A quick and easy method to determine your Heart Rate Training Zones, along with your Working Heart Rate is described in the example below.

Formula breakdown

    MHR = 214 x (0.8×52) = 172.4 or (Age = 52 x .8 = 41.6), then take (214– 41.6) = 172.4

    WHR (Working Heart Rate) is your Max Heart Rate minus your Resting Heart Rate.

Determining Resting Heart Rate is fairly simple;

Find yourself somewhere nice and quiet you can lie down and relax. Position a watch or clock where you can clearly see it while lying down. Remain still and calm for approx. 20 minutes. Do not sit up! Take readings to determine your pulse rate (beats/min) at the end, or even better wear a heart rate monitor and review the lowest value noted. Use this value as your RHR.

Remember, as you gain better fitness, your heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood throughout the body. As a result you will find your resting heart rate gets lower so you will need to check your RHR on a regular basis (e.g. Monthly).

You’re training Zones

Training zones are based on a percentage of your Working Heart Rate plus you’re Resting Heart Rate. Simply calculate the percentage as follows.

Working Heart Rate (WHR -129.4 ) * 50% + Resting Heart Rate (43) =107.7 is your base or warm-up zone

Within each training zone subtle physiological effects take place which you can use to enhance your fitness.

Zones 0, 1, and 2

The Energy Efficient or Recovery Zone – 50%- 60% to 70%

Training within these zones aids in development of your basic endurance and aerobic capacity. All easy recovery cycling should be completed at a maximum of 70%. Another advantage to cycling in this zone is that your body is in the fat burning mode, so you can typically expect to lose some weight.

Zone 3

The Aerobic Zone – 70% to 80%

Training in this zone will develop your cardiovascular system. The body’s ability to transport oxygen to, and carbon dioxide away from, the working muscles can be developed and improved. As you become fitter and stronger from training in this zone it will be possible to ride some of your long weekend rids at the upper end of the zone, say 75%. You can also expect the benefits of some fat burning and improved aerobic capacity.

Zone 4

The Anaerobic Zone – 80% to 90%

Training in this zone will develop your lactic acid system. In this zone your individual anaerobic threshold is found – sometimes referred to the point of deflection (POD). Working within these heart rates, the amount of fat being utilized as the main source of energy is greatly reduced and glycogen stored in the muscle is predominantly used. One of the by-products of burning this glycogen is a cyclist’s worst enemy, lactic acid. The body has a point at which it can no longer remove the lactic acid from the working muscles quickly enough. This happens at an individual heart rate for us all, and is accompanied by a rapid rise in heart rate and a slowing of your cycling speed/cadence. This is called your anaerobic threshold or POD. Following correct training, it is possible to delay the onset of POD by being able to increase your ability to deal with the lactic acid for a longer period of time or by pushing the POD higher.

Zone 5

The Red Line Zone 90% to 100%

If you truly hit this zone, you will find only to be possible for short periods of time. It effectively trains your fast twitch muscle fibers and helps you to develop speed. This zone is reserved for interval work and only the very fit are able to train effectively within this zone.

Note:
Heart rate variations for a given intensity

A reduction in heart rate for a given intensity is usually due to an improvement in fitness but a number of other factors might explain why heart rates can vary for a given intensity:

Dehydration can increase the heart rate by up to 7.5% Heat and humidity can increase the heart rate by 10 beats/minute Altitude can increase the heart rate by 10 to 20%, even when acclimatized

Biological variations can mean the heart rate varies from day to day by 2 to 4 beats/minute

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Check out some cool outdoor goodies.

Sunday and Monday (and into Tuesday)

A strong upper ridge should be over or just east of the region Sunday through Monday (and possibly extend into Tuesday). With freezing levels reaching 12-14,000 feet along with strong sunshine and light winds, this most significant and prolonged warming event this year should produce substantial surface snow melt with resulting meltwater percolating into and progressively weakening and lubricating increasingly deep snow layers…probably reaching the ground in some locations. As a result, a significant spring slide cycle involving large wet loose slide releases, substantial cornice fall and glide crack activity, and some large to very large and potentially destructive wet slab slides is expected Sunday and Monday.

Abundant natural wet loose or wet slab avalanches should be likely during this period, especially from late morning through the afternoon hours each day. Cornice failures should remain likely as well…and some wet slides should become large and potentially destructive, involving mud, rocks and trees and likely running to the valley floors.

Even travel on relatively flat terrain at lower elevations may be dangerous if connected to higher elevation slopes as slides beginning at higher elevations could easily become very large and quickly reach lower elevation areas.

As a result of this hopefully final spring avalanche cycle, back country travel is not recommended this weekend into early next week. With the magnitude of anticipated warming, greatly increased avalanche danger should reach to high elevations and a majority of avalanche terrain, likely reaching up to 10-12,000 feet or higher on the volcanoes and significantly impacting climbing routes and conditions. In order to ensure their safety during this period of increased frequency and severity of spring avalanches, back country travelers will need to:

• be very observant of changing snowpack conditions
• manage terrain choices very wisely
• be very conservative in decision making

Concern #1: Increasingly large and dangerous wet loose or wet slab avalanches with some climax slides releasing to the ground.

Concern #2: Increasing likelihood of cornice failures, which may entrain large amounts of wet snow on the slopes below and trigger both large wet loose and wet slabs slides.

Concern #3: Glide cracks where full snow pack releases to smooth underlying surface such as rock faces are probable.

Link to Avalanche Forecast Center

Place all the ingredients in a blender except the olive oil; blend for 1/2 minute until smooth.

Now, with motor running, slowly drizzle ½ cup of the olive oil (use moderately high blender speed). As mixture begins to thicken, continue adding the olive oil until all oil is used and the marinade is lightly creamy. Stop motor and scrape mixture down from sides of blender cup and place in a non-reactive bowl.

Can be used for any meat, but It is especially good for chicken, pork and lamb. Simply apply salt on the meat and cover it with enough marinade, leave it overnight in the refrigerator in a covered bowl. Remove the excess before grilling.

Chimichuri Marinade and Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup of olive oil
¼ cup of lemon juice
½ cup of chopped parsley
¼ cup of cilantro
2 soup spoons of fresh chopped garlic
1 soup spoon of dry oregano
1 soup spoon of red crushed pepper
Salt to taste

Using a large chef knife chop the parsley and cilantro, move to a bowl and add all other ingredients.

It can be used as a marinade for beef and chicken or as a sauce for the meat after grilled. The chimichuri be refrigerated for about 2 weeks.