Training to reduce HR

[Grannyhugs]

Could I have pointer to somewhere to tell me about training to reduce HR. I can do 5k in 32min feel fine can say hello to passers by but HR through the roof. Recovers very quickly when I stop. Set HR alerts today and ran 8min/km happily ran my 5k but had to be in HR zone 5. Other than freezing hands I could have ran on. I'm 57 BMI 21 very active life no desk work hit 10000 steps without thinking. Is 3x 30min zone 5 training a week ok

[Hidden]

No idea, but I am following this if you do not mind? Sorry not to be able to help...

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Delighted 👍as I its something that worries me and hubby getting fed up with me going on about it. I was quite happy running till I got a garmin 🤔 where are you in your running journey? I hope you are having fun

[Hidden in reply to Grannyhugs]

At the moment I am doing 10k by garmin coaches plan, the furthest I have able to run is 7.5km, but HR is through the roof even though I feel OK, I worry. At the moment sort of in the IC, as I have developed a plantar fasciitis... Oh the joys, you?

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

I just graduated c25k 3 weeks ago and thought I was doing great until hr worries started. I now know I can run 40mins due to slowing down. Enjoying journey and dont want to stop.

[Hidden in reply to Grannyhugs]

All I can say very careful, as specially after finishing C25K (graduated in August) we are more prone to injuries... So slow and steady build miles but not rushing.... I have plantar fasciitis and it is painful to run, I still run but at the moment I only can do 5K or less,... Not worth having injuries believe me!

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

See my new post. I need to calculate my actual max he. I'm fitter than I thought. I'm well versed on injury prevention which is why i followed this brilliant plan. Thanks for your help and advice i really appreciate it. Happy running and hope your injury gets sorted soon.

[backintime Graduate10]

Hidden has been doing half marathon training based on HR zones. She is very knowledgeable about this.

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to backintime]

Thank you. Is there a 2ay for us to access eachother other than wait for someone to see our post and respond?

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to backintime]

Ah, found out how to do it, need to look before I post next time. Thank you

[Hidden in reply to backintime]

Mine was sent to my watch. Polar training plan. I’m sure other watches must have similar

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to backintime]

Just found great post from a month ago which says find a hill, run up and down a few times to establish own max hr then recalibrate garmin. Sounds so sensible as I knew I wasnt pushing myself. Damn digital equipment ha ha

[Stoozie Graduate10]

Have you tried the Maffetone method, or the Nico Nico method? I do a combo of both and have gone from doing 18k with an average HR of 164 to a Half marathon with a HR of 131, mostly in the 120s.

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to Stoozie]

Found an article explaining how to calculate your real max hr. Because of course I couldn't have been running for 30mins above my max he duh will do the hill test on monday with hubby. It appears I'm just fit with a young heart, always been very active and eat well so I shouldn't have been surprised. I've posted link in newer post than this one.

[iain-strachan Graduate10]

What are you taking as your maximum HR to compute your zones? The famous 220-age formula would give you a max HR of 163 (and for me, 159). But I effortlessly go above this, and for long periods of time.

Reading around, it is generally understood that despite it being quoted a lot, the formula is way off, and more and more inaccurate for older people - can be out by as much as 40 bpm!

I recently got a "my zone" chest belt, and it uses a different formula for max HR, of 211-0.64*age, which gives 171bpm as my max HR, rather than 159. This figure goes into the app, and it has different colour codes for what zone you're in - the "Red zone" being at 90% of the effort.

Even that is only an estimate. The true maximum HR is the fastest your heart will beat, and it varies a great deal from person to person, and how high or low it is does not relate to fitness.

I am pretty certain 171 isn't my max HR. Using a Garmin Forerunner, at the end of a Parkrun recently it registered 197 momentarily (which I think was an error) but the last couple of minutes it was around 185-190. Also doing a run with the MyZone belt it showed me in Zone 5 (90-100% of max HR) for 20 minutes continuously - you're only supposed to be able to sustain 90%+ for at most a minute before your muscles start burning due to lactic acid buildup and you have to stop, gasping for breath. Well I certainly wasn't experiencing anything like that! Yes I was a bit breathless, but recovered very quickly to normal breathing. So I've asked them to increase it to 190 (you have to write to an admin to do it).

