Using a HRM for "steps" (not intervals)

[markwill]

I am somewhat new to all this so may not have my terminology right so go easy on me

I have a new bike (Giant OCR1), new heart rate monitor (Polar S720i) and new book (Heart Rate Monitoring for the Cyclist, or something like that)!!! Anyway, I am very interested in using the HRM to (initially) burn fat to get to a reasonable shape, after which I'll worry about performance.

To this end, I am trying to create workouts / rides that use "steps" - each step being (say) 2 mins in a particular heart rate zone. This seems like a common and beneficial approach. However, the model that the interval support on my HRM supports appears to be "hit a particular zone and then immediately recover". What I mean by this is that I can program my Polar to, say, expect to see me in zone 2 (144 beats per minute and up for me). It will indicate a "Left x" figure, where x is the number of bpm I have to increase. However, once I hit that rate I go into recovery mode.

What I want the thing to do (and I don't think it can - although it seems a rather obvious use) is to basically give me a metaphorical green lite that I am in the intended zone for the specific period I have set. So, if I am in between 144 and 162 bpm then I am in zone 2 and wish to stay in that for the next 2 mins. As it is, I have to program the HRM to be "freeform" and mentally work out the high and low range for the zone and remember how long I want to maintain that zone.

I am probably missing something here but the desire to stay in a particular zone for a particular period seem to me to be fundemental to the whole idea of heart rate-based workouts but the Polar S720i (not exactly an entry level HRM) doesn't seem to have that feature.

Am I missing something?

Thanks.

Mark

 

[jcjordan]

I am somewhat new to all this so may not have my terminology right so go easy on me

I have a new bike (Giant OCR1), new heart rate monitor (Polar S720i) and new book (Heart Rate Monitoring for the Cyclist, or something like that)!!! Anyway, I am very interested in using the HRM to (initially) burn fat to get to a reasonable shape, after which I'll worry about performance.

To this end, I am trying to create workouts / rides that use "steps" - each step being (say) 2 mins in a particular heart rate zone. This seems like a common and beneficial approach. However, the model that the interval support on my HRM supports appears to be "hit a particular zone and then immediately recover". What I mean by this is that I can program my Polar to, say, expect to see me in zone 2 (144 beats per minute and up for me). It will indicate a "Left x" figure, where x is the number of bpm I have to increase. However, once I hit that rate I go into recovery mode.

What I want the thing to do (and I don't think it can - although it seems a rather obvious use) is to basically give me a metaphorical green lite that I am in the intended zone for the specific period I have set. So, if I am in between 144 and 162 bpm then I am in zone 2 and wish to stay in that for the next 2 mins. As it is, I have to program the HRM to be "freeform" and mentally work out the high and low range for the zone and remember how long I want to maintain that zone.

I am probably missing something here but the desire to stay in a particular zone for a particular period seem to me to be fundemental to the whole idea of heart rate-based workouts but the Polar S720i (not exactly an entry level HRM) doesn't seem to have that feature.

Am I missing something?

Thanks.

Mark

Mark

When you set your steps or intervils up use time rather then HB Zone, this will allow you to control your exersise by time and avoid the recovery bit

 

[markwill]

Mark

When you set your steps or intervils up use time rather then HB Zone, this will allow you to control your exersise by time and avoid the recovery bit

Thanks for the response. I assume that I need to use heart rate limits with each interval, yes? I hadn't considered that. That said, the problem I see with this is that each interval seems to be a repetition of the first one, yes? I can have (say) 2 minute intervals but have to just repeat those a certain number of times. What I am looking for is something like this (graphically - I hope this "travels well"):

------ ------\
/ \ / \
------/ \----- / \
/ \ / \
/ -------/ \---------------

I can't do that can I?

Thanks again.

Mark

 

[markwill]

Thanks for the response. I assume that I need to use heart rate limits with each interval, yes? I hadn't considered that. That said, the problem I see with this is that each interval seems to be a repetition of the first one, yes? I can have (say) 2 minute intervals but have to just repeat those a certain number of times. What I am looking for is something like this (graphically - I hope this "travels well"):

------ ------\
/ \ / \
------/ \----- / \
/ \ / \
/ -------/ \---------------

I can't do that can I?

Thanks again.

Mark

OK - it didn't travel well but hopefully you get the point!!!

Mark

 

[jcjordan]

OK - it didn't travel well but hopefully you get the point!!!

Mark

It traveled well, but i am afraid that the Polar does not let you work that way simply.

Each exercised type (using timing, rather then HB zones) allows for a warm up; a set number of intervils and recoverys; and a warm down.

you could set up a number of diffrent exercises and change them during your session. Personally i just use the one exersices but have a number set up for diffrent goals.

 

[Aztec]

It traveled well, but i am afraid that the Polar does not let you work that way simply.

Each exercised type (using timing, rather then HB zones) allows for a warm up; a set number of intervils and recoverys; and a warm down.

you could set up a number of diffrent exercises and change them during your session. Personally i just use the one exersices but have a number set up for diffrent goals.

