Courtesy: lululemon athetica on Flickr
If you’re an avid runner or cyclist, or even a weekend warrior, you will definitely want to invest in a heart rate monitor. Many high level athletes are using these each and every time they train because a heart rate monitor gives them a bird’s eye view as to what is going on in their body as they progress throughout their workout session.
Even if you aren’t a high level athlete, but are just an everyday exerciser who’s looking to get in shape and burn off some body fat, wearing a heart rate monitor is definitely going to be beneficial.
Let’s have a quick peak at why this piece of equipment is going to help you improve your running or cycling performance so you can see for yourself all the benefits you’ll derive from it.
A Heart Rate Monitor Ensures Sufficient Intensity
The very first reason why a heart rate monitor is going to help you improve your performance is because it will really help ensure that you’re working at a sufficient intensity level to derive proper benefits.
For instance, if you’re trying to improve your maximum heart rate and how intensely you’re able to sustain exercise over a longer period of time, you must be working out at such an intensity where training adaptations are made. (i.e you a training at a high enough heart rate where your fitness level improves.)
If you continue working out at a similar intensity as you always have been, then you’re literally just staying the exact same as far as your overall fitness level is concerned. If simply burning calories is your goal, then you are meeting your goal. If you expect to get into better shape, you need to increase your intensity level so your heart rate increases.
By using a heart rate monitor you can assess what your heart rate was throughout the workout at your previous session and then in the upcoming session try and beat this.
Often very small increases in your overall heart rate are very difficult to detect without a heart rate monitor, you’d never really know if you are in fact working out harder than before.
You may think you are, but when it comes right down to it, you’re at the same pace as you were last week.
Using a heart rate monitor will guarantee that you know when you are working out harder and when training progress is being made.
A Heart Rate Monitor Improves Your Lactic Acid Threshold
The second reason why using a heart rate monitor is beneficial for increasing your running or cycling performance is because it will provide a very good way to increase your lactic acid threshold.
Nothing to do with HRM's. I just like it. Courtesy: Hero K on Flickr
The lactic acid threshold is essentially the point of intensity where you’re working so hard that some lactic acid is being developed, but at the same time, your body is able to clear this lactic acid away from the muscles so that you can continue.
You won’t be able to continue endlessly, but you won’t be forced to stop after just a minute as you would if you were working beyond your lactic acid threshold.
Using a heart rate monitor can help you improve this value because you’ll be able to get to the heart rate target where you are developing that lactic acid and then hold it right there so that the body gets used to this and more effective with the clearance procedure.
Performing threshold runs or cycles on an ongoing basis can then help you boost your lactic acid threshold, so over time you’re able to exercise harder while still seeing the clearance taking place.
A Heart Rate Monitor Guarantees Rest And Recovery
Finally, a heart rate monitor can help boost your performance because it’s also going to help you out from a recovery point of view as well.
In your overall workout program design, it’s going to be essential that every so often you do have some time off to let the body rest and recover. This often does come in the form of active rest, which is exercise performed at a very low intensity.
The problem here though is that many athletes have a hard time actually working at that low intensity and automatically want to push themselves harder when they get out onto the road.
Using the heart rate monitor can help you ensure that you keep your overall heart rate down and are only working out at that very low intensity that’s necessary to allow for rest and recovery. Without the heart rate monitor to guide this, you could find that you end up becoming overtrained.
So there you have three big reasons why using a heart rate monitor will help to improve your running or cycling performance. If you’re serious about your training and want to be sure you’re progressing as quickly as possible, this is one piece of equipment that you don’t want to do without.
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