Q: “It seems that all training that is geared toward monitoring your heart rate is based on a percentage of your maximum heart rate but determining your maximum is either formula driven, which apparently can be grossly inaccurate or based on some maximum effort that may or may not be achieved on a given day. Are there any programs out there that are based on a multiple of your resting heart rate rather than a percentage of your maximum?

For example my resting heart rate is 46 bpm, and I think my maximum heart rate is 185. A workout that calls for 75% of max would have me at 139 bpm or 3.08 times my resting HR, whereas someone with the same max HR but a resting HR of 60 bpm is at the same 139, but only increasing their HR by a factor of 2.32. Using this example it seems the outcome of the workout would be totally different for each of us. “

A: Coach Patrick: I don’t know of any protocol that uses intensity as a multiple of resting HR. And I agree that using ANY formula to determine HR zones is not a good idea…there is no need to do this if the athlete is active and can physically complete a test. Both HRmax and HRrest can vary for individuals across multiple days…sometimes within the same 24 hours. So using either as a factor for determining appropriate intensity is suspect. I personally have my athletes use their Lactate Threshold as a marker from which they can set their training zones. I test my athletes using an expired gas analyzer or I have them conduct a Field Test / Time Trial. Whichever option we use, the doing the test itself insures that the athletes benchmark (in this case, their LTHR) is determined while doing the exercise of choice. So a running / treadmill test will generate a running LTHR we can use for zones…this method, done on a treadmill by the athlete is much more accurate than measuring a percentage of either HRrest or HRmax.

So to follow your example, if you and your training partner both complete a Field Test and determine your respective zones, you will have a way of correlating your workouts. As an endurance run might call for a main set of steady state effort at the top of Zone Two, you can both run at that specific HR and know that you are putting the same relative stress on your bodies. Of course, if your buddy is a speedster, his Zone Two effort might net him 7 min miles where your Zone Two is more like 8:30s.

If you’d like more info on HR training, testing and other protocols, please visit the PTS website.

Happy Training!