The right equipment and the right knowledge are key to the right performance – in every part of our lives. This is especially true it athletic training. A few years ago I started using a heart rate monitor for my runs and my cycling. I used a formula to determine my max heart rate and then calculated my zones. The general formula is (220 – your age) for max heart rate – then multiply by .6, .7, .8 to determine your zones (60-70%, 70-80%). I usually focused on the zones for interval training and then just paid attention to what my heart rate was during a run. I didn’t try to keep my HR in any particular zone; I just noticed where I spent most of my run.
This year, we need to be smarter about our training – we are going to expect our bodies to do some serious endurance events and will need to train them to handle it. Trevor and I both decided that we needed to get as much information about our bodies and how to make them the most efficient – so we went to our favorite place – Clearwater Clinic in Portland. They started out as our chiropractor about 7 years ago and have worked miracles on injuries. They also have a naturopath who has helped me with food intolerances, recurrent sinus infections and gastro-intestinal distress. We always know that no matter what is wrong with us, they will set us on the path to healing. They are also very involved with Portland Fit and understand all the crazy things we do.
The clinic performs a VO2 test to find your anaerobic threshold – the heart rate at which your body stops using fat for fuel and starts to use only glycogen. This is important to know if you are doing any sort of endurance event. If your AT (anaerobic threshold) is 170 – like mine – you can go 2 hours at the most at a heart rate of 170 before your body will stop burning fat (an unlimited fuel source) and start burning only glycogen. This means that at that point, you would need to ingest a ridiculous amount of calories to keep yourself fueled. This is the reason for hitting “the wall”. Anyone who’s done a marathon knows what this is – your body says “enough”. You lose your ability to move forward and getting across the finish line seems impossible. This is because your body is out of gas.
If you can train in the right heart rate zone, you can avoid hitting “the wall”. If you work in a zone that burns mostly fat, you can go forever. I have been running at an average heart rate of about 165-170 bpm (beats per minute). Since that is right at my AT, I can’t maintain that for more than 2 hours. I can tell you, my marathon time and my IM time will be A LOT longer than 2 hours. I should be training in the 140-155 bpm zone. I thought that would be too easy. Well, today I rode my bike on the trainer and kept in that zone and when I was done, 45 minutes later, I was dripping with sweat. Hmmm….maybe there is something to this. All I know is that I can’t wait to see what happens when I train in the correct zones – how will it affect my training and my performance on race day? Also, if I work in the zone that burns the most fat, what will happen to my body fat percentage? All good questions. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Oh and Trevor had the same test done and found similar results. We are both shocked at how much there is out there to learn and help us perform at our best. We like to be a resource to our customers and by continuing to learn about ourselves, we continue to grow our knowledge base for them. If you have questions about this testing, our training or really anything, stop in and see us. Let’s learn together!
No comments:
Post a Comment