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Siji · Post by **Siji** » August 26, 2004, 2:34 pm

I'm looking for suggestions for a good heart rate monitor. I'd like to get one that I can d/l data to my computer from.. but I'd also like to stay under $200 if possible.

Anyone have any suggestions or personal experience with any?

Danke!

BTW: features like distance, cadence, etc I don't really need.. they're nice, but I can live w/o them if necessary.

noel · Post by **noel** » August 26, 2004, 2:47 pm

I highly, highly, highly recommend the Polar 720i. It retails for $300 (I realize this is above your budget), has excellent features, data ouput, etc., and later on when you want to, you can add wireless cadence, and even power output. The bike speed/distance/etc. sensor is wireless as well. It will keep track of all of your bike speed/distance/altitude etc, transfer to your computer via IR, and graph your performance in software that will keep track of your workouts, and which can be used as an excellent training tool.

Polar makes the best heart rate monitors on the market by quite a lot, and I can't say enough good things about them. The 720i is what I use, and it's excellent.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » August 26, 2004, 2:59 pm

Ok I have never used these.. what are the benefits really? When I work out I like to work myself into the ground until I can't move much more.. which is not really the best way of working otu but it is what I like.. what benefit would I get from these? Really curious as I am now working on getting back into shape again.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » August 26, 2004, 3:20 pm

The idea is to keep your heart rate within a given zone for a given duration to maximize your workout.. I think they're more for cardio activities instead of weight training, but I guess it all depends on your goals. You can always check your heartrate yourself periodically, but these do it for you and more.

ed: from the polar page:

Why use a heart rate monitor?
By monitoring heart rate, the simple observation that the harder we exercise, the faster our heart beats is put to good use. Professional athletes and amateurs alike have for decades been relying on the information provided by their heart rate monitor for the following reasons:

A heart rate monitor is like a rev counter, giving a precise measurement of exercise intensity.

Training at your own ideal pace is made possible with a heart rate monitor.

Direct measurement of heart rate during exercise is the most accurate way to gauge performance.

Progress can be monitored and measured, increasing motivation.

It maximizes the benefits of exercise in a limited amount of time.

It introduces objective observation. Are you on the right track? Are you improving?

It is a tool for regulating frequency and intensity of workouts.

Because of the immediate feedback it provides, heart rate monitoring is an ideal training partner.

How does it work?

When you start training, your heart rate increases rapidly in proportion to the intensity of the training. In Polar Heart Rate Monitors, the transmitter belt detects the electrocardiogram (ECG - the electric signal originating from your heart) and sends an electromagnetic signal to the Polar wrist receiver where heart rate information appears.

The heart moves blood from the lungs (where the blood picks up oxygen) to the muscles (which burn the oxygen as fuel) and back to the lungs again. The harder the training, the more fuel the muscles need and the harder the heart has to work to pump oxygen-rich blood to the muscles.

As you get fitter, your heart is able to pump more blood with every beat. As a result, your heart doesn’t have to beat as often to get the needed oxygen to your muscles, decreasing resting heart rate and exercise heart rate on all exertion levels.

noel · Post by **noel** » August 26, 2004, 3:24 pm

Long assed answer incoming.

Quick answer is: Work out below your lactate threshhold and you can work out longer, and improve your endurance/aerobic system more. Your heart rate monitor will tell you what your heart rate is, so you can make sure you're nowhere near your lactate threshhold. For reference, my resting heart rate is ~38 and my lactate threshhold is ~158. My max heart rate is ~200.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » August 26, 2004, 3:30 pm

Well for someone like me, who even when I was in peak physical shape I couldn't get my 3000 meter better than 12 minutes. I was and am more of a sprinter type so.. not sure how much benefit it would have for me really.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » August 26, 2004, 3:33 pm

noel - does the 720i come with the necessary software for analyzing the data from the watch? I'm reading about it on the Polar site, but there's several software packages they're showing so I'm not sure what comes with it or what's extra.

