Heart Rate Monitor PitfallsYou might want to take note of these pointers. Without these your knowledge of heart rate monitor running training is not complete ! Especially if you use this beautiful electronic device as the main guideline for your running training. Influence of external factors on your heart rateYour heart rate is not only influenced by how fast you are running. A few external factors to consider are temperature, humidity and wind. Try to listen to your body more than to your heart rate monitor. Influence of internal factors on your heart rateThere are also internal factors that influence your heart rate. Stress, fatigue and health can have their effects. Keep these factors as well as external factors in mind. Especially when interpreting results of testruns. So don't focus too much on your heart rate monitor. Try to learn how it feels to do an easy run or a tempo run instead of trying desperately to stick to a heart rate monitor training zone.
Indicator onlyThe heart rate displayed on your heart rate monitor is only a gauge of your training intensity. So don't focus on a specific figure (i.e. 155 beats per minute) but on a zone (in between 150 and 160 beats per minute). Want to know more about heart rate training zones ? Check for the heart rate monitor training zones of Karvonen and Zoladz . Time to adjustYour heart rate takes some time to adjust when you change the intensity at which you run. My favourite temposession consists of 2 x 20 minutes tempo with 5 minutes easy running in between. I start this training session with a 5 to 10 minute warm-up (very easy running). If I use my heart rate monitor during a temporun I will not check it earlier than ten minutes into the temporun. Before that time my heartbeat seems all over the place. If I'd use an alarm for my heart rate training zone during those first minutes, it would be beeping constantly. So I still take my heart rate monitor on my temporuns. But mainly for the stopwatch function. I only check my heart rate a few times during the run. And certainly not during the first 5 to 10 minutes. No use in speedworkWhen you go faster than tempo pace, your heart rate monitor looses its value. Your speedsessions are normally only for a shorter period of time. The time for your heart rate to adjust is too long (see previous comment). By the way, proper speedwork usually takes so much out of me, that I don't really have the time nor the energy to check my heart rate in between. I hope these comments make your view on heart rate monitor training complete. Your heart rate monitor is a great tool to have. However it can't beat proper listening to your body ! Browse my site. But also consider a subscription to the Best Running Tips Newsletter or to my site blog ! Go from Heart Rate Monitor Pitfalls to Heart Rate Monitor Page Go from Heart Rate Monitor Pitfalls to Best Running Tips Homepage Heart Rate Monitor GPS Running Watch | Polar Heart Rate Monitors | Garmin Heart Rate Monitors | Nike Heart Rate Monitors | CardioSport Heart Rate Monitors | Mio Heart Rate Monitors | Timex Heart Rate Monitors | Reebok Heart Rate Monitors | Cheap Heart Rate Monitors | Heart Rate Monitor Training | Heart Rate Monitor Training (Karvonen Method) | Heart Rate Monitor Training (Zoladz Method) | Maximum Heart Rate | Rest Heart Rate | Heart Rate Monitor Training Pitfalls |
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