- Heart Rate - HR
- Your heart rate is the number of beats per minute (bpm) that your heart makes as the muscles in your heart contract and expand to pump blood around your body. It is a point in time measurement that provides the number of beats per minute if your heart was performing at that steady rate for a full minute.
- Heart rate constantly varies as it adapts to your physical and mental state and the environment you are in. Your heart rate is effected by; physical exercise/activity (intensity, duration and type), tiredness, mental state and stress, your fitness level, temperature, humidity, altitude, state of hydration, medication and drugs (including caffeine and alcohol).
- Heart rate monitors can calculate your heart rate on a second by second basis.
- Maximum HR - HRmax
- Your maximum heart rate is the maximum heart rate your heart can achieve usually induced by undertaking very intense maximal physical exercise/activity. It is recorded in beats per minute.
- Maximum heart rate is specific to each individual, can vary significantly between each individual, is genetically derived and cannot be increased but naturally decreases with age in a linear fashion although fitness level has an effect on the rate of decline. See the following link to the abstract of research about this:
- You have one absolute maximum heart rate but maximum heart rate can be different for different types of physical exercise/activity.
- Physical exercise/activity has no effect upon increasing it. It is not an indicator of physical fitness.
- Maximum heart rate can be significantly lowered following intense / long duration physical activity / exercise and can remain lowered for several days until sufficient recovery time has been provided to enable it to go back to its baseline.
- It is not sensible to get your heart rate up to its maximum unless you already know you have a very good level of fitness as you are putting your heart under maximum stress.
- There are many formulas that try to calculate it (e.g. Astrand, Gellish et al., Gulati et al., Fox et al.,Tanka et al.,etc) however research suggests that the accuracy is such to render them unreliable to use to accurately determine a specific individuals maximum heart rate. See the following link to research about this, refer to the Discussion section for some key information:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3935487/
- For a video about maximum heart rate see the following link:
- However having noted the above a reasonable starting approach would be to use the formula 220 - age and then validate it against the information given in the chart on the Zones tab of this site when exercising and then validate it further with the approaches outlined below.
- After sufficient exercise experience, whilst using a heart rate monitor (ideally a chest strap) and keeping a record of the exercise/activity, most people should be able to make a reasonable estimate of their maximum heart rate for each type of physical exercise they undertake. This is done by exercising at a range of different intensities and undertaking incrementally higher intensities and seeing how heart rate varies in real time and by also reviewing heart rate / exercise session records. However this is not something that can be done quickly probably taking at least several weeks to determine and it is difficult to do without the use of an appropriate wearable.
- Maximum heart rate can be accurately determined much more quickly by undertaking a maximal exercise test or ,more safely, estimated, by undertaking a sub-maximal exercise test. Both should be undertaken in a good sports physiology lab to ensure accuracy and safety. The maximal test is considered unpleasant to do by most people.
- As the determination of your maximum heart rate is so fundamental to accurately determining the intensity of exercise you may therefore consider the expense of a lab test to be worth the investment.
- Peak HR - HRpeak
- The maximum heart rate attained in an exercise test. If the test was a maximal exercise test and the exercise protocol ran to completion then HRpeak should equal HRmax.
- Resting HR - HRrest
- Your resting heart rate is your heart rate measured when you are in a relaxed resting state but not asleep and is recorded in beats per minute.
- It is measured lying down after at least 10 mins of physical and mental inactivity and should be measured under similar environmental and physical conditions.
- Resting heart rate can be significantly raised following intense / long duration physical activity / exercise and can remain raised for several days until sufficient recovery time has been provided to enable it to go back to its baseline.
- For a video about the variation that exists between different wearable manufacturers measurement of resting heart rate see the following link:
- Resting heart rate is an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness and can be improved with cardiorespiratory activity although there is considerable genetic variance in each (exercise untrained) persons resting heart rate. Improved in this context means less beats per minute due to your heart muscles becoming stronger and being able to pump the same amount of blood around your body with less heart beats.
- A "normal" resting heart rate is considered to be in the range of 60 to 100 beats per minute although individuals can have much lower resting heart rates and exercise trained individuals heart rates can be as low as 35 beats per minute.
