Welcome to the March 15, 2003 edition of The Heart Zones e-Newsletter
copyright: Heart Zones, your source of heart rate training information

1. Is your Anaerobic Threshold a Fixed Heart Rate Number?
2. Training Volume
3. Irregular Heart Beats After You Finish Your Workout
4. Workout Challenge: "High Ball" Emotional Fitness Training
   also...
   
5. Heart Zones Emotional Training: Releasing your Attachment to Outcome
6. Assess Your Gear - WEB Special You Can't Pass Up!
7. Heart Zones Seminar Dates

The answer is probably NO. Here are the stories of two athletes who use their monitors and zones to test their own physiology:

Sally Edwards (the Head Heart at Heart Zones) recently went on her first run after 3 months forced inactivity as a result if foot surgery. Sally's max heart for running is 195 bpm, which means that her Zone 3 is 137 to 156 bpm. For most relatively fit people -a good ballpark estimate of anaerobic threshold is 85% of their maximum heart rate. For the Head Heart, that anaerobic threshold number tested in a lab when she's Ironman fit is 172 bpm. For her first run, she decided to run with me (your E Newsletter editor, Jessica Menendez). She plans the first workout to self-test how much fitness she has lost during 90-days of zero running. At a slow pace, her heart rate jumps to 144 bpm and she is unable to talk (good thing I was along to carry the conversation). Essentially Sally is seeing that her aerobic capacity has dramatically diminished and that her anaerobic threshold heart rate has dropped 30 bpm. This means that her fat burning range has also narrowed dramatically (that's because anaerobic threshold heart rate is the top of this range). Does this mean that she will remain with this diminished anaerobic threshold number? No. Sally will spend time in Zones 1 and 2 in her training and slowly begin adding time in the higher zones as she develops a capacity to do so. With regular training, her anaerobic threshold number will move up and she'll be able to burn more total fat.

Joe Sorenson, an avid cyclist from Juneau, Alaska has accurately measured his maximum heart rate in cycling at 205 bpm and his anaerobic threshold heart rate is about 5 beats above his 85% number (Joe is also a really fit guy). His training emphasis in his last training phase has been about developing power and strength. And in fact, Joe has noticed that when he is Zone 3 he is able to push more watts on his Computrainer than he had been last summer. However, he has noticed that his capacity to stay in Zone 4 is diminished. So Joe is going to change his training emphasis to include more intervals and more time at about and around 80% to 85% of his maximum heart rate. This will improve his aerobic capacity, his ability to sustain more time in Zone 4 and potentially it will raise his anaerobic threshold. Joe also knows to pay attention to his resting, delta, and recovery heart rates to insure that he is not over-training. Joe trains smart and knows that to improve he needs to manage his fitness by measuring and monitoring it.

Ever wondered what the right blend of exercise time and exercise intensity should be to improve your lipoprotein profile (cholesterol in the form of low-density lipoproteins or LDLs and high density lipoproteins or HDLs)? Researchers from Duke University last year studied this with some interesting results. They divided the participants into 3 groups with divergent doses of intensity and duration (amount) of exercise to see if there is an optimal blend of the two. They choose 111 sedentary, overweight men and women to workout for 8 months in these three different groups:

1. high amount + high intensity (2,000k calories per week which is equal to about 20 miles of jogging at Zone 4 (Threshold Zone),
2. low amount + high intensity (1,400 kcal per week) in Zone 4;
3. low amount + moderate intensity (1,400 kcal in Zone 2 (Temperate Zones).

The subjects were told not to lose weight. The results: exercise had a beneficial effect on a variety of lipid and lipoprotein variables. The effect was most clearly in the high amount + high intensity group. This is a landmark study that shows for optimum results, lots of exercise is better than small amounts of exercise. For those who prefer low-intensity exercise, the benefits still occur but the length of time exercising needs to increase.
New England Journal of Medicine, "Effects of the amount and intensity of exercise on plasma lipoproteins" vol 347, p.1483-92. Kraus, W.E., et al. 2002

Exercise stress tests are used to measure the EKG patterns of the cardiac cycle. If these patterns are abnormal, it is an early indication of heart disease. Post stress test EKG data is usually not analyzed because it's during the recovery phase of the exercise bout - not the step-by-step increase in intensity. Researchers asked the question: is recovery heart rate data of equal or greater importance? The New England Journal of Medicine released a report on a study conducted at the Cleveland Clinic that shows that 11 percent of patients with irregular heartbeats after a stress test died within five years of the test, compared with 5 percent of those who did not have such irregular rhythms after a stress test. And nine percent of patients with irregular heartbeats during the test itself died within five years, compared to 5 percent who did not have irregular beats during the exercise. Irregular heartbeats are caused by a disturbance in the heart's electrical system. These irregular beats are uncommon at rest and they usually disappear soon after a person stops exercising. Three percent of the study patients had those irregular beats only during exercise, 2 percent had them only during recovery, and 2 percent had them during both periods.

