Heart Rate and Recovery: Why is it important?


Do you know that feeling once you have
made it past the point of just “warming up” and beginning to feel out of breath
during your workout? Once you get feel that feeling do you ever notice how your
heart rate begins to increase? This occurs when the demand for fresh oxygenated
and nutrient rich blood is needed to be transported to the muscles performing
the arduous tasks. However if your heart muscle is weakened due to lack of
exercise, heart disease, or a neurological disorder, it can affect how well you
can perform as well as recover.
A research study by Michael S. Lauer, MD, (director
of the Cleveland Clinic Exercise Laboratory in Ohio and the lead researcher of
the study) found that individuals who had a heart rate (HR) recovery score of
<12 beats per minute (bpm) were at a higher risk of heart disease than individuals
whom had a normal HR recovery of 15 to 25+ bpm during an exercise stress test. (1)

How
can I test my Heart Rate Recovery Time?


You
can perform many different tests to increase your HR like riding a bike for a
set amount of time, walking on a treadmill or the track for distance, ERG rowing
machine, or just marching in place for 2 minutes. Most importantly you will
need to know your desired HR target should be.  The table below can give you an idea of
roughly where your target HR should be during test before completing the
exercise to measure your pulse for the recovery rate.

To
measure your recovery rate, take your pulse immediately upon finishing exercise
then measure 1 minute post and 2 minutes post exercise and compare your BPM
results. The bigger the difference the BETTER!

Here are a few
inferences:


  • If the difference between the two
    heart rates is less than 22, your real age of heart is slightly more
    than your biological age (that calls for lifestyle and dietary modification)
  • If the recovery heart rate difference
    is in between 22–52 beats per minute; your biological age (or calendar
    age) is approximately the same as that of your heart age/ real age
  • A recovery heart rate difference of 53–58
    beats per minute indicates optimal health, healthier heart and a real age of
    less than calendar age.
  • If the difference of your immediate
    post exercise heart rate and heart rate after 2 minutes is in the range of 59–65
    beats per minute, your heart is healthier and your real age is moderately less
    than your biological age.
  • With a difference of more than 66,
    your heart is very healthy and your physical age is a lot less than your
    calendar age. (2)

Blog post by Craig Moody.
References:
(1) https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20000919/researchers-find-heart-rate-worth-thousand-words#1

(2) https://www.med-health.net/Recovery-Heart-Rate.html

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Looking for a full body, cardiovascular
workout?  Try indoor rowing.
Rowing has become more and more popular
over the past few years.  It’s a fairly
simple cardiovascular activity using the entire body.  It’s easy to learn and entirely up to you to control the time, distance, and intensity.  Rowing is great for burning calories,
increasing your stamina (through heart rate training!), and strengthening your
muscles.  It’s also a low impact activity
with much less pressure on the joints than walking, running or jumping.  Joints move through a wide range of motion
and when I say the entire body is working, I mean the entire entire body.  With every stroke you are using your calves,
quads, hamstrings, glutes, core, pecs, biceps, triceps, deltoids, lats, and so
on.

Technique is important.

Before you hop on a rowing machine and
start rowing, make sure you learn proper form.  Technique is important to keep you injury
free and more efficient so you can row better and faster.  Some of my clients are worried about straining the
lower back during rowing exercises but if done correctly, power comes from
the legs putting minimal stress on the lower back.

The Rowing Sequence

There are two phases in the rowing
stroke: the recovery phase and the drive phase. 
These two phases can be broken up into 4 positions: Recovery, Catch,
Drive, and Finish.
During the recovery phase, your triceps
work to extend your arms out in front of you and your upper body (abdominals
flexed with back muscles relaxed) is leaning forward at about a 30 degree angle.  Start to bend your knees allowing the seat to
slide forward.  The catch position is
when your shins are vertical and the balls of the feet are in full contact with
the footplate.  To protect your knees,
you never want to compress your legs past that. 
Your arms are still straight with shoulders level.

 

The drive phase begins with arms
straight and upper body still leaning forward at 30 degrees while beginning to push off the
footplates with your legs.  During
rowing, power is generated in the drive phase with the muscles of your
legs.  Your shoulder muscles are also
contracting during this time.  As you
straighten your legs, lean your upper body back at 30 degrees,
using your core to support your lower back. 
Use your biceps to bring your hands back in a straight line toward your
lower ribs.  Your glutes and hamstrings
are also contracting to extend the hips. 
This brings us to the finish position with legs extended, arms at the
lower ribs, flat wrists, upper body engaged and still at 30 degrees, head
neutral with neck and shoulders relaxed.

Adjust the damper setting

The most common misconception about the
Concept 2 Rower is the damper setting. 
I’ll admit that I even had this all wrong.  On the Concept 2 Rower, the lever is 1-10 on the flywheel.  The damper setting does not
control the level or resistance.  Let me
repeat.  The damper setting does not control
the level or resistance.
The damper setting controls how much air
flows into the flywheel cage.  High
settings will allow more air in which takes more work to spin the
flywheel.  This doesn’t necessarily mean
you will go faster or farther, it just means you will work harder and your
muscles will fatigue quicker.  Lower
settings allow less air flow making it easier to row.
How do you change the resistance?  You pull harder!  It depends on the leg strength and power
behind your push off and how hard you pull using your arms and back muscles.
Start with a setting or 3-5 and
experiment with different settings. 
Typically 3-5 is ideal for aerobic exercise and building endurance.  Higher settings turn your aerobic exercise
into more of a strength workout.