- For a video that looks at athletic extremes and heart rates see the following link:
- See the following link to the research on healthy middle-aged men, where the main finding was that resting heart rate was a risk factor for mortality independent of physical fitness (VO2Max) and other major potential confounders. Although it should be noted that resting heart rate can be reduced by improved physical fitness:
- https://heart.bmj.com/content/99/12/882
- Overall, a high resting heart rate was a significant predictor of mortality. In the fully adjusted model, resting heart rate in the range 51–80 bpm was associated with about a 40–50% increase in risk, a resting heart rate in the range 81–90 bpm conferred a twofold increase in risk, and resting heart rates above 90 bpm risk conferred a threefold increase in risk compared to subjects in the lowest heart rate category (<50 bpm). In a fully adjusted model with heart rate as a continuous variable, elevated heart rate was associated with an increased risk of 16% (10–22) per 10 bpm increase in resting heart rate.
- For a good video which provides more detail about resting heart rate see the following link:
- Heart Rate Reserve - HRreserve
- HRreserve = HRmax minus HRrest
- This essentially defines the normal (wake state) operating range of your heart.
- Heart Rate Drift
- This is a phenomenon experienced in exercise/activity where after about 30 min of continuous Moderate / Vigorous Intensity physical exercise/activity an individuals heart rate naturally steps up in rate without the individual increasing the physical exercise/activity intensity. The effect can be easily seen by undertaking an exercise session at a constant intensity and monitoring your heart rate. It is thought to be due to the body managing body temperature and hydration caused by the the impact of the exercise/activity.
- Heart Rate Recovery
- HR at the end of an exercise session minus HR 2 min after the end of the exercise session.
- For comparative purposes the exercise sessions should be the same and the HR at the end of the exercise session should be the same.
- When used medically, HR is recorded at the end of a maximal exertion stress test and at 1 and/or 2 mins after the end of the maximal exertion stress test. After 2 mins HR should be at least 20% less than maximum.
- Estimates of the Relative Risk of Death within Six Years According to Heart-Rate Recovery One Minute after Cessation of Exercise. Circles represent the relative risk of death for each of the quintiles as compared with the quintile with the greatest reduction (5th). Dashed lines represent the 95 percent confidence interval. The abbreviation bpm denotes beats per minute. Source:
- VO2 Max
- VO2 Max is a measure which describes the body’s maximum ability to bring oxygen into it via the lungs and transport it through the blood supply to the tissues and the exercising skeletal muscles. The metric represents the maximum amount of oxygen your body can process in ml of Oxygen per Kg of body weight per min. The absolute value in ml of Oxygen per min is less frequently used.
- VO2 Max is considered the best measure of cardiorespiratory fitness.
- Higher individual VO2 Max values has been associated with a reduction in all cause mortality whilst individuals with low VO2 Max values and high coronary risk evaluation scores represent the highest risk group for all cause mortality.
- An individuals actual VO2 Max value is determined in a sports physiology laboratory when an individual undertakes a maximal exercise test with the individuals breathing connected to respiratory gas analysers and other monitoring equipment. It can be expensive to undertake and considered unpleasant to do by most individuals.
- Some wearables estimate VO2 Max without maximal exertion or respiratory gas analysis.
- For VO2 Max calculation it is more accurate to measure heart rate electrically using a heart rate chest strap connected to a wearable rather than use the optical monitors typically built into a wearable.
- For a video that compares the VO2 Max derived from a running maximal exercise test to the VO2 Max derived by a Garmin watch see the following link:
- For a video that compares the VO2 Max derived from a running maximal exercise test to the VO2 Max derived by a range of watches including a Garmin see the following link:
- The value in ml of Oxygen per Kg of body weight per min will increase if you loose weight whilst maintaining your level of cardiorespiratory fitness although this is not always possible to do.
