Cycling Heart-Rate Monitor Training

Cycling Heart-Rate Monitor Training
by Meg Campbell, Demand Media



• Overview
The primary goal of any training program is to improve overall fitness. In terms of heart rate, this means lowering your resting heart rate, improving your recovery time and raising your anaerobic threshold (AT). Because cycling primarily trains the cardiovascular system and can, at times, be a very intense workout, cyclists use heart-rate monitors to get immediate technical feedback on their effort. A monitor can be invaluable, especially when combined with perceived exertion.
• Significance
The blood your heart pumps through your system carries oxygen to all the parts of your body. When you exercise, your muscles have an increased need for oxygen to meet the demand of the work you're performing. Your heart rate increases as your heart pumps more oxygen-rich blood to your muscles. Your heart pumps more blood per stroke as you become fitter, which allows you to perform the same -- or harder -- work at a lower heart rate.
• Foundation
Your maximum heart rate (MHR) is the basis for heart-rate training. There's more than one way to come up with this number. Most non-athletes tend to use the age-predicted method, which states that men should subtract their age from 220 -- women from 226 -- to arrive at MHR. An individual could be plus or minus 11 beats from the age-predicted figure. This method doesn't take personal fitness or genetics into account, which is why most serious athletes perform MHR testing to discern a more accurate MHR. Your MHR varies by activity, so cyclists must perform MHR testing on a bicycle.
• Application
Take percentages of your MHR to figure out the perimeters of your target heart-rate zones. Zone 1 is the aerobic zone. Its target heart rates are 65 percent to 75 percent of MHR. At 80 percent to 85 percent of MHR, Zone 2 is a mix of aerobic and anaerobic. It contains the anaerobic threshold where lactic acid begins to build in the muscles. Zone 3 is 86 percent to 90 percent of MHR, known as an all-out red-line effort. Within each zone, your body uses specific fuel and energy systems to meet the demands of the workload. Training exclusively in Zone 1 gives a cyclist endurance but not power. Too much training just below AT can lead to fatigue, overtraining and injury.
• Benefits
Heart-rate monitors are motivational tools. You can set heart-rate goals for a specific ride and adhere to them, either by easing up or pushing yourself harder. You can use heart-rate training to establish fitness goals over the course of an entire season. Recording your heart rate information after each ride will help you see trends in your fitness over time. For example, if you climb the same hill every week and your heart rate shows faster recovery, you know your cardiovascular fitness has improved.
• Influencing Factors
Monitors tell a more complete story than how hard you're working out. Stress, illness, fatigue, overtraining, medication and nutrition can all affect heart rate. Cyclists who train with monitors on a regular basis may realize they're coming down with an illness before any symptoms, other than irregular heart rate, are present. Lack of hydration, caffeine consumption, altitude and even the time of day can also change your heart rate