Heart Rate Measurement
Make sure you have read our Safety precautions, have an updated physical exam, and that your doctor knows you are attempting to reach a maximum heart rate. The Colorado Track Club is not your medical professional and cannot possibly know what will harm you. Any high-intensity sport has dangers associated with it, including life threatening activities - especially for anyone with any underlying weakness in the cardiovascular system. Athletes, coaches and doctors have died while performing athletic training or racing - there are inherent, and sometimes undetectable risks associated with running. Proceed at your own risk.
Heart Rate (HR) monitoring is another great way to measure effort or intensity. It is readily available and used on treadmills, exercise bikes, and several watches. Study product reviews to determine the accuracy of any HR monitor.
Resources: Several books are available to help you get a handle on the basic principles.
Healthy Intelligent Training (Livingstone - also endorsed by the Lydiard Foundation), Lactate Threshold Training (Janssen) and Heart Rate Training (Benson) are three books I appreciate.
Finding Ultra (Rich Roll) is a GREAT practical story that helps a reader grasp what can be accomplished with HR based training… and a tremendous personal discipline.
Case Study / Testimony: I relied on HR training extensively while assigning aerobic runs in Granby, CO (8,500’ elevation).
Our HS runners lived and trained between 8,000’ and 9,000’ and often raced at 5,000’, yet they watched kids on Flotrack / Milesplit videos who were running workouts at sea level. Our kids did not train in the winter because it is a ski town with some of the coldest weather in the US. The first five weeks of track is spent almost exclusively in the gym due to snow and ice. Our track was covered in snow until about April 15th - State qualifications are due by May 10th. There were a lot of confusing variables for the kids and parents to consider. HR training for aerobic runs was a way for us to cut through all of the variables - even when running the hallways of the school for 90 minutes.
HR training was about 90% effective for our athletes…. there were a couple athletes who were exceptions and were exhausted with a HR around 170 and another who was smiling / talking normally with a HR of 193. We switched these athletes to RPE training with good results.
At our 2019 League Championships, our HS women placed 1, 2, 3 in the 1600; 1, 2, 3 in the 800; 2, 3, 6 in the 3200; won the 4 x 800 and won the 4x400. We actually had the 4th fastest runners in the 1600 and 800 as well, but we could only enter 3. Not too bad for a group of basketball and volleyball players. Success at the State level would be a stretch for these ski town athletes, but they proved inspirational with the time and resources they had. HR training works - see our HR Cheat Sheet.
Basic Requirements
There are a few methods used for HR-Based Intensity Training. First, you MUST master the following 4 basic items:
Check Your Pulse & Your Equipment: Learn how to check your own pulse without a HR monitor.
Check it for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 for your HR per minute.
Try measuring it for a minute.
Check it for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.
Get good at checking your own HR and then compare your findings to whatever technology you are using.
Not all HR monitoring devices are accurate. It may be good to know if your device is always off by a couple beats - understatement.
I prefer the method of checking for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4. Your HR slows down shortly after you stop exercising, especially if you are fit. Checking it for a full minute will give you a skewed result. Plus, our athletes will often start jogging within 30 seconds on some of our workouts.
We used a wall clock in the school. It is helpful to have a 15-second conversion chart (athletes take their pulse for 15 seconds and multiply the result by 4) by the clock. Here is a copy of our HR Cheat Sheet.
Using two fingers to check your carotid artery for a pulse is a pretty good way to do it. It is easy to find. Do not use your thumb.
Establish Your Resting HR: Use technology to record your resting HR or do it the old school way - have a journal or paper by your bedside and record your Resting HR just as you begin to wake up in the morning. Do not sit up. Do not look at your phone. Simply take your pulse the moment you wake up and write it down. Like anything with HR monitoring, do NOT trust the first reading.
If you get the following readings over a 1-week period: 52, 49, 51, 54, 50, 49, 50… you can begin to assume your resting HR is about 51. If you collect more information you may conclude that it is actually 49. Get in the habit of checking it daily. Remember that hydration and medication, along with other factors, can alter your heart rate.
Your resting HR may drop substantially as you become more aerobically fit. Keep track.
Stay hydrated and eat healthy. Try to get a full 8 hours of sleep. Your Resting HR is a great tool to monitor your training, recovery, and stress. The Resting HR can be skewed by dehydration and other stressors.
Establish Your Running Max HR (MHR): There are a few ways to get your MHR for running. It is not wise to try to figure out your Max HR with a running test if you are not in good shape. Do some easy training and cross training to get yourself fit. It may take 3-6 months before it is wise for you to do a max HR field test. Check with your doctor!
I just want you to get really close with your measurement. I don’t think missing this number by 1-2 beats per minute is going to mean the difference between winning and losing.