noel · Post by **noel** » August 26, 2004, 3:39 pm

Comes with the software. You'd have to purchase the IR adapter which I believe plugs into a USB port, and costs about $15, unless you use your laptop like I did (work laptops work as well!), then you can save yourself the cost. The cadence sensor is additional money, but I think it was less than $50 and WELL worth it.

noel · Post by **noel** » August 26, 2004, 3:40 pm

I was going to edit this, but I'm pressed for time at work. This is from the CTS training guide that's available to all of their clients:

Aerobic conditioning and capacity
There are two energy systems used during cycling, aerobic and anaerobic. The aerobic energy system is the primary pathway for sustained efforts. Sprints or short maximal efforts are largely dependent upon the anaerobic energy system. You will use a combination of both energy systems while training and competing. Unfortunately, it is difficult to train each system to its maximum potential simultaneously.

CTS believes that the primary limiting factor for success in endurance cycling is a poorly developed aerobic system. The more work you can produce while staying in an aerobic state, the greater opportunity you have for success. Expect at least 90% of your workouts to target improving your aerobic energy system. The more you can improve your body’s ability to transport and absorb oxygen into your muscles, the better you will perform. The only problem with training and developing the aerobic energy system is that it takes a long time and plenty of effort to see an increase in aerobic power output. Learning about the energy systems will help you better understand the energy demands of your goals. Having a better understanding of your energy demands will increase your commitment to training. This understanding will also help you keep focused on following the prescribed training intensity. You will need to understand your body’s energy systems, training principles and periodization so you can understand how and why your CTS coach apply training components like intensity, volume, frequency, terrain and pedaling cadence in structuring your training program. Depending upon your fitness and performance goals, your program will reflect proper training of the aerobic energy systems along with the other demands of your cycling event.

The Energy Systems
Aerobic metabolism (energy produced with oxygen): The aerobic system is the backbone of all cycling training. If your fitness goals include road racing, mountain biking, touring, or even track racing, the aerobic energy system will be the primary target of your training program. The aerobic energy system functions when training at low intensity levels, using fat and carbohydrate as the primary sources of fuel. This system is very efficient and can be used for a long period of time, producing little lactic acid. As training intensity increases, the primary energy source becomes carbohydrate, either from blood glucose or from glycogen, which is stored form of glucose, found predominately in your muscles and liver. Glucose is the fuel used to meet increased energy demands. Training the aerobic energy system will improve endurance, hill climbing, time trialing and overall efficiency.
This is why the CTS coaching philosophy is rooted in the training of the aerobic system. No other physical aspect of cycling performance will offer you the returns that you can reap from the development of your aerobic engine. Your body’s aerobic system requires large amounts of specific training to increase its rate of oxygen delivery, absorption, and and recovery, thus helping you reach your best aerobic results.

Anaerobic metabolism (energy produced without oxygen): In anaerobic efforts, adenosine triphosphate combines with creatine phosphate to form the ATP-PC system for fueling short, high intensity efforts lasting 10 seconds or less, such as sprinting, jumping, or short steep climbs on a mountain bike. After 10 seconds, you continue to produce energy by breaking down carbohydrates, producing the needed ATP for muscle contraction. This system is very efficient when you cannot deliver enough oxygen to the muscles (hence the name anaerobic). Unfortunately, this system consumes carbohydrates very rapidly, and the by-product of this is lactic acid. The accumulation of lactic acid in the blood and muscles eventually causes fatigue and limits you from continuing exercise at this intensity. Training the anaerobic energy system will improve your speed, power and sprints. Anaerobic training is an ongoing process that CTS workouts link into your aerobic workouts, and our results have been very promising. The CTS workouts that Lance Armstrong did in preparation for the 1998 World Championships are an excellent example. The World Professional Road Championship is a long event - 165 miles in 1998 - and races of this length require huge aerobic energy output. The aerobic training for this event is enormous, but many times the difference between winning and finishing second is separated by the smallest of margins, sometimes even requiring a photo finish! The coaches at CTS know this and built a training program that offered Lance strong aerobic development, but also integrated sprint workouts into training his anaerobic energy system. Lance won his group’s sprint for fourth place by less than half a wheel; the sprint workouts during the weeks preceding this event clearly played in his favor during this race.

