Heart Rate Monitor Workouts

Use Your Heart Rate Monitor To Get The Most Out Of Your Workout

A good heart rate monitor will allow you to either program in a workout or have preprogrammed workouts already stored.

Here's an idea for using a heart rate monitor when you are working out.

For interval training during a long distance run, start by running at a relatively comfortable pace that allows you to carry on a conversation. Note your heart rate. Next, increase the tempo of your run until your heart rate is approximately 10% higher than at your comfortable page. If you started with your heart rate at 140 beats per minute, increase your running effort until hour heart rate is approximately 154 beats per minute. Maintain this effort for five minutes. After five minutes at this rate, increase your effort till your heart is beating an additional 10%. At this point your heart rate should be near 170.

Time out - all of this assumes you are in fair shape.

I am not a doctor and can not make recommendations.

Use your judgement.

Back to the workout. See if you can maintain this effort for another 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, reduce your effort until your heart rate is down to the 154 level. After five minutes, drop your effort till it recovers to the "conversation" level that you started with.

This type of effort focuses on your personal fitness level, not on some arbitrary numbers choosen.

A slight twist on this is to increase your heart rate by a certain number of beats per minutes instead of a percentage. It can be easier to do this instead of having to do math in your head while out for a run.

Regardless of how you increase the effort in your workout, you can expect to be tired after this workout.