I was when I was doing the elliptical at 186.

Back then, it would take the whole cool down period (5 minutes) to get my heart rate back under 150. Now I'll be under 130 in a minute, and 110-112 within three. Recovery is also so much faster.

mycrobemini

With weight loss and 9-14 hours of intense exercise a week, I have seen my heart rate drop significantly during exercise. My resting rate was already really good before I started all this, but my exercising rate is very high. I could talk briefly when my heart rate was189, at 40 years of age, which means I was above 100%. It also responds very quickly now and drops when I change to walking. I think the c25kprogram had the biggest impact on my heart rate. I did get cleared by a cardiologist years ago, who told *me* to disregard the charts from a heart rate perspective. Not everyone can use those charts.

I forgot to say that now my heart rate is usually 167, a drop of 19 beats per minute. And I am working harder running than I was when I was doing the elliptical at 186.

Back then, it would take the whole cool down period (5 minutes) to get my heart rate back under 150. Now I'll be under 130 in a minute, and 110-112 within three. Recovery is also so much faster.

Thanks for the great information! My HR (in Week 4) tops out right now (on the long intervals) at 167, and I've noticed it gets down to the 130s in the walking sections. So it looks like I'm on the right track.

StephieWillcox

Sorry to hi-jack your thread but I have a question about this too!

I have only just started C25K, but my heart rate was SUPER HIGH during day 1. It started off ok, but as the run/walk sections kept coming my HR didn't drop much in the walk and so got even higher during the run.

My HR was quite often in the 180's (I'm 27, so max HR should be ~ 193). Should I be concerned by this?

I slowed my walk WAY DOWN to try to get my HR a bit lower, and it did work a bit.

Going from the above my HR should drop as I get better at running, I didn't feel unwell while I was running, but I don't want to put undue stress on my body!

likitisplit

I wouldn't over think it. I have no idea what my heart rate was during my first week, but I felt completely exhausted at the end of my runs.

However, the biggest beginner mistake is to run too fast and that's what your heart is trying to tell you here. You should slow down to give yourself the endurance to finish all the runs throughout the program. Run at a walking pace. Slow down your walks. You'll get there if you just give yourself time.

StephieWillcox

Thanks. I actually just did W1D2 and I slowed everything down. My heart rate got high in places, but stayed at a good level most of the time, so I guess I was definitely trying to run too fast!!

Thanks for your help