Why calculate your maximum heart rate?
Based on your heart rate, you can choose the right running intensity to achieve your training goals. In other words, training smarter is better than constantly working yourself up into a sweat.
The intensity of your workout is divided into five heart rate zones, from very light to maximum intensity. Heart rate zones are calculated as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.
For example, within heart rate zone 4, you will train at 81-90% of your maximum heart rate and improve your maximum performance.
To determine your individual heart rate zones, you first need to know or calculate your maximum heart rate.
How to calculate your maximum heart rate
Your maximum heart rate can be calculated using the generally accepted formula: 220 minus age. While this may be a good starting point, research has shown that this formula is not entirely accurate or universal, especially for older people or those who have been keeping fit for years.
WHY DO YOU NEED TO CALCULATE YOUR MAXIMUM PULSE RATE?
Heart rate-based training allows you to run at the right intensity to achieve your training goals. In other words, training smart is better than always training hard.
The intensity of the workout is divided into five heart rate zones, from very light to maximum. Heart rate zones are calculated as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.
For example, in heart rate zone 4, you will train at 81-90% of your maximum heart rate and increase your maximum performance.
Alternatively, in heart rate zone 3 (which is typically your average running heart rate) you will train at a slightly reduced heart rate level of 71-80%, but you will still improve circulatory efficiency.
To determine your personal heart rate zones, you first need to know or estimate your maximum heart rate.
Is Regular Slow Cardio Useless?
Just because the fat-burning zone and rapid weight loss are not related does not mean that cardio is useless.
First, it's a safe way to burn in a few extra calories without restricting your food intake too strictly.
Secondly, it is a way to actively recover after strength training (on a separate day). Blood circulation in the body improves, more nutrients enter the muscles and waste products are removed from them faster.
Thirdly, it is control over overtraining. If you do a lot of strength training, additional high-intensity cardio (intervals, etc.) is not a good idea for your muscles, joints, or central nervous system.
Fourth, if you have heart disease and your doctor has told you not to exercise intensely, monitoring your heart rate during exercise is a good way to stay in a heart-safe zone.
Fifth, physical fitness dictates the intensity of the workout. If you are overweight or have joint problems, only low-intensity cardio is recommended for you.
WHAT IS MY MAXIMUM PULSE RATE?
So now you're ready to start calculating your maximum heart rate, where do you start?
If you've ever tried to calculate your resting heart rate, it's obviously the other way around. Instead of calming your heart, you are going to push it to the limit.
To calculate your maximum heart rate, you must be willing to sweat and have the right equipment to measure it. If you're just curious about what my maximum heart rate is, you can always start by using the tools below to estimate it.
What can affect your maximum heart rate? Factors such as age, fitness level, stress, and medications such as beta blockers affect your heart rate.
Does your gender affect your maximum heart rate? To calculate the maximum heart rate for men and women, it is the same. However, you may be interested to know that smaller people tend to have a higher maximum heart rate, which is why women often have a higher heart rate than men.
Pulse zones. How to determine and which one is better to train in?
Beginners often exaggerate their capabilities and try to run faster and faster each time, without focusing on their heart rate (HR). This has a bad effect on cardiac endurance and can provoke diseases. Today we’ll talk about how to control your heart rate during training.
So, without going too deep into physiology, we’ll tell you. The body requires oxygen to release energy. If there is a lack of it, lactic acid (lactate) accumulates in the muscles, which makes it difficult for them to work. The pulse is an indicator of the level of exertion at which oxygen ceases to be available. When this happens, you lose your breath and lose the ability to speak calmly.
How to determine your maximum heart rate
When it is not possible to do testing on a treadmill, we turn to formulas for calculating heart rate zones, using the values of the maximum heart rate and the percentage of each zone relative to the athlete’s individual heart rate.
We calculate the maximum heart rate using the refined Roberges-Landwehr formula: HRmax = 205.8 - (0.685 * age). For example, if you are 30 years old, then your maximum heart rate will be around 185 beats per minute. However, HRmax can vary greatly among athletes of different fitness levels, and this method is not always the best way to determine maximum heart rate.
The most effective and correct method for determining your maximum heart rate and your personal heart rate zones is stress testing on a treadmill in a specialized sports clinic. We recommend doing this test at least once a year, at the beginning of the preparatory period. This will allow you to more accurately build individual training plans for preparing for a marathon (half marathon). Remember that there are no clean zones; the pulse only shows the DOMINANCE of one energy production process over another.
In training our athletes, we use 5 pulse zones:
T1. Light aerobic - warm-up/cool-down (60-75% of heart ratemax)
The first zone corresponds to low intensity, most suitable for recovery after high-intensity or long-term training. Also suitable for warming up, cooling down and active recovery between high intensity intervals.
T2. Moderate aerobic - recovery cross-country (75-84% of heart ratemax)
Training in the second zone develops the cardiovascular system and improves the ability of muscles to utilize fat. Large volumes of training in the second zone can improve the efficiency of movements and increase endurance.
Most athletes are able to “learn” a lot of training in the second zone. Before and after training in the 2nd zone, it is recommended to warm up and cool down in the 1st zone. Studies have shown that without feedback during training, most athletes go just above the second zone. This is ineffective because loads in the third zone are significantly heavier for the nervous system, and the achieved training effect differs slightly from work in the second zone. If you regularly train in the 3rd zone instead of the 2nd, then there is a high probability of accumulating significant chronic fatigue and developing a state of overtraining.
T3. Mixed - long and developing crosses (82-89% of HRmax)
The third zone corresponds to moderate intensity and is located between the respiratory threshold (the intensity at which breathing increases) and the lactate threshold. Training in this zone is more relevant for athletes specializing in long distances (from 10 km to the marathon), as they correspond to competitive speeds. Although recently there has been more and more evidence and recommendations for trained athletes to give preference to training in the second zone.
T4. Threshold: tempo run, long intervals (88-94% of HRmax)
The fourth zone is a narrow zone ending at the MPC level. This level corresponds to the intensity at which the athlete consumes the maximum possible amount of oxygen. On average, a trained athlete is able to stay in this zone for several minutes. Typically, zone 4 is used during interval training, where several short zone 4 jobs are separated by short, low-intensity recovery intervals. In this zone, the athlete runs distances from 800 to 3000m.
T5. Maximum: intervals, accelerations (92-100% of HRmax)
The fifth zone starts from the manual gearbox level and continues up to sprint intensity. Training in this zone increases anaerobic efficiency, i.e. the body’s ability to use anaerobic energy supply mechanisms, increasing lactate tolerance. As with zone 4, zone 5 is commonly used during interval training.
For convenience, we have put together a heart rate zone calculator.
What does science say?
Research has shown that the most effective results are achieved by athletes who perform approximately 80% of their training in zones 1 and 2, and the remaining 20% in zones 3-5. Do not forget that the intensity of the load is a relative value. A load that may correspond to the first zones for one athlete may be close to the upper zones for another athlete. Therefore, to optimize the training process, it is necessary to determine your individual training zones.
Why train your heart?
Here's an interesting fact for you. Athletes' heart rate at rest is lower than that of non-athletes. This is due to the fitness of their cardiovascular system and regular changes in heart rate during exercise. Accordingly, a professional’s heart works more efficiently at rest than that of an ordinary person.
Regular moderate exercise can increase the efficiency of the heart muscle, and therefore reduce heart rate at rest.
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