If you do structured exercise - meaning regular exercise either in a Gym, or on a machine - or outside, walking, running or swimming etc as part of a programme in which you have goals to reduce weight, improve heart function etc - then quite frankly, you need a heart rate monitor and you need to understand the principles behind it, why you are using it and how to use it.

I don't think that it is possible to undertake a structured exercise programme without an HRM.

The best way to understand how to use an HRM is to read a book about it. When I started using one, I had a look at quite a few books and the best one that I found for understanding how to put a heart rate monitor to best use was a book by Joe Friel - Total Heart Rate Training which I have linked to Amazon.

It's a small book and only a couple of chapters really deal with how a heart rate monitor work - so there is not a lot of reading to do if you don't want to.

There is a Kindle version - but for me, a paper version is better when I want a reference book - as opposed to a story book, where I merely want to go from beginning to the end and then finish the book.

Its an OK way to go about it - but the downsides are the accuracy of the percentages (based on age) are very vague. There are even different sets of percentages from different schools of thought on what the max for each age should be.

Someone who is 50 and looks 40 could have a heart that performs equally so - and the opposite could apply too. Yet both would have the theoretical 170 max (using the main estimation technique). So the "younger" 50 YO will always be undertraining - and the other will train harder.

Using a HRM has the benefit that its using your own heart to tell you how hard you are pushing yourself. Yet in reality you pretty much have a good idea of that yourself - as no one tries to run sprint speeds in a marathon, and its all about keeping yourself in the band for the distance.

That aside - I have one - but its more a gadget curiosity thing - and I still register theoretically impossible 200+ BPMs for short periods when doing weights in a circuit.

The best gadget is probably an EMS - as they can train a muscle group to a level you would believe would leave you with DOMS for two weeks, yet the following day there is no pain, with often a visible improvement in tone. These are brilliant for addressing atrophy during illness/injury.

The best form of exercise is sex - as no one keeps stopping part of the way through for a drink of water, and injuries are rare!

the whole business of using a heart rate monitor is about knowing what is your maximum heart rate and then exercising in a way which gets your heart beating to a certain percentage of that maximum.

Most books talk about heart rate zones

This means: –

zone 5 - >91% HR max

zone 4 - 83% to 90% HR max

zone 3 - 75% to 82% HR max

zone 2 - 66% to 74% HR max

zone 1 - 60% to 65% HR max

Some books talk about 6 zones - divding the >90% HRmax into two zones. Some books divide zone 5 into a, b, c

if you don't know what your maximum heart rate is, then you start off using a formula. There are several formulas. The one that is most often used seems to be – 220 minus (your age). This means that if you are 40 years old, your theoretical HR max would be 180 bpm (beats per minute).

the way it works is that by using your heart rate monitor to make sure that when you exercise you are making your heart work at a certain level – within certain training zones - you will be able to set achievable goals rather than merely exercising until you feel that you had enough and want to do something else.

Another advantage of this is that the structure makes it more interesting to exercise, because frankly walking or running on a treadmill for an hour can be pretty boring and using your heart rate monitor gives you something extra to do.

Of course the theoretical heart rate maximum – is just theoretical. You want to get away from that as quickly as you can. You do this by finding out your true maximum heart rate.

This is done by having a training session where you raise your heart rate so high that you are on the verge of falling over, your eyes glazing over and you really just can't go on. Whatever your heart rate is at that point is your HR max. It may be more than your theoretical maximum – it probably will be – but it could be less. Whatever is your true HR max then becomes the anchor of the other zones and and you alter your training accordingly. Most heart rate monitors will allow you to set your own maximum heart rate into it and then recalculate your zones for you.

Here's a warning: be careful when you try and find your maximum heart rate. You should probably have gone through several weeks of good regular exercise at no more than 80% of your theoretical maximum. you should have had several days break from your last exercise session. If you are at a gym then you should probably let somebody know that you are going to do this and they should be in attendance. If you are doing this outside, then you should make sure that someone else is with you.

To find out what you should expect to achieve by training within each particular heart rate zone you should read a book or have a look on the Internet. There is lots of information about it.

If you use a gym, then you will probably find that the gym equipment – treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical cross trainer etc are equipped with heart rate monitor receivers. This means that if you wear your heart rate monitor chest strap, the exercise machine will display your heart rate on a screen. This is much better then having to grip heart rate sensors with your hands every so often. It is much more useful – and much more interesting – having a constant view of what your heart is doing and setting your own program.

When I use a gym, I find that most of the people who are using the exercise equipment are not using a heart rate monitor and are not using the heart rate monitor functions of the machines. I really don't understand how they can have any meaningful exercise program. At the very least, I don't think it is possible to get the best benefit out of the time spent doing the exercise.

Its an OK way to go about it - but the downsides are the accuracy of the percentages (based on age) are very vague. There are even different sets of percentages from different schools of thought on what the max for each age should be.

 

Someone who is 50 and looks 40 could have a heart that performs equally so - and the opposite could apply too. Yet both would have the theoretical 170 max (using the main estimation technique). So the "younger" 50 YO will always be undertraining - and the other will train harder.

 

Using a HRM has the benefit that its using your own heart to tell you how hard you are pushing yourself. Yet in reality you pretty much have a good idea of that yourself - as no one tries to run sprint speeds in a marathon, and its all about keeping yourself in the band for the distance.

I agree with you – that if you see my comments in my second post, you will see that it is important to get away from the theoretical maximum as quickly as you can and find your own true HR max. Once you have found your maximal heart rate, you can start working to that. If later on you find that your maximum heart rate is one or two beats higher, then you adopt that as your HR max and adjust your training zones accordingly.

I completely agree that HR max will be different for different people. The theoretical max is simply a reasonable place to start