Basically, do a 10-15 minute warm-up run at 10K race pace, rest 10 seconds, run 800 meters at mile race pace, rest 10 seconds, then run at 300m race pace until your legs shut you down. Check your pulse. You will be close to your max.
I would measure this about 3 times in your first month, just to compare the results.
Or, You can use a popular estimate, such as:
207- [(Age) x (0.7)] = Max HR
220 - Age = Max HR. This is the older method and people recommend against it. It does work well for some.
Both estimates are off from my actual field running test by about 8 beats per minute.
With coaching, we tend to be skeptical of any one test or one reading. Collect multiple readings from different approaches and it may help you estimate more accurately.
Again, just try to get really close. As an older athlete, I am content trusting the estimates because it sure looks like my Olympic qualification window is far behind me. I am not really interested in getting my HR to maximum.
Figure out your HR Reserve: Subtract your Resting HR from your Max HR. This is your Heart Reserve.
Example: After the first month of recording information I have guessed that my resting HR is 50. My Max HR tests were close to each other and averaged out to 200. Therefore, 200-50 = 150 - that is my Heart Rate Reserve.
Your Max HR will not likely increase too much. It is more likely to decrease as your fitness improves.
Your Resting HR will decrease as you increase fitness and cardiovascular strength. If you develop your heart and capillaries through extensive aerobic training, you will be able to supply your muscles with blood and oxygen more efficiently - with less heart beats. Your Resting HR may even drop into the 30s.
Think this through - that means your HR Reserve has increased because your fitness level has dropped your Resting HR! If my Resting HR drops to 37 and my Max HR remains at 200… my new HR Reserve will be 163.
Next Step
Now that you know how to check your pulse, you have checked the accuracy of your HR monitoring devices, and you have tested to find out your Resting HR, your Max HR, and your Reserve HR… we can move forward.
Remember, you are on this page because we are discussing how to measure running intensity. HR monitoring is one, very accurate way, to measure intensity.
ALL CREDIBLE COACHES recommend that aspiring athletes run at different intensities. No Olympic level coach has their athletes running 100% of their training miles at the same exact intensity. There are fast days, slow days, recovery days, long runs, sprints, strides, hills, warm-ups, intervals, etc..
Methods
You will come across a few different ways in which coaches or athletes calculate running paces, or intensities, with Heart Rate:
% of Maximum HR: These coaches assign runs at a percentage (%) of Maximum Heart Rate. If my max HR is 200 BPMs (Beats per Minute), then:
A run at 90% would be 180 BPM. Another run at 65% would be 130 BPM. Simply ask Google what 90% of 200 is… you’ll get the answer. This is the simplest HR training method and there are environments where you need to keep it simple.
% of Heart Rate Reserve: These coaches assign runs at a percentage (%) of Heart Rate Reserve. To calculate your Heart Rate Reserve training paces, follow this example:
Our athlete from above had a HR Reserve of 150 BPM.
To run at 60% of your HR Reserve… multiply 150 x .6 = 90 BPM. Hopefully, you just thought that 90 BPM is not a running pace for most people - it is a near-walking pace.
Take the 90 BPM and add your Resting HR back in: 90 + 50 = 140 BPM. That is your 60% training pace.
Some coaches assign paces based on a % of VO2 Max Pace. A few will assign based on a % of Anaerobic Threshold pace. You’ll hear the term fractionalization thrown around. Keep studying and asking questions. It will eventually make sense.
The principle behind using Heart Rate Reserve is that it measures that actual number of beats you have to work with. It also accounts for the moving variable - your Resting HR. Remember, your Resting HR changes with improved fitness. Advocates for HR Reserve testing prefer this method because it flexes.
Examples
Let’s run some examples based on different approaches and see the differences. Jim Halpart has decided he wants to be competitive in a local 10K to impress a gal that works in the office with him. Jim is 32 years old and has a history of biking about 100 miles per week for several years. Jim has determined his resting heart rate is 51 beats per minute.
Max HR Examples:
If Jim uses the 220 - his age (32) formula, he gets a Max HR of 188.
This method has been replaced by many specialists because it doesn’t hold up well as people age. Instead, they tend to prefer the approaches listed below.
If Jim uses the 208 - [Age x .7] = Max HR formula, he gets a Max HR of 185.6
If Jim uses the 207 - [Age x .7] = HR Max formula, he gets a Max HR of 184.6
Until Jim is able to do a field running test he could assume that his Max HR is about 185. Remember, field tests are likely going to be more accurate - especially since Jim has a solid aerobic training history. We would not be surprised to find a Max HR of 190 for Jim.
The field test lets us see what your heart can actually do. Athletes tend to have a different Max HR, depending on the sport they are competing in. Use a running test to obtain your running Max HR.
