Heart-rate data/Interval training (part III) - Couch to 5K

Couch to 5K

132,331 members158,508 posts

Heart-rate data/Interval training (part III)

John_W profile image
John_WAmbassador
7 Replies

I've been doing another type of interval session on the treadmill in the last month - been doing this every Monday morning for the past 4 weeks.

The 1st time I did it it was hard... really really hard. Sweating buckets by the end, so much so I had to remove my t-shirt... the heat and sweat was irritating me so much. Good job there was no-one else around!

2nd time around it was the same thing. But last Monday and this morning it felt *much* more comfortable - I wasn't desperate for it to finish and I had more energy in the hours afterwards.

I've been curious to see the heart-rate data and lo and behold, it bears out my experience. The green and blue data show a quicker and deeper recovery and lower maximum rate.

So it's only taken my body 3 sessions to adjust and improve - I'm delighted with that.

Message is this: interval training (whether outdoors or treadmill) is a really *efficient* way to increase your fitness - I'm hoping that it translates into an increase in speed and endurance :-)

The session is this:

3 min @ 9.5 km/h (jog)

4 min @ 13.5 km/h (tempo)

2 min recovery (9.5 km/h )

4 min @ 13.5 km/h

2 min recovery

4 min @ 13.5 km/h

2 min recovery

4 min @ 13.5 km/h

3 min recovery

I've done a load of others which I might post about some other time.

Ciao!

John

Written by
John_W profile image
John_W
Ambassador
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
7 Replies
Tomas profile image
TomasGraduate

Love what you have done with the data here, and love your analytical approach. Validating things this way makes the lessons far more robust.

John_W profile image
John_WAmbassador in reply to Tomas

Thanks Tomas - my TomTom Cardio Runner watch exports any run as a CSV file, so easy enough to import into Excel and play about a bit :-)

harveyemm profile image
harveyemmGraduate

Very interesting post---I have been doing interval work on a treadmill---it is really hard work---I tend to keep the sessions short. I agree it has improved my fitness---I notice it in every day activities.

I really like the data you have printed--it looks like a good watch--I might have a look at getting one.

John_W profile image
John_WAmbassador in reply to harveyemm

Thanks. Yeah, intervals are incredibly I find.

The watch is a TomTom Cardio Runner - they've updated to newer models of course. Any run data can be exported to the likes of Runkeeper or Strava but also, handily, to a CSV file format which makes it easy to import into Excel and play about with, like I've done above.

I think the Garmins with inbuilt heart rate monitors can export to CSV too.

Glad you liked the data

John

Eatcakeandrun profile image
Eatcakeandrun

Really interesting, and makes that hard work worth it. I have just started doing 30-20-10 intervals - link here for details - runnersworld.com/peak-perfo...

it s hard but not impossible.

John_W profile image
John_WAmbassador in reply to Eatcakeandrun

Hi,

Yeah, I've seen the 30-20-10 post of JuicyJu's. I'm not sure the 10 second bits will work on the treadmill but they can always be adapted I guess. I'd do it outdoors but my watch isn't that programmable. Maybe an mp3 player would work.

Thanks for the link and your interest

John

PS, love your username. I *love* cake :-)

Eatcakeandrun profile image
Eatcakeandrun in reply to John_W

yes I love cake too - that is why I run (partly!)

I use Endomondo, and have programmed an interval session on it, but it would be tricky on a treadmill!

You may also like...

Heart rate data (continued) - treadmill interval sessions

you're doing these interval sessions on the treadmill. MAX/MIN graph take from data shown above:...

Heart-rate data/Intervals (#4)

shows heart rate data for the same session (details on legend), same gym, same treadmill, same time...

Heart rate zone training

chance....I've done two plans, a 5K and a HM... I've all but given up on it, recently I've still...

First try at heart rate training

My training session today was 20 minutes. The aim was to get my heart rate up to 182 and then walk...

Heart rate data from my TomTom Cardio

attach some data :-) - I'm pleased to see my heart rate finally coming down for the session I'm...