Cycling places large demands on both of your energy systems, but expect the greatest demands to be placed on your aerobic system. Your CTS coach aims to build the aerobic energy system by structuring workouts of just the right amount of training at your individual training intensities. He/she will also vary your training workouts between the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, allowing you to meet the energy demands of your goals. To understand how the CTS training program operates, you need to further understand how CTS develops your energy systems to meet the physical demands of your cycling. Two primary physical measurements tested in endurance athletes are VO2 Max and lactate threshold.
VO2 Max
VO2 Max stands for the maximal rate at which oxygen is consumed, and is synonymous with the CTS term, aerobic capacity. The VO2 Max test is a commonly used physical test to determine the maximal rate at which a person can use oxygen. You need oxygen to metabolize food into energy, so if you can use more oxygen in this process, more energy will be produced and the faster you will go. If you think of your body as a machine, then your heart, lungs and muscles represent the engine and VO2 Max is the engine’s output. A high VO2 Max value means you have a large powerful engine. The larger and more powerful your aerobic engine is, the faster you can deliver oxygen to your muscles--the end result, you go faster. In the past, the VO2 value of athletes has been considered to have a fixed ceiling based on genetics. Recently, numerous studies have shown that with the proper training, athletes can actually experience increases in their VO2 value, reinforcing the CTS philosophy that your aerobic capacity can be increased. Increasing your VO2 value is a critical aspect of enhanced performance. Using a periodization training structure, CTS can pick apart each aerobic element, and with proper training each of these elements will be developed to its fullest. Once all the elements that make up your body’s aerobic capacity are trained, you will experience greater power, endurance and speed. As great as the returns are for properly training your aerobic capacity, it will take a long time and a large personal commitment to actually see increases. Each of the elements that are involved with your aerobic capacity take repeated bouts of training followed by recovery for adaptation. CTS then repeats the training cycle of developing each aerobic element until all the aerobic elements are brought together at the right time and you experience better performance!
During the year, CTS will incorporate PowerIntervals (PI) into Lance Armstrong’s training program. Generally, this training will take the form of high intensity interval workouts, two to three times a week, during a six to eight week training phase. The intensity of the intervals are greater than 91% of his maximum heart rate for three to six minutes in length. Training like Lance, at intensities above 91% of your maximum heart rate for three to six minutes, will increase your aerobic capacity, or your VO2 system. You need to be careful when training this system because too much time spent training this system can lead to overtraining or diminishing returns. Aerobic athletes, triathletes, road, mountain, and fitness cyclists will benefit from PI training. Your CTS training program will require small amounts of PI training from time to time. These workouts always require a huge effort on your part, but you will be impressed by the returns. Caution must be advised while training your VO2 system. Training at this high intensity is like strong medicine -- it is powerful but the side effects can be negative. The negative side effects of too much VO2 training with insufficient recovery between training sessions can include overtraining and fatigue. Communicate with your CTS coach and only do what he/she advises.
Lactate Threshold
The USA Cycling’s Expert Coaching Manual, developed by the coaches and sports scientists of the U.S. Cycling Team, defines lactate threshold in this fashion: “Lactate is a by-product of anaerobic metabolism within the muscle. It is produced continuously at all levels of exercise. As training intensity increases, more and more lactate is produced within the muscle, some of which cannot be handled internally and diffuses from muscle tissue into the blood. The harder (more intense) the training, the more lactate appears in the blood. The accumulation of lactate in the muscle (and, therefore, in blood) has been related to pain, fatigue and “leg burn”. When you reach “lactate threshold”, lactate accumulates quickly in the muscles and blood levels rise rapidly. In time, you will no longer be able to maintain the same level of training intensity because of the accumulation of lactate”. Lactate threshold is also referred to as the anaerobic threshold. Lactate threshold workouts provide a shortcut toward working at a higher percentage of your maximum heart rate. Your CTS coach will include workouts at your lactate threshold intensity on a regular basis, and you soon will be able to work at this intensity for longer periods. This training helps your aerobic engine to become more economical. CTS’s coaching experience has shown that some cyclists are more economical—meaning they burn less energy than other cyclists do when riding at the same speed. Becoming more aerobically economical is important for climbing long hills, century rides and road races. Training your lactate threshold is relatively easy once you have determined the correct training intensity. Many times, athletes want to train their lactate threshold but their training heart rate intensity is mistakenly above their real lactate threshold. Optimal lactate threshold training intensity for most athletes is slightly below their actual lactate threshold heart rate. Normally, this means a training intensity of 78-85% of maximum heart rate, depending upon your current fitness level. Training at heart rate intensities above your individual anaerobic threshold will provide little return towards increasing your power at lactate threshold.
Your CTS coach will take plenty of time to help you determine the optimal training intensity for increasing your lactate threshold by using power meters and heart rate monitors. These training tools provide your coach with important training data to help keep you on track. By performing the CTS Field Tests either indoors or outdoors, your coach can establish the correct heart rate and power outputs for your training intensities. CTS incorporates field testing into Lance Armstrong’s training program every 8-10 weeks. This gives valuable information on his current heart rate at lactate threshold, his conditioning and the effectiveness of his training program. Generally, the CTS coaching staff will use heart rate levels for prescribing training intensities. Your coach will use power outputs during these efforts to evaluate and objectively analyze the work you produce during workouts.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » September 10, 2004, 12:21 am