- See the link following link for more detail about VO2 Max provided in a short overview article:
- See the following link to the abstract of an interesting scientific paper that describes the physiological limits to VO2 Max:
- See the following link for an article about how to improve VO2 Max:
- VO2 Max physiology
- For a short video discussion that explains VO2 Max physiology see the following link:
- For the long video which featured the graphic above see the following link:
- For short videos that summarise the key aspects of VO2 Max see the following links:
- VO2 Peak
- The maximum VO2 rate attained in an exercise test. If the test was a maximal exercise test and the exercise protocol ran to completion then VO2 Peak should equal VO2 Max.
- VO2 Reserve
- This essentially defines the normal (wake state) oxygen uptake rate operating range of your body from rest to VO2 Max and is often referred to as %VO2 Max.
- %VO2 Reserve / % VO2 Max vs %HR Reserve
- There is generally taken to be an approximate 1:1 relationship between these metrics. However the relationship appears to vary by intensity and duration. See the following research for more detail:
- Percentage of heart rate reserve (%HRR), maximal oxygen uptake (% _VO2max), and oxygen uptake reserve (% _VO2R) at 5-min intervals during the 40-min continuous exercise bouts at 60%, 70%, and 80% _VO2R. Values are means ± SD.
- Mean differences between the percentage of heart rate reserve (%HRR) and the percentage of maximal oxygen uptake (%_VO2max) and percentage of oxygen uptake reserve (% _VO2R). The error bars represent 83% confidence intervals around the mean difference.
- Lactate Threshold
- Lactate Threshold identifies the level of physical activity intensity above which an individuals body will rapidly fatigue. The threshold is the point at which lactate concentration rapidly increases in the blood due to the body being unable to process the volume of lactate produced. It is often expressed as a percent of maximum heart rate at which this threshold occurs.
- An individuals actual Lactate Threshold value is determined in a sports physiology laboratory when an individual undertakes a maximal exercise test with regular blood tests to determine lactate concentration in the blood (in mmol/l) and determine the lactate inflection point and the heart rate this occurs at. It is expensive to undertake and considered unpleasant to do by most individuals.
- Well trained runners typically have their Lactate Threshold at about 90% of their maximum heart rate and at a pace somewhere between 10k and half-marathon pace.
- Some wearables estimate Lactate Threshold without maximal exertion or blood tests.
- See the following link to the abstract of a research paper that provides further details about Lactate Thresholds:
- Lactate Threshold HR
- This is the heart rate at which the lactate inflection point occurs.
- Training zones can be defined in terms of % Lactate Threshold HR ranges.
- Outside of a sports physiology laboratory Lactate Threshold HR is typically estimated by using a wearable and exercising at your maximum sustainable rate for 30 minutes after warming up and then taking the average heart rate for the final 20 minutes as the estimate of your Lactate Threshold HR.
- Functional Threshold Power (FTP)
- FTP is much like Lactate Threshold in that it reports the intensity of physical activity above which your body will rapidly fatigue. FTP is measured in terms of power output recorded by a power meter usually linked to the exercise machine used, typically a bike and also a wearable that calculates the FTP. It is typically determined by cycling at your maximum sustainable rate for 20 minutes after warming up. It is expressed in terms of watts per kilogram and total watts. The watts per kilogram value will increase if you loose weight whilst maintaining muscle strength and your level of cardiorespiratory fitness.
- In cycling, training zones are typically defined in terms of % FTP ranges.
- Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)
- EPOC is defined as the excess oxygen consumed during recovery from exercise as compared to your normal resting oxygen consumption. The amount of EPOC is dependent on the exercise properties such as, type, intensity, duration, environmental conditions, individual characteristics, etc. Compared to the total energy expended undertaking the exercise the energy consumed by EPOC is relatively minor however if you monitor your resting respiration rate after a sustained amount of exercise it is not unusual to see a sustained increase in your resting respiration rate as a result of increased oxygen consumption by your body to support recovery.
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
- For videos about heart rate variability see the following link (the first video covers the topic in the second half):
- For a nearly 2hr video that covers heart rate variability and other exercise metrics in detail see the following link:
- Discussion which covers much of the above key terms
- For a nearly 3 hr video that goes into a lot of details about much of the above see the following link:
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