Runner's Corner

February 2009 :: Index of issues

Listen to Your Heart Rates

by Kitty A. Consolo, Ph.D.

February is heart month and a great time to focus on two important heart rate measures. The first is your resting heart rate, one of the best indicators as to whether you are getting fit and whether you are over training. The second is your recovery heart rate, a good indicator of fitness and how you responded to your workout.

Taking Your Heart Rate

If you do not want to buy a heart rate monitor, you can learn to take your own heart rate.

1. Find the carotid artery by first going to the front of your neck and feeling for your larynx or voice box. Then gently move your fingertips to one side of your neck lining up with the eye on the same side (see picture above).

2. Use your first two fingers to gently feel your pulse which is how we will measure our heart rate.

3. Have a watch that you can read seconds easily and count the first beat as 0, then 1,2 etc for 10 seconds and multiply by 6 or 15 seconds and multiply by 4.

Measuring a True Resting Heart Rate

To get a true resting heart rate, you should be lying down and preferably rested. A good time is at the end of the day when you are in bed getting ready to go to sleep.

1. Take your heart rate as described above and record it for 5 to 7 days to get an average as to what your true resting heart rate is. Discard any values that may have been inflated by other factors such as a stressful event that day or a change in routine such as you stayed out late at a party.

2. Record your heart rate in your training log.

Using Resting Heart Rate to Predict Fitness and Training Adjustments

For Fitness

The average untrained resting adult heart rate is 72 beats per minute. As one trains aerobically, the resting heart rate should decrease. This is because the heart becomes more efficient at ejecting blood from the heart (called stroke volume) and hence it does not have to beat as often to get the same amount of blood around the body. My resting heart rate is normally 56 beats per minute and it is not uncommon to find runners with resting heart rates in the 40s.

Your resting heart rate should decrease over time as you become more fit.

For Training Adjustments

Changes in resting heart rate, especially increases, can be the best and earliest way to determine that you are over training and about to get sick or injured. If you listen to your resting heart rate daily and make the following adjustments in your training, you can avoid illness and injury and keep a very consistent training program.

1. A 10% increase in resting heart rate is an early warning sign to cut back your work out for that day at least 50% and get extra rest.

2. A 20% increase in resting heart rate or more is an early warning sign to skip your workout that day and rest.

Continue to make the above adjustments until your resting heart rate goes back to what is normal for you.

Measuring a Recovery Heart Rate

As one trains, one’s heart rate is not only more efficient at rest, but can return to normal levels faster after workouts then when one was not training. In order for recovery heart rate to be useful, you need to measure it at the same time period after a workout, 2 minutes after or 3 or 4. If you vary the time after you finish your workout, you will not get an accurate estimation of you heart’s ability to recover as the longer you allow yourself to wait to take the recovery heart rate, the more your heart rate will drop in number. Thus decide what time interval you want to use to measure your recovery heart rate.

1. Measure your recovery heart rate the same way you take a resting heart rate as described above. Over time, your heart rate should come down quicker after a workout.

2. There are some factors however that can elevate a recovery heart rate such as an increased temperature in your training environment. Hence if you have been working out in the winter in 40 degrees or less and suddenly you get a warm day of 65 degrees, this higher temperature can elevated your recover heart rate and not mean that your training is off.

Also if you increase your workout intensity from what you normally do, this can change your recovery heart rate. Thus making a graph of a trend of your recovery heart rate may be more useful than using the exact recovery number every time. Over time, your recovery heart rate should return to normal faster with the exception of the higher workout temperatures and intensity.

Summary

Keeping track of your resting and recovery heart rate can help you avoid training errors and stay healthy. Listen to your heart rates and make appropriate adjustments in your training and your heart will take good care of you. Hope to see you on the roads—Kitty.