I just ordered a Polar S720i and am looking forward to using it and finding out just how badly I've been mistraining

Noel, a resting heart rate of 38 is just SICK. Mine is at 55 or so now.

Do you recommend spending the money to have baseline VO2 max and basal metabolic rate testing done?

Siji · Post by **Siji** » September 10, 2004, 4:12 pm

I've had mine for about a week now (the S720i) and I like it. I'm still getting used to it and what it can do and how to best utilize it. Since I've never used one before, it's a little confusing figuring out exactly what to look for and such.

I would like to find some different software for the stats though. The package that comes with the Polar is decent, but for some reason I just don't care for it all that much.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » October 29, 2004, 5:08 pm

I just got around to installing the speed and cadence sensors for the Polar S720i on my road bike (don't ask) and have been doing some pre-work morning intervals on the trainer.

My question is, of those of us that use this, are you taking advantage of the interval sets built into the HRM or just using it as a monitoring tool? After reading about the interval training set features it seems like this would help automate training somewhat, especially in conjunction with a coaching system or disciplined training plan...

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » October 29, 2004, 6:37 pm

Kelshara wrote:Well for someone like me, who even when I was in peak physical shape I couldn't get my 3000 meter better than 12 minutes. I was and am more of a sprinter type so.. not sure how much benefit it would have for me really.

In terms of your health as opposed to competing, 12 minutes is a pretty damn good time for a 3k.

noel · Post by **noel** » October 29, 2004, 7:05 pm

Tenuvil wrote:I just got around to installing the speed and cadence sensors for the Polar S720i on my road bike (don't ask) and have been doing some pre-work morning intervals on the trainer.

My question is, of those of us that use this, are you taking advantage of the interval sets built into the HRM or just using it as a monitoring tool? After reading about the interval training set features it seems like this would help automate training somewhat, especially in conjunction with a coaching system or disciplined training plan...

Because I can't predict the exact time in my workout where I'll want to do my interval (wind/weather/road/route conditions generally determine where I'll be doing the different types of intervals), I just use it to monitor myself, and adhere to the interval requirements. Almost always I can see exactly where the interval occurred by examining the graphs when I've completed the exercise and uploaded it to my PC.