Heart Rate Training on Your Treadmill

I guess you've heard the mantra, train smarter, not harder, well, heart rate training offers a great way to do just that. It also allows you to tailor your workouts to suit you and your current level of fitness.
As the name suggests, you train at a level to maintain your heart pumping within a pre-determined pulse range - depending on what your objective is for the session. The believe is you can challenge your cardio-vascular system (blood and oxygen deliver mechanism) without placing undue stress on your musculo-skeletal systems.
The run/ walk workout is a good example. By alternating your workout between running and walking for 30 minutes, you can train for longer while keeping your heart rate higher for the duration, when compared to a 20-minute run.
And what makes this possible is the heart rate monitor. The majority of treadmills come with hand grips to measure your pulse, but there are three main disadvantages of these when compared to wearing a chest strap that transmits your pulse rate to the computer on the treadmill.
Firstly, hand grips are not as accurate as a monitor close to your heart. Both sweaty palms and the limitations of hand grips mean you may not get a fully accurate readout. The second is you have to hold on to them for around 20 seconds to get a measurement which interrupts your flow - plus if you're running at a good pace, it's not so easy to maintain when holding the grips. The third disadvantage is pre-set programs cannot adjust the speed or incline to maintain your heart rate at the optimum level for the type of workout you're doing. The computer requires a constant signal to ensure you're staying in your heart rate zone - see below.
So, ideally you need to use a chest strap to get the full benefit of heart rate training. Remember, the theory is, by keeping your heart beating at a specific rate (or within a specific range), your mechanisms used to take in, and transmit oxygen to your muscles can be trained to adapt and improve function more quickly. You'll also hear about the optimum fat-burning zone where you'll use your body's fat stores when training at a particular level.
And of course, the beauty of using a treadmill with heart rate pre-set programs is that it will do the 'math' for you and adjust the speed and incline to keep you in your target zone for each type of workout.
How to Calculate Your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)
To determine your heart rate training zones, you first need to calculate your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). You may already be familiar with the simple equation of 220 minus your age. So for example:
A 50 year old's MHR would be 220 minus 50 = 170.
An alternative formula is the Gelish equation (as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine) is 207 minus (0.7 x age).
So for our 50 year-old it would be: 207 minus 35 (0.7 x 50) = 172
However, some will say it's not quite so straightforward as this. Age is a very blunt measure when you consider the wide range of fitness levels in individuals. Other factors such as genetics and gender play their part. Plus, conditions such as temperature, what you've eaten on the day, and your current health, may make quite a difference to how comfortably you can train with your heart hammering away in your ears!
Ultimately, you need to find your own MHR. You can do this by running various distances at different paces, over short or intermediate bursts, and then measure your pulse. After experimenting with a number of runs, I found running one mile at a challenging pace agave me a similar rate as all the others :0) And remember to re-calculate this on a regular basis to keep track of your body's ability to handle what you throw at it.
So what do you do with your MHR once found?
You use your MHR to determine your training zones for optimum results (see below), We'll continue with our 50 year-old to keep it simple. After running the various training runs, our chap has worked out his MHR is 180. So it's higher, than the two formulas above for his age, but remember, this figure is based on his own cardio-vascular system, and because he's trained for smany years, he's quite fit.
Using the 180, he can calculate his heart rate for each zone. (Note, you may see slight variations in the % bands I've used below.)
Now you have your target heart rate for the four training zones, you can workout your best pace for any number of workouts. Here's a few examples - but remember, consult your doctor before starting a training regime.
As the name suggests, you train at a level to maintain your heart pumping within a pre-determined pulse range - depending on what your objective is for the session. The believe is you can challenge your cardio-vascular system (blood and oxygen deliver mechanism) without placing undue stress on your musculo-skeletal systems.
The run/ walk workout is a good example. By alternating your workout between running and walking for 30 minutes, you can train for longer while keeping your heart rate higher for the duration, when compared to a 20-minute run.
And what makes this possible is the heart rate monitor. The majority of treadmills come with hand grips to measure your pulse, but there are three main disadvantages of these when compared to wearing a chest strap that transmits your pulse rate to the computer on the treadmill.
Firstly, hand grips are not as accurate as a monitor close to your heart. Both sweaty palms and the limitations of hand grips mean you may not get a fully accurate readout. The second is you have to hold on to them for around 20 seconds to get a measurement which interrupts your flow - plus if you're running at a good pace, it's not so easy to maintain when holding the grips. The third disadvantage is pre-set programs cannot adjust the speed or incline to maintain your heart rate at the optimum level for the type of workout you're doing. The computer requires a constant signal to ensure you're staying in your heart rate zone - see below.
So, ideally you need to use a chest strap to get the full benefit of heart rate training. Remember, the theory is, by keeping your heart beating at a specific rate (or within a specific range), your mechanisms used to take in, and transmit oxygen to your muscles can be trained to adapt and improve function more quickly. You'll also hear about the optimum fat-burning zone where you'll use your body's fat stores when training at a particular level.
And of course, the beauty of using a treadmill with heart rate pre-set programs is that it will do the 'math' for you and adjust the speed and incline to keep you in your target zone for each type of workout.
How to Calculate Your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)
To determine your heart rate training zones, you first need to calculate your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). You may already be familiar with the simple equation of 220 minus your age. So for example:
A 50 year old's MHR would be 220 minus 50 = 170.
An alternative formula is the Gelish equation (as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine) is 207 minus (0.7 x age).
So for our 50 year-old it would be: 207 minus 35 (0.7 x 50) = 172
However, some will say it's not quite so straightforward as this. Age is a very blunt measure when you consider the wide range of fitness levels in individuals. Other factors such as genetics and gender play their part. Plus, conditions such as temperature, what you've eaten on the day, and your current health, may make quite a difference to how comfortably you can train with your heart hammering away in your ears!
Ultimately, you need to find your own MHR. You can do this by running various distances at different paces, over short or intermediate bursts, and then measure your pulse. After experimenting with a number of runs, I found running one mile at a challenging pace agave me a similar rate as all the others :0) And remember to re-calculate this on a regular basis to keep track of your body's ability to handle what you throw at it.
So what do you do with your MHR once found?
You use your MHR to determine your training zones for optimum results (see below), We'll continue with our 50 year-old to keep it simple. After running the various training runs, our chap has worked out his MHR is 180. So it's higher, than the two formulas above for his age, but remember, this figure is based on his own cardio-vascular system, and because he's trained for smany years, he's quite fit.
Using the 180, he can calculate his heart rate for each zone. (Note, you may see slight variations in the % bands I've used below.)
- Zone 1 - comfortable training at 60-70% of MHR (eg. warm-up rate) We'll use 65% of 180 which is 117.
- Zone 2 - training where you can maintain a conversation at 70 - 85%. Our man's optimum is around 135.
- Zone 3 - hard training and can maintain conversation for short periods at 85 - 90%, meaning our chap's is approx 160.
- Zone 4 - very hard effort, can only speak 2 or 3 words at a time at 90 - 100%, taking our man up to his 180 MHR.
Now you have your target heart rate for the four training zones, you can workout your best pace for any number of workouts. Here's a few examples - but remember, consult your doctor before starting a training regime.

