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Old 03-09-2005, 10:22 AM   #76 (permalink)
Raptor
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Re: Maximum Heart Rate - Actual vs Calculated

joeu2004@hotmail.com wrote:
> Sam wrote:
>
>>Yes. The formulae can be way, way off.
>>That said, why even measure HR?

>
>
> Why have a spedometer in your car? I mean: do you really
> look at it all the time, or do you rely on "perceived
> velocity" most of the time? On the other had, don't you
> keep one eye on your spedometer when you see a cop nearby?
>
> The answer to your question is: while "perceived exertion"
> (RPE) can be used, it is a subjective indicator. In contrast,
> measuring your HR is an objective indicator of exertion. Both
> can be misleading under some (differing) conditions.


I rarely bother to take my HRM to a workout anymore. Once I had one and
wore it for several weeks of working out, I was able to correlate my RPE
with my HR. ("When I feel like this, my heart's pounding this fast.)
Importantly, I found that a "recovery zone" workout was much much easier
than I thought. Since then, I've had the knowledge I feel I need to work
productively.

I'm not a competitive athlete, just an athlete. Were I competing, I'd
pay much more attention to my numbers, beyond HR.

I think the most beneficial result of tracking your HR is to diagnose
fatigue or possible health problems. If your resting HR is higher than
usual, that's a signal to work a little easier that day, or even take
the day off.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"

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