With Coach Kelvin, offering Online Running Coaching for We Run and the We Run Virtual Running Club, and 1:1 Running Coach for Leeds and surrounding areas.
My Approach to Using Heart Rate Zones
In this little video, I’m going to share some thoughts on how I use heart rate zones while I’m running and, to a certain degree, in my training. It might be a little bit different to what most people do.
The Common Mistake with Heart Rate Zones
One mistake I see people making is running and trying to stay within a certain zone. They may set a zone on the watch – I’ll use zone two as an example – and they’re either getting heart rate alerts when they go under or over, or they’re constantly checking the watch to make sure they’re in that zone.
Accurate Setup Is Key
Whilst I’m training, there are a few things that I do with my heart rate.
First, I’ve set my heart rate zones correctly. I also use an optical armband. Unless you’re using an optical armband or a chest strap, the optical sensor on just the watch isn’t particularly accurate. So I probably wouldn’t use that to train by.
What I Do Before I Start Running
The first thing that I do whilst I’m running is – before I start my run, while my watch is waiting to get a GPS signal – I just check in on my heart rate to make sure it’s within a certain range that I know is okay. I want to make sure it’s not unusually low or unusually high.
Then I set my watch running and start my run. Normally, I do the first sort of mile quite easy – maybe half a mile to a mile. Again, I’ll check in on my heart rate and just make sure that nothing unusual is going on.
That could include a depressed heart rate – a really low heart rate – which can be associated with fitness, but it can also be associated with fatigue.
So if my heart rate’s particularly low and I feel really well rested, maybe I’m coming out of a deload week or I’ve had a day off training, that’s probably my fitness showing.
If my heart rate’s depressed and I’ve done a really hard session, or maybe had a poor night of sleep, or other things are going on in my life, it’s probably fatigue. And that might just guide my workout.
I’m not going to completely change my workout, but it’s something I’ll consider.
Heart Rate Can Be Elevated Too
It’s also worth quickly mentioning that heart rate can obviously be elevated when these things are going on as well. So we’re looking for something that’s kind of usual.
Again, I’m probably not going to completely change a workout, but I will use it to guide me.
So let’s say I’m doing a zone two run. If my heart rate’s not showing great figures – I’m maybe carrying a bit of fatigue – I might run more in the middle of zone two.
If my heart rate in that initial glance and in that warm-up is showing to be good, and I’m probably quite fit at the moment, I might run towards the top end of zone two.
How I Monitor My Heart Rate During a Run
That’s what I do to roll into the run and keep my heart rate in zone two.
I know that my zone two is about 142 to 154. One of the screens that I set on my watch is average heart rate. So the two heart rate metrics that I have on one screen are:
- Current heart rate
- Average heart rate
I’m taking some glances at the current heart rate, as I’ve just mentioned, to make sure that it’s not doing anything abnormal. But mainly I’m going on the average heart rate.
For a zone two run, I want to finish the run somewhere around 145 to 150. I don’t mind if for some of that run it’s gone a little bit under and for some of that run it’s gone a little bit over.
Running to Perceived Effort First
What I’m doing is I’m running to perceived effort – what I feel is my zone two – and I’m using my heart rate to check in on periodically. I’m not trying to use my watch to stay specifically in that zone.
Reviewing My Heart Rate Data Over Time
The other way that I’ll use heart rate is through a platform like TrainingPeaks. You can use plugins for Strava as well, I believe, that show my time in heart rate zones over longer periods of time.
So if I’ve done a block of training and I’ve written that block to spend certain amounts of time in certain zones, at the end of that block – maybe that’s a four-week or one-week period – I’ll look at this in retrospect to make sure that I’m somewhere near the time that I planned to spend in those heart rate zones.
It doesn’t have to be exact, as long as broadly I’ve spent the right amount of time in those zones.
There’s quite a lot in there, so I hope that makes sense. If you do have any questions, please just pop them in the comments below.
And for now, happy running.
