Heart rate guided training is merely one-way to structure a program, but for a novice endurance athlete, it can be informative and foundational for aerobic development.
Using how you feel as a guide is also important, but when starting out in cycling or running, the novice athlete often lacks the frame of reference needed to match feeling with what is happening internally (ie. the true demand of the activity). This is where understanding heart rate during exercise becomes useful.
How you measure matters
Wrist worn devices are becoming increasingly popular and harness a heart rate function in most cases. I have come across numerous athletes recently who ask me why his/her heart rate is so high even when trying to go easy.
My initial question is: How are you measuring?
Using the wrist worn device for gathering activity data is often unreliable. The sensor does not play nice with the extraneous movement when running and sometimes when cycling. For swimming, forget about it.
I always recommend investing in a chest strap that can be paired to the watch. The one linked here is cost effective and got me through a whole year of training before the battery died.
If you start using the chest strap and notice numbers more in line with your effort level, then problem solved! It was merely a technology issue.
If the heart rate continues to be higher than your effort level, then I have some helpful pointers below. You may have a fitness or perceived effort issue that is common amongst novice athletes.
How to get started
The term “intensity control” is important and does not imply ONLY training easy. In fact, there are times where operating at a high heart rate is a good thing. At the end of the day, being able to maintain a high heart rate in a race is a trait that needs to be developed. This requires some interplay between easy/hard or high/low heart rate training.
An issue presents when a novice athlete is performing all of the training at an intensity close to maximum. Having a range of intensities, as indicated by heart rate, is important for adaptation. A single-speed machine is not very useful.
It will feel easy
The good news about low intensity training is that it typically feels comfortable. If you have been charging along at 160, 170, or even 180 bpm on standard runs, you may have developed a sense that this effort level is normal. In that case, dialing back even more is going to feel different. That does not mean it is wrong or too easy. Unless your maximum heart rate is 230+ bpm (not common), there is going to be a noticeable difference in feeling at 130 bpm vs 170bpm. Enjoy it.
Consider run/walk
Between running and cycling, running tends to be the more difficult sport for controlling intensity. A strategy that can work well is initiating a run/walk program. If you are paying attention to heart rate, you may notice a steady rise as the activity duration increases. Inserting short bouts of powerwalking can help keep the overall session intensity in the appropriate spot while still getting valuable time on your feet. An example of this type of training might be:
60 minute session: 8 min of running + 2 min of powerwalking x6 rounds
Extend duration before intensifying
When looking at any endurance activity, I like to think in 3 steps
Can I do the activity at all?
Can I do it for longer?
Can I do it faster?
Adding duration to your activity is a crucial step to developing all-day efficiency.
Is your longest run currently 30 minutes? Try 45.
Is your longest ride 90 minutes? Try 2 hours.
If you start to lose control of heart rate toward the end of these long sessions, congrats, you found your current limiter. Becoming more durable at the lower intensities gives you the foundation to later layer in some faster/more intense training.
There is no way around having to train hard and fast to reach your performance potential, but you do want to think twice about cranking out a high volume of intense training on a base that does not support it.
Bottom line:
Using heart rate data during training is not a silver bullet. As the athlete becomes more experienced, it becomes more of a reference tool rather than a Central Governor.
The hope is that a measure of internal stress during activity can help the novice athlete understand what a wide range of intensities feel like thereby closing the gap between feeling and reality.
Want to work with me? Head over to the Elite Edge Coaching website to learn more!