Wow, are you making this complicated or what?! You could just do what most do... get in the zone and stay there! Look at the HRM every now and then to make sure you're still in it.

Sorry, I don't get the 2 mins in zone idea. Possibly I'm just dense on this.

 

[jcjordan]

Wow, are you making this complicated or what?! You could just do what most do... get in the zone and stay there! Look at the HRM every now and then to make sure you're still in it.

Sorry, I don't get the 2 mins in zone idea. Possibly I'm just dense on this.

The two min in zone is for intervil training. The idea is to incresse VO2 max and lactate endurance.

When out riding i normally just have in on the normal setting (ie no intervils) and download the results.

 

[markwill]

Wow, are you making this complicated or what?! You could just do what most do... get in the zone and stay there! Look at the HRM every now and then to make sure you're still in it.

Sorry, I don't get the 2 mins in zone idea. Possibly I'm just dense on this.

I have this "Heart Rate Monitor Book for Cyclists" book that others recommended. It provides a series of workouts using the HRM and I'd like to try a bunch of those. This involves a bunch of "zone switches" over the whole session and I find it kind of enjoyable to travel through these phases (adds a little interest). Yesterday I did one of these but found myself writing down the zones and their duration and then having to refer to that as I went through my workout, which seems unfortunate when I have a darned good HRM that's quite able to identify when my heart rate is outside specified limits. That, I thought, was an indication that it could possible do what I wanted.

Yes, if I want to stay in one zone for the whole session then that is obviously very simple. But this book has raised my interest in HRM-based workouts - it's just a shame that my HRM doesn't support this.

Mark

 

[jcjordan]

I have this "Heart Rate Monitor Book for Cyclists" book that others recommended. It provides a series of workouts using the HRM and I'd like to try a bunch of those. This involves a bunch of "zone switches" over the whole session and I find it kind of enjoyable to travel through these phases (adds a little interest). Yesterday I did one of these but found myself writing down the zones and their duration and then having to refer to that as I went through my workout, which seems unfortunate when I have a darned good HRM that's quite able to identify when my heart rate is outside specified limits. That, I thought, was an indication that it could possible do what I wanted.

Yes, if I want to stay in one zone for the whole session then that is obviously very simple. But this book has raised my interest in HRM-based workouts - it's just a shame that my HRM doesn't support this.

Mark

when you set the HRM up for a non intervil training you can put in a target zone (normally i use my middle zone-note polar uses the Euro standard of 3 zones rather then the US 5). When you are in this zone the HB reading stays solid, outside of the zone it flashes. This may help for easy id of which zone.

 

[Aztec]

when you set the HRM up for a non intervil training you can put in a target zone (normally i use my middle zone-note polar uses the Euro standard of 3 zones rather then the US 5). When you are in this zone the HB reading stays solid, outside of the zone it flashes. This may help for easy id of which zone.

OK, I get it now.

Maybe it's way too early for you to be doing intervals and working on VO2 max stuff anyway. Especially since you are talking about wanting to burn fat. To do that, just stay in a nice aerobic zone for a LOOOOOOOOONG time. VO2 max blasts aren't going to be nearly as effective since you can't do them for long (and they tend to burn carbohydrate rather than stored fat anyway).

 

[markwill]

OK, I get it now.

Maybe it's way too early for you to be doing intervals and working on VO2 max stuff anyway. Especially since you are talking about wanting to burn fat. To do that, just stay in a nice aerobic zone for a LOOOOOOOOONG time. VO2 max blasts aren't going to be nearly as effective since you can't do them for long (and they tend to burn carbohydrate rather than stored fat anyway).

You may be right (although I haven't paid any attention to the VO2 stuff yet). My plan was to mix it up a little, primarily for motivation/interest, but to stick around in zones 2 and 3, which is where I think most of the fat burning will occur (zone 1 just won't keep me interested ). Throwing in a few zone 4's and the occassional zone 5 will be on the agenda but, in general, I'd be keeping it pretty easy from a zone perspective.

Thanks

Mark

 

[KakenBetaal]

Why don't you change the display so that it shows what %of MHR you're in? It's still not what you wanted, but will make it easier to see which zone you're in.

From my other sport experience I'd have thought you want to spend quite a bit of time building base endurance, i.e. in zones 1 & 2

 

[markwill]

Why don't you change the display so that it shows what %of MHR you're in? It's still not what you wanted, but will make it easier to see which zone you're in.

From my other sport experience I'd have thought you want to spend quite a bit of time building base endurance, i.e. in zones 1 & 2

I used the %MHR indicator yesterday on a ride and it probably is the way to go. Saves me remembering a bunch of numbers

The problem with using zone 1 is that - despite all the evidence to the contrary - I find it mentally tough to go so slow. If I am spending my time to get a good workout, I'm really struggling to keep it in zone 1. So, I have settled on 2-3 (mainly). To be honest, it's not like I am significantly overweight or anything - I want to balance weight loss with the thrill of performing better on my bike over time. To put a number on it, I'd like to lose about 10 lbs but I am in no real hurry to do so - just want to see progress over time.

Thanks again.

Mark