Polar HRM paces you during your workout. It's like having a personal trainer that tells you to slow down or speed up. How do you know that you are training effectively? It's not how you feel, or how much you are perspiring. With a heart rate monitor you can ensure that you're working out at the right intensity, no matter what activity you choose. Work in your exercise heart rate zone. You will see results. It takes the guesswork out of exercise and gives you the confidence to know that you’re doing it right.

By monitoring heart rate, the simple observation that the harder we exercise, the faster our heart beats is put to good use. Professional athletes and amateurs alike have for decades been relying on the information provided by their heart rate monitor for the following reasons:

A heart rate monitor is like a rev counter, giving a precise measurement of exercise intensity.
Training at your own ideal pace is made possible with a heart rate monitor.
Direct measurement of heart rate during exercise is the most accurate way to gauge performance.
Progress can be monitored and measured, increasing motivation.
It maximizes the benefits of exercise in a limited amount of time.
It introduces objective observation. Are you on the right track? Are you improving?
It is a tool for regulating frequency and intensity of workouts.
Because of the immediate feedback it provides, heart rate monitoring is an ideal training partner.

There are four general heart rate training zones of different levels of training intensity, each of which corresponds to various metabolic or respiratory transport mechanisms within your body. All of these zones can be tracked by your heart rate monitor.



Endurance Training: 60% - 70% of Maximal Heart Rate
This is the easiest intensity you can work out at and still improve your fitness. At this intensity your body is mostly using fat as a fuel for your working muscles. Most serious athletes feel guilty exercising at this intensity. Conversation is easy and there is no sensation of being out of breath. This is the long slow distance (LSD) training zone.

This pace is great for
1. beginning an exercise regime or starting out again after a layoff due to injury or illness,
2. recovery session, and
3. improving overall health.

Tempo/Fartlek Training: 65% - 78% of Maximal Heart Rate
This could be called the “fitness zone” because this intensity level is excellent for strengthening your heart. This is the zone that works your heart hard enough for it to get stronger and ready for a steady, moderate pace.

This zone has many benefits:
1. It improves the ability of your heart to pump blood.
2. It increases the sum total of small blood vessels in your extremities.
3. It increases the enzymes in your muscles that are responsible for oxygen metabolism.
4. It increases the cardiovascular capacity of your muscle tissues, tendons, and ligaments.
5. It improves your endurance.
6. It is right for people looking to expend energy at a moderate intensity.

Interval Training: 76% - 88% of Maximal Heart Rate
The aerobic zone is the standard training zone that for years has been referred to as “ the target heart rate zone,” since it is the most popular intensity for general fitness. This is often the fastest pace you can maintain and still remain comfortable and talk while exercising. It is called the steady state zone, as it is the fastest pace you can maintain for long periods of time (for most people). Lactic acid does not build up in this zone.

When you are unfit, your muscles will choose carbohydrate as their primary fuel, stored as glycogen in your muscles, during exercise at this intensity. As you become fitter, your body selects an increasing percentage of fat as its fuel, allowing you to race longer at this intensity while saving your limited stores of glycogen.

There are several benefits of training in this zone:
1. It improves endurance.
2. It “familiarizes” your body with a faster pace.
3. It begins to raise the speed you can maintain without building up lactate.

Heavy Intensity: 93% - 98% of Maximal Heart Rate
At this level, you are training near the point where aerobic training crosses over and becomes anaerobic training. At some point between 80 and 90 percent of your MHR, a very fit individual will be training at or near the anaerobic threshold. When you train within this range, the primary benefit is to increase your body’s ability to metabolize lactic acid, allowing you to train harder before crossing over into the pain of lactate accumulation and oxygen debt.

If you were asked to describe this intensity of this level you would say that it is “hard”. You are going to feel the pain that comes with training hard – tired muscles, heavy breathing, and fatigue. If you keep with it, though, in return the training effect will occur, and your will be able to sustain more work over longer amounts of time at lower heart rate levels.

The benefits of training at or near your anaerobic threshold are the following:
1. It increases your muscles’ tolerance to lactic acid.
2. It increases the enzymes in your muscles that are responsible for anaerobic metabolism.
3. This is the pace used for racing, breakaways, time trialing, and running hills in a race.

At 90 to 100% of MHR, you have gone beyond your lactate (anaerobic) threshold and will be operating at a large oxygen deficit, meaning that you muscles will not be able to deliver the amount of oxygen they need to complete the work. Lactic acid will develop very quickly. Your body can tolerate efforts in this area of the zone only for short periods of time.

There are two major benefits of training in this area of the zone:
1. It increases your muscles’ tolerance to very large amounts of lactic acid.
2. It helps improve your sprinting and hard, short-effort ability.

The zones you see here is not the only way of describing training intensities. The key point to remember is that while the zone percentages may vary, the objective is the same: to train your body’s various energy systems with various heart rate zones.

The key is to find a training zone system that fits your needs and sport and to stick with a well-designed training program to increase your fitness and training performance.

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