Heart rate training : customize your training based on individual data and goals

273 Pages·2020·18.171 MB·English

by  Roy Benson, Declan Connolly

HEART RATE
TRAINING
SECOND EDITION
ROY BENSON
DECLAN CONNOLLY
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Benson, Roy, author. | Connolly, Declan, 1965- author.
Title: Heart rate training / Roy Benson and Declan Connolly.
Description: Second edition. | Champaign, IL : Human Kinetics, [2020] |
Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019024059 (print) | LCCN 2019024060 (ebook) | ISBN
9781492590224 (print) | ISBN 9781492590231 (pdf) | ISBN 9781492590248
(epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Cardiovascular fitness. | Heart rate monitoring.
Classification: LCC QP113 .B46 2020 (print) | LCC QP113 (ebook) | DDC
612.1/71--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019024059
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019024060
ISBN: 978-1-4925-9022-4 (print)
Copyright © 2020 by Roy Benson and Declan Connolly
Copyright © 2011 by Running, Ltd., and Vermont Fit
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HEART RATE
TRAINING
SECOND EDITION
DEDICATION
Timing, chance, luck of the Irish? Call it what you want, but the writing of
this book is the result of one guy’s tutelage and mentoring. Your authors may
be separated by three decades or so (Benson was already coaching when
Connolly was in diapers), but their career paths were carefully guided by
a higher force. Shortly after meeting, they were chatting about regulating
exercise intensity. As they chatted, they realized an eerie similarity in their
philosophies. Unbeknownst to them, they had both been mentored by Dr.
Christian Zauner, or Dr. Z, as they came to know him. The experience of
being taught by Dr. Z was lasting and profound. Their postdegree paths took
very different routes, but Dr. Z’s influence was ever apparent.
In 1969, with six years of experience coaching track and cross country and
two years of teaching high school geography, Benson concluded that he’d
rather write training plans than lesson plans. A master’s degree in physical
education would give him a chance to do that full time as a college coach.
That fall he began working toward an MPE at the University of Florida. The
university did not have an extensive graduate program in exercise physiol-
ogy, but it did have an outstanding professor, Dr. Christian Zauner, to teach
the courses it offered. Dr. Zauner also happened to coach a group of young
swimmers in his backyard pool. One day in class, Dr. Z mentioned how he
used their heart rates to determine their recoveries during an interval workout.
This was an immediate eureka experience for Benson. At that time, he also
was a graduate assistant coach of the University of Florida distance runners.
He quickly raised his hand and asked how Dr. Z was measuring heart rates.
His process of measuring effort by counting heartbeats at the carotid artery
made great sense. It had always been a battle to get the runners to stop acting
so tired at the end of each repeat and asking whether the workout was finally
over. It was even harder to get them going again after each arbitrary distance
of jogging recovery as they begged for more time. What wonderful tools their
pulses became for revealing the truth about their efforts and recoveries.
That one serendipitous moment led to Benson’s work and study of cardiac
response to exercise. But his education really expanded when Dr. Z became
his mentor and they started a hospital-based business, Fitness Incorporated,
that offered fitness rehabilitation services. Their program was designed
around heart rate measurements taken manually in the days before monitors.
After several years, they sold the business to the hospital, and it served as the
cornerstone of one of the first hospital wellness centers in the southeastern
United States. Not long after, they both moved away from Gainesville and
lost touch. Years later, while visiting a friend in Corvallis, Oregon, Benson
learned that Dr. Z was chairman of the physical education department and
living just a few blocks down the street. Benson renewed and then continued
his friendship with his mentor, the one person who had the most influence
on his professional life.
Connolly’s career also benefitted from the tutelage of Dr. Z. In June 1987,
Connolly graduated with a degree in sports studies from the University of
Ulster, Northern Ireland. In the summer of 1990, he graduated from the
University of Rhode Island with a master’s degree in exercise science. While
working as a camp counselor, he applied to graduate schools around the
United States looking for funding. He spoke to the chair of the department of
exercise science at Oregon State University, Dr. Christian Zauner, who said
he might be able to find work for Connolly but not enough to fund a doctoral
degree. Connolly drove across the country and appeared on Dr. Z’s doorstep.
After explaining who he was, Connolly was given funding for three months,
although Dr. Z told him if he didn’t work out, he was outta there. By the fall,
Dr. Z increased Connolly’s funding support, gave him odd jobs to earn a few
more dollars, and shared his insights in the field. Dr. Z was widely traveled
and understood the challenges facing international students. He’d invite them
over for holidays, find them summer work, and impart worldly wisdom over
Oregon’s finest microbrews. He hosted their parents when they visited and
allowed them to call home from his phone. Above all, Dr. Z mentored them
about what was needed to be successful. Dr. Z took a chance on an Irish kid
who didn’t have much to offer and nowhere else to go. For that opportunity,
Connolly is eternally grateful. Connolly graduated from Oregon State Uni-
versity in 1995 with a PhD in exercise science and a minor in nutritional
biochemistry. He became an Irish national cycling champion, a three-time
Ironman, and head coach of the rugby football team at the University of
