What to do when you can’t keep your heart rate low.

I want to spend a bit of time chatting about heart rate training again. I have addressed the topic a few years ago over four articles. You can find the articles here.

So, here we go –

• Your heart rate is your heart rate.
• It’s a unique reflection of you. Some of us have higher rates, some lower, although they all tend to follow similar patterns.
  – You can’t cheat it. Go out too fast during a race with too high a heart rate and you are going to dramatically slow down at the end.
• Do all your training at too high a heart rate and you are going to be tired, injury prone and get fed up with the lifestyle. Get a proper mix of hard and easy training, yin and yang and you will be in a way better place.
• You need to respect it because it is an indicator of overtraining and pending sickness. Too high a resting heart rate when you wake up and you need to look at the chance of something going wrong in your system.

So, what do you do on a run or ride when you just can’t get your heart rate to where you want it?

1. As a runner – calm down and walk.
2. Check that your watch strap is tight enough if you have a wrist sensor. Chest straps will always be more accurate.
3. Analyze what has gone wrong. Did you start your workout too fast? Are you low on electrolytes? Are you overtired? Are you potentially getting ill? Are you dehydrated? All these things can play a role.
4. You now face a fork in the road. Do you push harder in frustration or do you slow down and chill. (Confession time, I have done both. I have pushed hard and suffered as a result, and I have also slowed down and realized that my heart is working extra hard for a reason).
5. Heart rate first – then, pace for a runner, and wattage for a cyclist. You can’t keep up high wattage on a bike or a quick pace for any conceivable period of time during training if your heart rate is through the roof.
6. Some things to do if you decide to slow down –
   As a runner – listen to how you land, are you landing heavily or lightly? You want light landings. Is your leg coming down close to your center of gravity? What about your posture, are you slumped forward, or do you have a straight core that will make your breathing easier.
   As a cyclist – are you working through a smooth pedal stroke using quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, and glutes? Are you in the correct gear, or are you spinning too much or grinding too much? What about your posture: are you hinging from your hip or are your rounding your back and impeding your diaphragm’s ability to breath? What does your screen look like if you are on a Watt bike? Have you got an even pedal stroke, are you balancing right and left leg power? (The key here is held in the next paragraph, so don’t stop reading now).
   

Practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes permanent.
The above sentence is key for you to understand. Any mistake repeated often enough becomes a negative habit that will impede you. That’s why these deliberate slow moments are not the end of the world. Listen to your body and work on your craft.

Hope this has been helpful.

Mike Roscoe.
Kinesiologist.