So - anyway - I'd say don't worry about how high your Heart Rate goes - what comes out of the formula can be extremely inaccurate. Your heart isn't going to blow up if you get to the max HR, and by definition it can't beat faster than the maximum - your body goes into anerobic mode, and your muscles start hurting like heck! If you don't experience this, then you're definitely not overdoing it.

Various sports science departments at universities will do a Max HR/VO2 max test for you for about £60. It involves running on a treadmill with a mask on and increasing the pace till exhaustion. I read an article by a bloke who did this, and he ended up puking up in the corner afterwards! Really not sure if knowing a number is worth that kind of torture!!

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to iain-strachan]

Thank you, got it sorted. Found article which I've posted on newer post. I'm just young at heart, as must you be, when you use the basic method for calculating. Go us with our healthy lifestyles🙆‍♀️😀

[iain-strachan Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

Ah didn't see you'd posted later. Anyway - good to share experiences!

The best test of heart health I believe is how quickly the heart rate drops in one minute after strenuous exercise. A "good score" is 20 bpm or more. One way is to find a foot high stepping stool, and a metronome (app) set to 96 bpm. Then step up and down on the stool in time to the metronome for 3 minutes, sit down and record your HR at the end and after 1 minute. Mine went down by 31 bpm (and in a different test on an exercise bike with the my zone app, it went down 28).

TBH the stepping didn't really stretch me - max was 126 bpm by the end. The MyZone app makes you exercise in different zones for 10 minutes, finishing up at 80-85% (around 157 bpm for me), and then rest for a minute.

You can monitor your fitness by repeating this test every few weeks or so. Anything above 20 is considered "good". If it's less than 12 it means you're unfit - sorry - you have room for improvement!

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to iain-strachan]

Great test, I'll build that in too. My HR always returns to normal quickly and my resting HR is low 60s my problem is I'm a numbers person I now need to ignore or at least question the validity of some of these numbers not just panic about them. Trust in my knowledge of my own body would be a start 😀

[iain-strachan Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

I know what you mean - I'm a numbers person too! AND I work on medical vital sign monitoring, so have real numbers from real sick people! Fascinated by numbers all my life. When I was five I used to "collect" bus numbers. My mum took me regularly on a bus number 232. The day I saw a 171 I got really excited because it was the same kind of number as 232 - a palindrome!

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to iain-strachan]

Perfect. I passed the love of numbers to my daughter, had to bribe her that she could only do maths homework after completing all the other homework. Your work sounds interesting but guess it must be stressful at times

[Coddfish Graduate10]

I don’t monitor my heart rate, I just run based on how I feel and how well I recover. The standard formulas / ranges don’t work for everyone and the technology might not be recording you accurately anyway. Unless you have a particular health reason for keeping your heart rate down, if it feels ok at the time and your recovery is also fine, is it an actual problem?

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to Coddfish]

Thank you, sorted problem, see my newer post, I have to recalibrate with my actual max hr

[JonathanP Graduate10]

I agree with Coddfish - I don't worry about my HR. I have a look after my runs and think 'that's interesting ' but then move onto the next. 😀

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to JonathanP]

Thanks for replying. I discovered my actual HR max is way above the figure on garmin so I'm happy to continue my running journey.

[theoldfellow]

We have had many discussions on here about the dangers of using a wrist-based heart-rate monitor, like the Garmin (I have a Garmin 235). They are notoriously inaccurate, and sometime lock onto the pace and give very odd readings.

I got so worried about how low my resting heart rate seemed from Garmin that I went to the doctor about it (age 69), and got all the ecg tests and everything. Result: Don't worry, you're fit!

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to theoldfellow]

Thank you, I've since worked out that I am indeed fit and have a much higher max HR than the 220 - age. Recalibrated garmin and continuing as before as no red face/breathless etc. Take care, happy running