Vermont. In all these domains, he has used the “appliance of science” he
learned from Dr. Z to optimize athletic performance and recovery.
Sadly, in November 2015, Dr. Z passed away at his home in Portland,
Oregon. We are happy that he got to read (and of course critique) our first
edition. He spent his retirement with his wife, Betty, and as a proud father
and grandfather. He is missed by his many students who never fell for the
multiple choice answer, “the fluctuating flotary.”
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments viii ● Introduction ix
PART I Foundations 1
CHAPTER 1 Monitoring for Maximum Performance . . . 3
CHAPTER 2 Evaluating and Customizing Your Zones . . 23
CHAPTER 3 Getting the Most From Your Monitor . . . . 41
PART II Training 49
CHAPTER 4 Targeting Sport-Specific Fitness
With Heart Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
CHAPTER 5 Increasing Aerobic Endurance . . . . . . . . 65
CHAPTER 6 Raising Anaerobic Threshold . . . . . . . . . 85
CHAPTER 7 Boosting Speed and Power . . . . . . . . . 105
vi ●
PART III Programs 123
CHAPTER 8 Designing an Effective Training Program . 125
CHAPTER 9 Walking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
CHAPTER 10 Jogging and Running . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
CHAPTER 11 Cycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
CHAPTER 12 Swimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
CHAPTER 13 Triathlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
CHAPTER 14 Rowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
CHAPTER 15 Cross-Country Skiing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
CHAPTER 16 Team Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Appendix: Heart Rate Training Zone Calculation Chart 247
Index 249 ● About the Authors 257
Earn Continuing Education Credits/Units 260
● vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To readers of this second edition of Heart Rate Training, thank you for your
vote of confidence. And to you who have also read the first edition, I trust
that you will find the changes and additions worth your time and money. I
also need to express my deepest appreciation to all the runners I’ve coached,
the many who attended my Nike Running Camps, and those who have read
my magazine columns. A special thanks to everyone who used the Polar and
Nike heart rate monitors that I recommended. I hope that my belief in the
“coachly” wisdom of effort-based training has had a positive impact on your
running. Most importantly, to my lovely, loving, and patient wife, Betty: Only
with your “wind beneath my wings” has any of this been possible. Thanks
also to our children, Vickie and Ray, for sharing me with my running family.
—Roy Benson
To my wife, Shannon, whose tireless efforts with our family have allowed
me the time to work on this project and many others. Her flexibility and
pride in motherhood have given me great freedom, and I am grateful. Thanks
also to my kids—Kiaran, Fiona, Cillian, Nuala, and Cian—who have put my
work in perspective (and perhaps someday will appreciate this work). To
my parents, Charlie and Geraldine, who gave me the freedom to pursue my
goals at the four corners of the globe. Finally, thanks to my exercise friends,
who provided me the constant opportunity for tinkering and exploring.
—Declan Connolly
viii ●
INTRODUCTION
Congratulations! You’re about to learn why heart rate monitoring is one
of the most convenient and most effective ways to train. You’re on
your way to becoming better conditioned in a more time-efficient manner.
When you understand your heart rate, learn how to measure it, and have a
reliable monitor, you can create a scientifically designed exercise program,
individualized just for you, that will guarantee results. A wonderful aspect
of heart rate monitoring is that you can now do it all day long at work, at
home, and of course, while you exercise. All this information will allow you
to track your responses, not only for exercise purposes but also for overall
health. This will allow you to make personalized decisions to optimize your
exercise program.
The main problem with most exercise programs is that they are not based
on your unique body shape, size, physiological response, and, most impor-
tant, current fitness level. They aren’t designed just for you. In fact, it’s likely
these exercise programs have little to do with you. For the most part, they are
generic programs based on basic exercise physiology. They come in the form
of classes, training groups, clubs, or books written by self-styled experts. But
despite the quality of the teaching and the validity of the general principles,
they don’t answer the “What about me?” question. Often, you can’t figure out
how to apply the information to yourself. Everyone who wants to exercise,
get in shape, or train has the same dilemma: “Should I run? Take a spinning
class? Use the rowing machine? Just swim?” Once the choice is made, the
next question is, “Yes, but what about me? How do I go about this? Now
that I’ve picked something, how far, how fast, how hard, how often should
I go?” New technology that is personalized through smartphones and wrist-
reading watches that download data to your computer will allow you to
better answer these questions.
The what question is not hard to address. We hope that you’ve picked
something that is convenient, fun, and appealing, because research shows
that if you chose an exercise mode that fits these criteria you are more likely
to stick to it. The how question usually is the stumper.
Call it what you will, but your effort has to be individualized. It must be
based on your current fitness level, general ability, and clear goals. It also
must consider the mode of exercise and your age. The simplest way to create
an individualized program is to track your cardiac response to your body’s
movement of choice. Then you can observe the adaptations that reflect your
● ix