I’m a former competitive runner who can no longer run due to issues with my knee cartilage. I’m now relying on a How to Conquer 400-Meter Repeat Workouts to ensure I’m maintaining my cardio conditioning while on an elliptical machine and bike.
The Benefits of Resistance Sprints interval work, should I try to maintain my target zone heart rate during the entire interval, average it over the interval or reach it as a peak during the interval?
Thanks, Jeff
Jeff,
I am not sure there is a right answer to your question. While cardiovascular fitness is essential for competition and health, the competition training level is not necessary to maintain fitness for health. That said, maintaining “competition” fitness is not a bad thing, just more than the average person needs. While part of the goal is to get your heart rate up for fitness, the other side of the coin is to avoid musculoskeletal injury.
Working near my physical limits has always been a stress reliever for me, but many people can get stress relief from a brisk walk. For interval work, I exercise at a pace to get my heart rate up to a level I can tolerate and complete the designated task (run or row ‘x’ meters) and slow the pace until my next interval starts (the faster I go, the more time I have for my heart rate to drop during the recovery period). Sometimes I restart the hard work when my heart rate dips back under 100, although there is nothing magic about 100, rather than staying on a locked time period.
Some of my friends do the 4 X 4 work out, which takes about 30 minutes and can be done on any piece of exercise equipment or with any activity (running, biking, skating, or Nordic skiing). It’s basically 2 minutes warm up, 4 minutes hard work, 4 minutes easy resting pace, and repeat 4 times. When I do this work out, I exercise at the edge of feeling breathless and do not pay much attention to my heart rate. I would guess that when you do intervals, you are working at or above your “race pace” or steady state work out level. The idea behind interval work is to get your leg speed and body systems working above your usual pace. Again this is a great competition strategy, but not necessary for health fitness.
As you use your How to Conquer 400-Meter Repeat Workouts with your workouts, I think you will perform experience in what is right for you based on your previous pace experience and the wisdom to use the monitor to achieve your goals in fitness. Your heart rate will rise during the interval and as it approaches your maximum work level, you will naturally adjust your pace. I do not think your goal is to hold your heart rate in the training zone the entire interval, but rather to get into the training zone and stay there for the remainder of the interval, allowing your heart rate to drop during your recovery time.
Best Fitness Trackers.
Cheers, Bill
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