Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: heartrate + 366 + web  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

Pulses are quickening over heart-rate monitors

  CHICAGO — The fascination with heart-rate monitors is reaching new heights after the Outdoor Life Network showed the pulse of some riders in the Tour de France last month.

It's like having a cockpit view of an auto racer's instrument panel.

Perennial champ Lance Armstrong didn't volunteer his real-time data; he didn't want competitors to know when he was truly sweating. But his heart-rate numbers, which provide a rare glimpse into his freakishly efficient body, are legendary and telling.

When Armstrong is relaxing off the bike, his resting heart rate, or pulse, has been measured at just 32 beats per minute, less than half that of the average man. When he's sprinting up a steep mountain, it might spike to around 200 beats per minute. And during a four- to six-hour endurance ride, Armstrong's ticker is thumping as low as 124 beats per minute.

This type of technical information and other data gleaned from digital heart-rate monitors can help professionals and weekend warriors find the most beneficial pace and workout intensity. Like a personal trainer, a heart-rate monitor can urge you to push past a comfort level or caution you to slow down.

"I was surprised when I first put one on," said ultrarunner and endurance athlete Nancy Burrows, 38. "Even though we all think we know how hard we're working, I was always at the same level. It was never hard enough or easy enough. A heart-rate monitor gives objective feedback."

Start with resting rate

Though partly determined by heredity, resting heart rates are excellent indicators of health: The lower they are, the better. But they aren't foolproof. It's possible to be horribly unfit and have a heart rate in the low 50s.

But generally, heart rates decrease with constant exercise and increase when the body is fatigued or overtrained. If your resting heart rate is 10 beats higher than usual, that's a sign you're tired or haven't recovered from yesterday's workout. Another intense exercise session won't provide much benefit, but it could lead to injury.

"Figuring out the resting heartbeat is the first piece of homework I give my clients," said Chicago personal trainer Michael Sena. And "99.9 percent of the people don't know it."

The resting heart rate is fairly easy to determine. Before getting out of bed or caffeinating in the morning, count your pulse for 10 seconds. Then multiply by 6. Do this for two or three days in a row.

Or strap on a heart-rate monitor, which consists of a wristwatch and a transmitter that is strapped across the chest. The transmitter picks up the electrical activity of the heart and wirelessly sends the signals to the wristwatch.

Trainers, doctors or exercise specialists can help calculate the figures for resting heart rate and other key heart-rate indicators, including maximum heart rate and target heart-rate zone.

One way to check whether your fitness level is improving is to monitor how quickly your heart rate drops after exercise. The better shape you're in, the faster it decreases.

"It's a window into yourself," said Ray Browning, a research assistant in the Locomotion Lab at the University of Colorado and co-author of "Serious Training for Endurance Athletes" (Human Kinetics, $18.95).

Without the knowledge, beginners often go out too hard and too fast because they have no sense of pace. They get discouraged and don't maintain an exercise program. Or the workout is too easy and they wonder why they can't lose any weight.

Gives you a better sense

"Heart-rate monitoring gives you a sense of what exercise is actually supposed to feel like," Browning said. "What people instantly recognize [when they use a heart-rate monitor] is they now have a target to shoot for. To do that, they have to set a pace, and suddenly, exercise is different."

Though heart-rate monitors can range from $60 to more than $400, Sena recommends starting with a basic model for $110. Many models come with software that can be downloaded into a computer. And most modern cardio equipment in gyms is heart-rate compatible, meaning that if you wear the chest strap, your heart rate will appear on the display console.

For a fitness novice whose goal is weight loss, Sena might have him walk at 60 to 70 percent of his maximum heart rate. For someone who wants to be a better athlete and is active three or four days a week, he might increase the intensity during one of the workouts.

"A heart-rate monitor enables you to train at consistent effort, rather than consistent pace," said Chicago runner Sarah Rice, 32, who uses the Timex Bodylink System. She has found that heat, wind, hills, mood, menstrual cycle, stress and sleep all can affect her workouts.

"Using a heart-rate monitor accounts for these various factors all at once and enables you to train at the best level you can on any given day, in any conditions," said Rice, a professor of cell biology at Northwestern University.

In addition to training, monitors are handy during races. Rice ran a half marathon on a hot, humid June morning. Her heart-rate monitor showed that she had reached her target at a much slower pace than usual.

Instead of speeding up, "I maintained the slow pace and placed much better in the race than I would have otherwise," she said.