80% HR Training Zone:
So far, we have determined that Jim has a Resting HR of 51 and his estimated max HR is 185. That means his HR Reserve is 185-51 = 134 Heart Rate Reserve.
If Jim wants to guess his 80% HR Training Range, he can try both methods that I discussed above:
% of Maximum HR Method: 185 x .8 = 148 BPM is 80% training for Jim
% of HR Reserve Method: 134 x .8 = 107.2 + 51 = 158.2 BPM is 80% training for Jim
Notice the two approaches are about 5% different for Jim
What if…. The true max HR is the biggest variable early on - basically, did we calculate the Max HR correctly?
What if Jim’s Max HR with a field running test proved to be 190. Let’s re-calculate:
% of Maximum HR Method: 190 x .8 = 152 BPM is 80% training for Jim
% of HR Reserve Method: Jim’s new HR Reserve is 190-51 = 139 HR Reserve. 139 x .8 = 111.2 + 51 = 162.2 BPM is 80% training for Jim.
Differences:
Jim’s example shows how one athlete or coach can estimate that the 80% Training Zone is a Training HR of 148 BPM, while another coach or athlete has determined the 80% Training Zone is a Training HR of 162.
That is a difference of 14 BPM. There is about a 7% difference between what the two athletes / coaches decided was the best for the 80% training zone.
Outcome on the Track
With no scientific basis, let’s assume one of these athletes is now training at some bad, or less effective paces. Let’s further assume that the real performance result on the track is not a 7% difference, but a 2% difference. That 2% difference is about 5 seconds for the women on our team who run a 4:30 Mile.
As a coach, that potential 5 seconds concerns me. If you have read closely, you have likely picked out the importance of establishing an accurate Max HR for running… not just using a generic estimate. The estimate method works for a large team of decent performers. Once you are pursuing a professional career or HS State Championship, you will want to get the numbers dialed in a more accurately on a regular basis.
As we have shown, the numbers can fluctuate. Keep a regular tab on your Resting HR. If you are committed to HR Monitoring and training zones, you need to conduct a Max HR test every 6-10 weeks. If you are seeing significant changes, test it more often.
Summary / How We Use It
For the Colorado Track Club our intensity measurement requirement is to be AWARE and flexible. We pay reasonable attention to HR data, actual time trial paces, lab testing, and the athlete’s perceived effort. We are definitely not driven solely by HR information.
I’m going to be aware of the Max HR and aware of the HR Reserve methods and the differences for each athlete. Each athlete will have a chart for current HR efforts for 65% runs, 70% runs, 75% runs, 80% runs, 85% runs, 90% runs, and 95% runs. We prefer the HR Reserve method.
Verification:
We try to be aware at actual HR measurements at actual race paces. Here is how we do that approach:
If we assume 15K race pace is about (slightly faster for our athletes) Anaerobic Threshold (or Tempo) Pace, we will do a few races (even shorter races) to estimate 15K ability. Let’s assume our athlete’s 15K ability is 5:30 per mile pace - that is 1:22.5 per 400. We will then have the athlete run for 27:30 on the track at exactly 1:22.5 per lap. We’ll record her HR at the 3 mile mark, 4 mile mark, 4.5 mile mark, and finish. The athlete does not sprint - the goals is to stay on pace. Makes sure the athlete is hydrated, has had good sleep, and has not had a devastating training week. The resulting HR should be pretty close to the athlete’s Anaerobic Threshold Pace, likely a little faster.
We’ll do a similar approach for the 5000m race pace to get a VO2Max Pace - SLOW. We’ll then do a similar approach for 3000m race pace to get a VO2Max Pace - FAST.
Worth noting, runs within about 5 beats of Max HR can be sustained for about 8 minutes, give or take.
At Max HR the heart is operating inefficiently. You won’t see much / an exact difference between aerobic speeds at 99% HR pace versus those at 100% HR pace.
A 15:00 5K runner will likely be around 97% HR Max.
Most of (80%) our weekly work is done between 60-80% of HR Reserve Pace (discussed in Livingstone Book, among others).
A weekly Anaerobic Threshold Run at about 85%+ of HR Reserve is beneficial as well. Again, we’ll calculate 85% HR Reserve effort, but compare it the 15K Time Trial pace. The decision is not made on HR calculations alone. Faster runners may need to run a little slower than 15K race pace.
We do near-weekly work at 3K-5K Race pace, what I call VO2 Fast and VO2 Slow paces. However, we keep the volume very low in the off-season. For example, we may just do a 4 x 600m run at 3K race pace, with a 2:00 recovery in the off season. This workout barely catches the athlete’s attention, then it is over. We’ve kept the Blood Lactate density levels in check, but the athlete is rejuvenated / reminded that he / she is fast. Those sessions get MUCH harder in season and become a top priority workout in the middle of the season.