Warm up & start out slow

Before you begin a rowing workout, warm
up for 3-5 minutes.  Start out slow and
gradually increase your time, distance, and intensity.  Getting too ambitious your first few sessions
on the rowing machine will set you up for injury!

Focus on your breathing

Breathing is often overlooked when
exercising.  With each inhale, you are
filling your lungs with fresh oxygen and supplying muscles with nutrient rich
blood whereas each exhale you are flushing out the bad carbon dioxide and
waste.  Holding your breath, breathing too fast or too shallow will have an effect on
your workout.  Our goal during rowing is
deep and relaxed breathing and creating a breathing rhythm related to the
rhythm of each stroke.
Most rowers either take one breaths per
stroke: inhale during recover, exhale during the drive.  Rowers rowing at high intensities may sneak
in a quick second breath per stroke.
See what works best for you and continue
the same breathing pattern throughout your workout.  This will keep your muscles happy with
continuous and regular oxygen supply.

Last but not least—have fun!

Blog post by Jen Skiba.

Spinning Tips for New Riders

Thinking about attending your first Spin Class?  Spin is an awesome cardiovascular workout with high energy, the lights turned down and the music turned up!  Here are my tips for new riders:

Arrive early.


Proper bike set up is extremely important for safety and injury prevention.
Class begins on time so arrive 10-15 minutes early to ensure enough time for
the instructor to help get you oriented.

Drink lots of water.

It is recommended by
Spinning.com to drink 40 oz of water for a 40 minute spin class.  8 oz of water about 30 minutes before class,
24 oz during class, and 8 oz within 30 minutes after class.  If you get to the point where you feel
thirsty, you are already enduring the early stages of dehydration.

Bring a towel.

You will sweat!  Some fitness centers will supply towels to
their members.  If you are unsure, it’s
best to bring your own just to be safe because I guarantee you will want one!

The bike seat isn’t that
bad!


Don’t be intimidated by the small & narrow bike seat! It only takes a few
classes to get used to it. To improve your comfort, wear bike shorts or bring a
padded seat cover to class.

Wear a heart rate monitor.

A good instructor will
incorporate heart rate training into the ride. 
It adds another element to your training and allows you to see your
progress and continual improvements to your fitness.  Benefits include: improves fitness levels,
more efficient training, avoid over-training, less chance of injury, increases
metabolism & fat-burning efficiency, and most importantly – you’re in
control of your workout and intensity.

Go at your own pace.

The best part about a spin
class is that anyone and everyone can experience a great workout from beginners
to seasoned athletes.  The instructor is
there to motivate and guide riders through a class but it’s ultimately up to
you to choose the intensity.  Some riders
never get out of the saddle – and that’s ok! 
I always say – you can do what you want as long as you’re pedaling!

Most importantly… Have fun!


Blog post by Jen Skiba.

Spin Heart Rate & Training Zones

Heart rate can be a very
beneficial tool for your training.  It
allows you to measure the effort of your workout and control intensity and
quality without overexertion.
All heart rate training
zones are based on max heart rate.  It is
not the easiest or safest test to administer, especially to untrained
individuals so a standard equation is 220-age (male) and 226-age (female).  Please be aware that this is only a
guide.  Your Age Predicted Max HR could
be up to 25 beats per minute off!
Next thing to consider are
your Training Zones.  In Spinning, we
focus on 5 different rides:
  • Recovery
  • Endurance
  • Strength
  • Interval
  • Race Day

Recovery

“Relaxation and energy
accumulation.”
During Recovery, you are
riding at 50-65% your max heart rate.  No
hills, no jumps, only light resistance is used. 
The goal of this ride is to focus on breathing, relaxation, and
circulating blood and oxygen throughout the body.

Endurance

“Even application of
energy for sustained periods.”
The next zone is Endurance.  Heart race increases to 65-75% max heart
rate.  This should also feel fairly easy
and a pace at which you can ride forever. 
This is where you will ride when focusing on your aerobic base
building.  It will increase aerobic
capacity, oxygen consumption, stamina, and improve fat metabolism.  A true Endurance ride is completed almost
entirely in the saddle with light to moderate resistance but variations include
standing flat, seated climb, and standing climb.

Strength

“Heavy resistance to
develop muscular endurance and power.”
During
the Strength training zone, you will be working hard for 5-8 minutes at a level
between 75-85% your max heart rate.  The
ride focuses on steady, consistent pedaling with heavy resistance to promote
muscular and cardiovascular development. 
While seated or standing, you should be thinking strong and
powerful.  There will be a point between
75-85% when you are switching over from aerobic to anaerobic activity.  This will cause lactic acid to accumulate.  A proper
cool down and stretching/foam rolling will be very beneficial to your
recovery. 

Interval

“Speed, tempo, timing,
and rhythm require a substantial fitness base.”
The goal of the Interval
training zone is to develop the ability to quickly recover after work efforts.  During intervals, heart rate ranges from
65-92% as you increase and decrease the intensity.  There are 3 types of Intervals:
  1. Aerobic – Work at about 75% / Recovery 65%, 3
    to 1 ratio
  2. Lactate Threshold – Work 85% / Recovery 65%, 1
    to 1 ratio
  3. Anaerobic – Work 92% / Recovery 65% – 1 to 3+
    ratio
One important factor to
note about Intervals: If heart rate is not dropping to recovery in the usual
amount of time, no further intervals should be conducted.

Race Day

“Peak Performance –
sustained “time trial” effort at anaerobic threshold. Requires a substantial
fitness base.”
The
final training zone is Race Day.  Heart
rate is 80-92%.  Race Day is treated like
a time trial.  If riders are not 100%
physically or mentally ready, they should not participate.

Blog post by Jen Skiba.