Alright, what’s up guys? Coach Joe here and we’re back with a question, “what’s the best heart rate monitor that accounts for age?”
Well, in regards to that first part about accounts for age, all traditional heart rate monitors actually account for age. The basic calculation is 220 beats per minute, minus your age.
So, for a 45-year-old athlete, the maximum heart rate would be 175 beats per minute. So, typically, you would divide that into five zones. So you’d have training zones one through five, with percentages ranging from 50 to 60% and increasing in 10% increments until you reach 100%
Now, that’s a pretty gross generalization because it really doesn’t take into account.
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Person’s training age
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Fitness level or even just their status
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Are they dehydrated?
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Did they get a good night’s sleep?
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Where should they be training at that point in the day?
As an average cyclist in his 50s, I regularly exceed my maximum heart rate. My maximum heart rate is probably 165 beats per minute. According to that calculation, I go well over that every time I go out on my bike, so I have more capacity than that.
Is it still a good way to kind of get an idea of where you’re at for the day? It is, indeed. So pretty much any heart rate monitor will do that polar great stuff there.
It’s a great starting point when you’re using a heart rate monitor. I hope that helped a little bit. Next time I’m going to come back and I’m going to give you a way to calculate your heart rate zones that accounts for your recovery and your fitness.
Coach Joe
