Concept2 Forum

Could you please comment on your average heart rate while rowing a steady state (ie, non-interval) piece, such as a 10K? Thanks.

Jim40 wrote: average heart rate while rowing a steady state ... piece, such as a 10K?

It will gradually climb as you go through the session. That's caused by fatigue and dehydration.

The only way to avoid that would be to reduce pace as you work through the piece.

Thanks. Could you give me a range of heart rates that one should aim for? Like 120-135, 140-150, etc? Thanks.

Jim40 wrote:Could you give me a range of heart rates that one should aim for?

Er ... no.

The only way you can find your HR ranges is to find your maximum HR (you could use the ubiquitous 220-age quasi-formula, but that doesn't work for me).

The best way is a step test wearing a HR monitor.
http://www.freespiritsrowing.com/conten ... =step-test

If you go steadily for 10km at pace X, your HR will climb steadily to HRmax. But you can also find pace Y where your HR will remain fairly constant at N. And there's a pace Z where your HR will remain fairly constant at M. I'm not sure if there's a benefit to training at HR M vs HR N.

If you do a rate restricted row, like 30 minutes at rate 20, your ending HR will likely be a lot less than HRmax, but if you're trying to maintain a good pace, you'll be working hard and your HR will probably continue to climb slowly.

I think the erg is enough of a stress test for determining your HRmax. When I go all out for any distance, my ending HR is almost always between 176 and 179 - so I figure 179 is my HRmax. This doesn't match 220-age very well (172), but 200-age/2 gets closer (176).

HR-based training programs are probably best taken as general guidelines. Everyone will be different. It's probably better to train based on how you feel rather than how a chart tells you you ought to feel.

Jim40

Try Training / Interactive on the UK site. You input your maximum and rest HR, and the program will tell you the HR ranges for UT2, 1, AT etc (up to 70, 80 and 85% of max - rest rate, + rest rate). AKA Karvonen.

If you don't know your max HR, use 220-age to be (maybe) on the safe or low side, or 205 -Age/2. The latter fits me exactly, but both are averages and both presume a fixed drop in max HR per year of age, from a fixed start, which looks a bit unlikely to say the least. AND I never saw any standard deviations, so they are effectively useless as predictors and not much better than guesswork.

In any case HR ranges (UT2, 1 etc) are pretty wide, so if it gets too tough, slow down. It's all training anyway, if you stay above twice your rest rate. Then, once you've seen what you can hold without dying, stick to Watts or pace and warm up slowly, using HR as a monitor only.