Do You Use %MHR Or %HRR For Your Heart Rate Training?

[bcalvanese]

I have been using %MHR for going on 3 years now, and it got to the point that when I'm in zone 3, it hardly feels like I am even exercising.

Yesterday I set my Garmin fenix 5x to use %HRR, and did a 6 mile trail power walk/run, and now zone 3 feels more in line with what zone 3 should feel like.

For those who do not know what i am talking about, %MHR is calculated using percentage of max heart rate, and %HRR is calculated using percentage of heart rate reserve which is max heart rate minus resting heart rate.

I am 60 years old with a resting heart rate of 65, and a max heart rate of 160 (verified by a stress test).

Below is an example of what my zones look like...

Using % MHR
Zone 1 = 80-96 BPM
Zone 2 = 98-112 BPM
Zone 3 = 114-128 BPM
Zone 4 = 130-144 BPM
Zone 5 = 146-160 BPM

Using % HRR
Zone 1 = 113-122 BPM
Zone 2 = 123-132 BPM
Zone 3 = 132-141 BPM
Zone 4 = 142-151 BPM
Zone 5 = 151-160 BPM

You can see using %HRR is more challenging, but as your fitness level improves and you start feeling like you are not getting a good workout, you can use this method to up your game.

Just thought I would share this.

[shipo]

@bcalvanese, interesting stuff.  As you know I don't do heart rate training so I've never paid much attention to the fact there are different methodologies for calculating the zones.  That said, I'm curious what my numbers would yield.  My rates are as follows:

• Sleeping heart rate: 33 (from the Fitbit 5-minute average overnight graph)
• Resting Heart rate: 43 (from the Fitbit calculation)
• Maximum Heart rate: 182 (observed while running a race up a ski slope where we climbed 1,000' in under a mile).

[bcalvanese]

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@shipo wrote:

@bcalvanese, interesting stuff.  As you know I don't do heart rate training so I've never paid much attention to the fact there are different methodologies for calculating the zones.  That said, I'm curious what my numbers would yield.  My rates are as follows:

• Sleeping heart rate: 33 (from the Fitbit 5-minute average overnight graph)
• Resting Heart rate: 43 (from the Fitbit calculation)
• Maximum Heart rate: 182 (observed while running a race up a ski slope where we climbed 1,000' in under a mile).

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@shipo , yours would be as follows...

zone 1 - 113-126
zone 2 - 128-140
zone 3 - 142-154
zone 4 - 156-168
zone 5 - 169-182

the formula is MHR - RHR * <percentage> + RHR

when i was in the army back in the 1980's they taught us that we should use the MHR method to start, then once our fitness level improved we should start using the HRR method.

As i started running more, my zone 3 felt like i was hardly even exercising, but since i started using HRR, my zone 3 now feels like it used to feel when i first started doing cardio.

You can figure it out as it pertaines to the 3 zone method that fitbit uses. I think they go 50-60, 61-85, 86-100. Or something like that.

If that is the case your fitbit zones would be...

zone 1 - 91-109
zone 2 - 111-155
zone 3 - 157-182

[shipo]

@bcalvanese, interesting the Army taught you stuff like that; I was in the Marines probably about the same time as you were in the Army and they never taught us anything of the sort; our training was more like, "Listen maggot, you better get your sorry carcass over the course faster or I'm going to recycle your butt."  🙂

[bcalvanese]

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@shipo wrote:

@bcalvanese, interesting the Army taught you stuff like that; I was in the Marines probably about the same time as you were in the Army and they never taught us anything of the sort; our training was more like, "Listen maggot, you better get your sorry carcass over the course faster or I'm going to recycle your butt."  🙂

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@shipo

I forgot to mention that I went through the Master Fitness Course in the army. Basically it's a course that teaches the fundamentals of fitness and basic nutrition. Then they make you the fitness instructor for the company.

I started a program for soldiers who had trouble passing there PT tests, and using this basic knowledge got them all to pass their next test. One soldier missed the pushups by 1 pushup, but when they compared her scores to her previous test there was such a dramatic improvement that they gave her the one pushup and passed her.

I think heart rate training is a great tool in it's basic form, but it seems like some people get too technical with it and forget the basics of it.

If you keep your heart rate in x zone for x number of minutes you will get x training effect, and if you get x training effect x number of times per week you will improve your fitness level by x. The only thing you have to know is what your true max heart rate is (within a few BPM).

I started using these basic principals going on 3 years ago, and went from barely being able to walk a single mile without having to lay down afterward, to being able to power walk over 10 miles at over a 4 mph pace, and being able to run 5 miles. Lost over 50 lbs, and have improved my health so much that my doctor is in AWE of me.

I know everyone has their own thing, but this is what works for me, and should work for anyone who puts the effort into it.