Performance in competitive sports--among them track and road running, cycling, swimming, Nordic skiing, and triathlon--overwhelmingly depends on oxygen uptake and utilization. That in turn is driven by heart rate, with higher heart rates correlating with greater oxygen consumption. Heart-rate monitors can serve as guides for athletes aiming to appropriately distribute the intensity of their training across the entire range of aerobic efforts. They also are useful in preventing overtraining and insufficiently rigorous training.
Significance
Heart-rate monitors, or HRMs, record data that is usually charted or graphed later using any one of a number of available software programs. Most HRMs come with CDs for this purpose or direct users to online training logs, where users can create their own private or public profiles. HRMs are widely used so that endurance athletes can train at specified intensity levels or in re-determined "zones." One common scheme involves five such zones, with 50 to 60 percent of maximum heart rate--about 220 minus age for men and 226 minus age for women--is considered the lowest aerobic intensity zone and 90 to 100 percent the highest.
Types
Older HRMs consist of a chest strap transmitter and a wrist watch receiver. Athletes often report trouble with the chest strap slipping out of place, resulting in incomplete or faulty data. Newer HRMs do not include a strap and rely instead on sensors on the watch itself to record heart-rate data. Most recently, HRMs have been combined with Global Positioning Satellite technology so athletes can track heart-rate data and data pertaining to speed and distance using a single device.
Benefits
Athletes and their coaches know, within a few beats per minute, the pulse rate they can expect to maintain for the duration of a race over a certain distance. Therefore a HRM comes in handy in allowing athletes to practice running or cycling at the same intensity at which they will be racing. Since the bulk of athletes' training is at a significantly less intense level, however, HRMs often serve not to keep athletes above a certain heart-rate threshold, but to prevent them from working too hard, which can lead to overtraining and poor competitive performance.
Considerations
Athletes are accustomed to correlating a given narrow heart-rate range with a particular speed or pace given neutral conditions, such as a flat surface with no wind. Often, however, athletes encounter hills, wind, and significantly hotter or colder conditions; the advantage of a HRM in these situations is that an athlete working at a given intensity level under adverse conditions is getting the same workout as she would in ideal conditions. In this way, athletes can maintain their scheduled training thanks to their use of the HRM.
Warning
Just as HRMs can serve a valuable purpose, they can also be used to athletes' detriment because they can potentially mislead users or complicate matters. Comparing your own heart rate to other people's, for example, tells you nothing; it is your own progress over time that counts. Athletes are often unaware of factors affecting heart rate, e.g., caffeine and hydration. Finally, athletes often "back down" inappropriately in races because they believe their HRM is suggesting that they cannot hold pace, when in fact they can if they try.
Member Comments