Workout #1 - Fartlek (Zones 1 and 2)
Stop giggling at the back - Fartlek is Swedish for 'speed play', or, as I like to think of it, 'short bursts'. It involves moderately-paced periods with shorter, higher-paced runs. The timings below are a suggestion, but remember, the pace and times depend on your heart rate so you will be adjusting the whole workout to keep your pulse in the correct zone.
Aim to do between 30 to 40 minutes to get the most from this workout.
Stop giggling at the back - Fartlek is Swedish for 'speed play', or, as I like to think of it, 'short bursts'. It involves moderately-paced periods with shorter, higher-paced runs. The timings below are a suggestion, but remember, the pace and times depend on your heart rate so you will be adjusting the whole workout to keep your pulse in the correct zone.
- Warm-up: 3-minute walk to get the blood flowing and the muscles loose
- 5-minute pace in Zone 1 (up to 70% of your MHR)
- 2-minute pace in Zone 2 (taking you to 85% MHR)
- Repeat Steps #2 and #3 x 4 times (more if your comfortable)
- Cool-down: 3 minute walk.
Aim to do between 30 to 40 minutes to get the most from this workout.

Workout #2 - Intervals (Zone 3)
This one is not for the beginner! You'll need to be at a good level of fitness to complete and get the benefit.
You can do all sorts of combinations of the above, but remember the objective is to stay in Zone 3 of the your MHR.
This one is not for the beginner! You'll need to be at a good level of fitness to complete and get the benefit.
- Warm-up: 3-minute walk
- 2 minute at fast pace (90% MHR)
- 1 minute slower pace (but stay at 85% of MHR)
- Repeat Steps #2 and #3 x 4 times
- 5-minutes at good pace (staying around 85% MHR)
- Cool-down: 3-minute walk or jog.
You can do all sorts of combinations of the above, but remember the objective is to stay in Zone 3 of the your MHR.
Recovery Rates - after every training session, measure your heart rate immediately when you've finished the training section, then compare to your heart rate at the end of the cool-down. The fitter you are, the quicker your heart rate will resume it's normal resting rate.
It's worth re-doing your MHR test every month or so to determine your current work rate. This can change over time and needs to be kept up to date to ensure you're getting the best from these workouts.
By Roy Palmer UK Athletics Coach / Teacher of The Alexander Technique
It's worth re-doing your MHR test every month or so to determine your current work rate. This can change over time and needs to be kept up to date to ensure you're getting the best from these workouts.
By Roy Palmer UK Athletics Coach / Teacher of The Alexander Technique
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