The heart is our center - and having a heart rate monitor helps us monitor the intensity of our exercise and certainly if we pay attention to our heart center we can learn more about health risks that may need medical attention. It is exciting to know that experts are predicting the findings of this study will lead doctors to focus more on the way the heart's electrical patters after a workout, during the recovery phase. To learn more about the basics of Heart Zones methodology such as recovery heart rate, peak heart rate in exercise and other important principles in training attend a seminar near you or contact us about hosting a seminar for your organization!

Can your heart rate rise or fall due to thoughts and emotions? Find out by doing these two phases of the EFT: Emotional Fitness Training Workout #1.

Before you begin, you need the following items: a heart rate monitor, a pencil or pen, a sheet of paper, something to sit upon comfortably. These are three rules to participate in High Ball: at all times you must keep your feet on the ground, remain seated upright, and have no contact with others. Phase 1 is a five-minute exercise. For five minutes, do whatever you can to raise your heart rate as high as possible using thoughts, emotional connections, or stationary movement. After 5 minutes, stop the workout and note the highest heart rate (peak heart rate). Phase 2 is a writing project. Begin by drawing for 30-seconds large circles with your left hand and then with your right hand. Then, begin a continuous writing period of 5 minutes explaining your experience of measuring heart rate changes using emotions, thoughts, and limited physical movement. Questions: how successful were you at elevating your heart rate and what techniques did you use to raise or lower your heart rate using your emotions, thoughts, or limited movement? What did you learn from this activity? Share your experience with us by contacting our editor: jessica@heartzone.com
Note: Thanks to Judy Stansbury for creating and contributing this workout. Judy is a physical education teacher and department chairperson at Del Oro High School, Loomis, California.

It is easy to get locked into the stress of today's busy technology world not to mention the basics of living - relationships, work, laundry, chores, etc. When you think about it - much of modern life is "results" oriented. Many of us in the business world are thinking about profit. To some degree, most of us abuse our planet's resources for the sake of modern comforts. Periodically, many of us get locked into following a compulsive exercise program. It is easy to forget that the true rewards of life come from appreciating the journey rather than the accumulation of tangible results.

Heart Zones Emotional Fitness Training is a way to learn ways to put boundaries on our attachment to these outcomes. It is an easy systematic way to learn about how we experience the world around us and our response to it. Learn more about Emotional Fitness Training seminars and workshops by contacting Dan Rudd, dan.rudd@heartzone.com and requesting a brochure about this.

Seriously -- think about it -- we all experience the emotional highs and lows, shed tears of sadness and tears of joy that you see in the contemporary world theater. But when the show is over, we leave the theatre and go on with our lives. Think about every day being a new movie to be enjoyed and appreciated, regardless of the outcome.

It is early Spring and the sports industry is anxious to premier the latest and greatest from apparel to equipment. That doesn't mean you need to upgrade everything you own but it always a good idea to take stock of what you have - what needs repairing and what needs replacing. We have a few suggestions for you. After organizing all of your equipment in one place, go through each piece and make sure your equipment is in working order - perhaps your bike needs a tune-up, or your running shoes are dead, or the battery in that heart monitor needs replacing. In knowing what shape your gear is in, you can make decisions about what you need and want.

It just so happens that Heart Zones has a web special on an item that you will use in ALL of your activities: Maximum Heart Rate Cards - have them handy for easy reference or mail one to a friend with a reminder that spring is here and it's time to train. Our Web Special is 20 cards for the price of 10 ($3.00) - that is half off! Have you shared the benefits of Heart Zones Training to anyone lately? Start off with explaining the max heart rate chart on the cards and teach your friend how to find their zones. Order them at www.heartzones.com.

Join the Zoner Team and the Heart Zones Faculty for your start or restart in fitness and health. If you don’t see a location close to you, contact Kathy Kent at mkent11@aol.com to explore how we can get a seminar in your area! Dates and locations are constantly being added so get regular updates by visiting www.heartzone.com for registration information.

Date Place April 5 Columbia, SC April 6 Milwaukee, WI April 12 Seattle, WA April 22 Austin, TX April 26 Chicago, IL May 2-4 Atlanta, GA May 9-10 Washington DC September 6 Juneau, AK October 3-5 Seattle, WA

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If you would like to contribute to the newsletter content, or have ideas, questions, or concerns for us to address, please contact the editor by email at: jessica.menendez@heartzone.com

copyright: Heart Zones
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The Heart Zones e-Newsletter is a Heart Zones publication
Publisher: Sally Edwards
Editor in Chief: Jessica Menendez

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