heartrate help

[Bokaj]

I'm doing the uk site's weight loss interactive program, when I figure up my HR range for the UT1 its 150-155. Yes, I have a high resting heart rate, I have taken it resently but historically its in the mid 80's. I keep meaning to but then the alarm goes off and I jump out of bed and run across the room to turn it off, so there goes that resting heart rate. Anyway, the program says I should be doing 18-20spm to maintain the UT1 heartrate range but I'm finding that I need to do more like 25spm to maintain a HR of 150. Does this make sense, am I doing something wrong?

[hjs]

I'm doing the uk site's weight loss interactive program, when I figure up my HR range for the UT1 its 150-155. Yes, I have a high resting heart rate, I have taken it resently but historically its in the mid 80's. I keep meaning to but then the alarm goes off and I jump out of bed and run across the room to turn it off, so there goes that resting heart rate. Anyway, the program says I should be doing 18-20spm to maintain the UT1 heartrate range but I'm finding that I need to do more like 25spm to maintain a HR of 150. Does this make sense, am I doing something wrong?

Yes it makes sence, not being able to get a certain heartrate means you are not pushing it hard enough during the stroke. Even at rate 20 you should be able to get a high heartrate. But don't worry, the spm is not that important, nothing wrong with rate 25. First focus on that HF.
You restingrate can also be found just sitting easy on the coutch. Mid 80 's is high, but if you pick up exercising this will come down. Keep up the good work.

[gregsmith01748]

@bokaj: I'm a little confused by your post. I looked at the UK interactive program and the HRs are quoted as %MHR, so I guess I don't understand where your resting HR comes into it. What is your maxHR and how did you determine it?

Over the past year I have found that my MaxHR is actually about 5% higher than the formulas would predict (180 vs 172). If something similar is the case for you, then it would throw off these ranges.

Also, hjs is right about stroke rate. Although the UK program matches up stroke rates with exertion levels, they are making an assumption about how hard you are rowing. I do some workouts where I limit the stroke rate, and try to push the pace as fast as I can. I can definitely hit my MaxHR in those workouts, even at a stroke rate of 24.

As an experiment, try this. Start rowing with the screen showing the stroke rate and the pace ("/500"). Try to get into a consistent stroke rate of 20SPM and note what split you are rowing. Now, without going any faster in terms of rate, try to pull hard and quicker on the drive, and take longer on the recovery. You should see 2 things. First, you should see your split times get lower, second you should see your HR going up higher. One way to do this is to count during the stroke. "One" is the drive, "two, three" is the recovery. If you slow down to 18SPM, you may even be doing "one" on the drive, and "two three four" on the recovery.

[Bob S.]

One way to do this is to count during the stroke. "One" is the drive, "two, three" is the recovery. If you slow down to 18SPM, you may even be doing "one" on the drive, and "two three four" on the recovery.

I use the monitor clock (which is a bit tricky at times, since it seems to be a little irregular), so a "one" and a "two three four" would give me 15spm. For 18spm (and a time set piece), I use 0, 7 with short pause, 4 with a long pause, and 0. I have never used it for a distance set piece, but there it would be 0, 3 with a short pause, 6 with a long pause, and back to 0. Alternatively, I could concentrate on doing every third stroke on the 0. I have found that 20spm is the easiest rate to hold steady. 24spm isn't bad, since every other stroke is on 0 or 5. Over that, I find it hard to concentrate on the clock and just wing it, checking the actual spm reading to stay in the ball park.

Bob S.

[Bokaj]

@greg From this thread http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7631, is what I used to figure my HR rates. The program heading of max heart rate seems to be wrong, it seems they want you to use your resting heart rate plus a percentage of your reserve heart rate. So in my case with a resting HR of 85 and a max of 185, where they say 65% of max means, BHR+(HRR*.65)=MHR, or 85+(100*.65)=150

@bob For whatever reason it never occurred to me that I could separate the pull and the recovery. I will play with it during tomorrows work out.

[Bob S.]

@bob For whatever reason it never occurred to me that I could separate the pull and the recovery. I will play with it during tomorrows work out.

Yes, that is one item that makes rowing significantly different from some of the other exercises, especially bicycling. The stroke definitely has two parts instead of the continuous movement on a bike. The drive should be quick and hard, but with the normal full range of movement, and the recovery should be slow and easy - like you are creeping up on the catch.

Note however that the initial step of the recovery, i.e. getting your hands away and past your knees, should be quick - before you start to bring up your knees. Note also the hands are always moving; there should be no pause at either the catch or the release. For the reversal of direction, the hands move in a small arc at each end of the stroke.

Bob S.

[Bokaj]

That worked great, thanks for your help. Felt funny at first but I got into a good rhythm at it was fairly easy to maintain.

[sheehc]

I keep meaning to but then the alarm goes off and I jump out of bed and run across the room to turn it off, so there goes that resting heart rate.

As a quick point, this won't necessarily invalidate a morning resting heart rate. You are supposed to get up, go to the bathroom (full bladder can effect HR), then lay back down for 5' minutes or so anyway before taking the HR. If the alarm startles you awake, you may pick up a beat or two, but if you lay flat for a couple minutes and just relax, it pretty much evens out.

As for your resting HR being high, when I first started rowing mine was also high 80's. When I stopped competing it was mid 40's. What matters is where you go, not where you start.