As a life long athlete, I have accumulated a ton of gear over the years and it’s easy to separate it into two basic piles.
The must have pile, which is the gear I absolutely need.
The nice to have pile, which is the stuff (if pushed) I could do without and still get the job done.
I won’t bore you with all the crap that falls into each of the piles but let’s just say; bike, helmet, shoes, etc. obviously fall into the “must have pile”. There is one item, in particular, in this pile that might surprise you, it’s my heart rate monitor.
There are few frills I absolutely need to train with. Don’t get me wrong...I like my gear and it’s much easier when I have everything I need for a comfortable ride. But, if forced to I have crawled on a borrowed pile of bolts put air in the tires, adjusted the saddle, slapped on a heart rate monitor and helmet, grabbed my cell phone because I just knew the odds were pretty good that a wheel would flop off, and headed out on a ride. I know that even on a rickety 30 pound bike I can drive my heart rate into the desired zones and call it a workout.
Some folks train with power meters, some train with heart rate monitors and many train with both. My opinion isn’t that you, or anyone for that matter, should choose one over the other but I am a firm believer in the fact that every athlete who wants to improve should absolutely consider training with a tool that gives them real-time information and feedback whether it’s heart rate or power.
Let me first briefly compare Heart Rate Monitors to Power Meters and then I will go into why I feel that nearly every athlete should consider using some sort of tracking feedback device.
Heart Rate Monitors
A heart rate (HR) monitor allows you to measure your heart rate (measured in beats per minute or BPM) in real time as well as record the data for later analysis. In super simple terms, heart rate training tells you how hard the workout is on your body. Most heart rate monitors consist of a chest strap with a built-in transmitter. Heart rate data is sent to a receiver – such as a wrist receiver (typically a sports watch) or handlebar mounted cycling computer. Simply put – heart rate monitors are great. They are affordable, easy to use and provide valuable information when it comes to training and tracking your fitness.
There are pros and cons to using heart rate as a measure of tracking your training intensity.
Pros
Heart Rate monitors are fairly inexpensive, can be used in any sport and once the zones have been established are easy to plan a training/workout program around.
Cons
Heart Rate can be elevated by:
Extreme heat
Anxiety
Dehydration
Heart Rate can be suppressed if:
Fatigued
Overtrained
Medication involving beta blockers
Getting sick
I have been training with a HR monitor for so long that I know when outside factors are elevating my HR (such as heat or anxiety) and I simply factor this into my workout. If my HR is lower than normal, more times than not, I discover my system is tired and I need to take a rest day/easy ride or perhaps I may be coming down with something.
For me, a cold or flu often shows up in lower than normal HR about 2 days before any real symptoms surface.
Power Meter Training
Power meters precisely measure your effort by way of watts. How much power you are expending on the bike or during a run. Power meters are not impacted by heat, how you feel or any other variable... it simply tells you how much power you are generating. Power meters for bikes are typically located in the wheel hub or in the crank, power meters are also available for runners and can be inserted into the shoe.
Power Meter Training Zones are set up very much like HR zones* but with power output or Watts replacing the BPM in each training zone. As with HR training, but with a greater degree of accuracy, you can target your training with a specific goal in mind.
As with Heart Rate monitors, Power Meters have their pros and cons.
Pros
Most efficient measuring tool for power output
As with HR training, but with a greater degree of accuracy, you can target your training with a specific goal in mind
Cons
Can be quite expensive
Does not factor in variables (such as fatigue, strain on the body, etc)
My closing thoughts on the subject:
Whether you are training to lose weight, improve your fitness or aspire to race and take over the world. Your chances of success improve exponentially by taking the guess work out of your training. Knowing how hard you are working and targeting your efforts vs. guessing how hard you are working.
If you want to improve, then either a Heart Rate Monitor or Power Meter will absolutely focus your training, and just as importantly, help you to achieve the results you are looking for.
If you can afford both, that’s the ticket! Even the best power meter in the world won’t tell you what’s going on with your body. The more information you have the better the outcome.
Have a professional help you determine what your HR or Power zones are. Training with bad information (incorrect zones), will result in “garbage in, garbage out.”
Next week I am going to dig just a litter deeper and talk about training zones, how to use them, and how to get fitter and faster as a result.
*Sample Heart Rate Training zone chart (double tap on the chart to enlarge). BTW, thanks to Google for allowing me to copy and paste this chart.
Remember, there’s an athlete inside all of us.
Be safe, have fun. ‘Til later
Sarvary