Running to a defined heart rate range is how I’m hoping to progress in my running.
I’ve done a lot of stressful ‘all-in’ type of exercise and also put my mind and body through a hell of a lot in the last few years.
Sometimes I am amazed I can still function as a normal human being. Well, that’s probably debatable.
So I’m now of the mindset that zone 2 running is what will benefit me the most.
Some people prefer to run to effort and will possibly find running based on heart rate a bit unnecessary.
For me though, it is working well. I have a tendency to either run too hard or too easy, and keeping close to the zone 2 max will make sure I’m training well regularly and recovering well too.
You can calculate your running zones purely from your max heart rate, but ‘The excellent ‘The Running Channel‘ recommend a slightly different way, which includes your resting heart rate too.
This is called the heart rate reserve method.
I believe this is preferable because it is a more accurate measure of how hard your heart is working during exercise compared to using the typical zones calculated only by maximum heart rate.
I like this method because it takes my resting heart rate into account too. As my resting heart rate can change with fitness, my calculated zones can change with it, rather than relying purely on an estimated maximum heart rate.
So, the 2 bits of data you need are your Max Heart Rate (MHR) and your Resting Heart Rate (RHR) and you then use these to work out your Heart Rate Reserve (HRR).
You then use these data points and the % effort of each zone in the following formula:
Formula = (HRR x % effort ) + RHR
The heart rate zones based on the effort you are putting in are as follows:
ZONE 1 (50%-60% effort)
ZONE 2 (60%-70% effort)
ZONE 3 (70%-80% effort)
ZONE 4 (80%-90% effort)
ZONE 5 (90%-100% effort)
So for me:
Max Heart Rate = 177 (Estimated based on my age, which is 43, so 220 – 43= 177
Average (4-week) Resting Heart Rate = 62
Heart Rate Reserve = 115
Formula = (115 x % effort ) + 62
ZONE 1 (50%-60% effort) = (115 x 0.5) + 62 = 120 to (115 x 0.6) + 62 = 131
ZONE 2 (60%-70% effort) = 131 to (115 x 0.7) + 62 = 143
ZONE 3 (70%-80% effort) = 143 to (115 x 0.8) + 62 = 154
ZONE 4 (80%-90% effort) = 154Â to (115 x 0.9) + 62 = 166
ZONE 5 (90%-100% effort) = 166 to 177
I actually think my watch has it bang on and tells me I’m in threshold as soon as I hit 143 BPM but I wanted to work out all the zones for myself so I was familiar with all the ranges of all the zones.
I didn’t fully trust it, either, in all honesty.
I am 2 weeks into a 3-times-a-week running schedule that I aim to keep up for 4-6 weeks and then review my progress.
This includes 2 easy 5ks and one long 10k run.
So far it feels good, and I feel like I’m improving rather effortlessly.
Oooh-errr.
