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


In this issue:
  1. FIT and FAT Book Just Released and a Must Read
  2. The Maximum Heart Formula Has No Scientific Merit!
  3. Sport Specific Heart Rates
  4. Authoring Your Fitness Life
    also...
  5. Workout Challenge: Food and Heart Rate
  6. Review: Plug-and-Play Heart Rate Monitors
  7. From the E-Bag: Question from a Zoner
  8. Highlights of the 2003 Heart Zones Conference


1. FIT and FAT Book Just Released and a Must Read

One of the world's leading fitness experts and professional athletes, Sally Edwards and her colleague Lorraine Brown explode the myth that only thin people can live long, healthy lives, and introduce a new Heart Zones program that focuses individuals on how to be fit, feel better, and live a healthier, happier life - regardless of size. Sally and Lorraine use an analogy of a car, inviting readers to focus on what's going on "under the hood" rather than the "size of the fenders". Fit and Fat focuses on how you can create opportunities for activity and choose to make fitness a part of daily living. "It's the engine inside that gives you energy, provides the motivation to do the things you want to do in life, and powers you to go out and do them," Sally says. "Fat cannot hold you back unless you let it. When you develop a fit heart, nothing can stop you." Fit and Fat offers a system of well-researched, proven solutions that focus on fitness, thereby improving metabolism, fat-burning capacity, emotional well-being and the body's immune system. With week-by-week lessons, to help readers make the mental shift from preoccupation with fat to dedication to fitness, and moves into the language of the heart and using heart rate to gain insight into emotional fitness. You can order online at http://www.heartzones.com - AND if you are interested, write a review and send it to jessica.menendez@heartzones.com. If you want to know if this is the book for you or for you to give as a gift to a friend, decide which of these five zones you are currently in:

How much do you need to read Fit and Fat?*

Select the Zone that most represents your current feeling about fatness and fitness:
Zones For Me We Suggest That:
5
I think I'm fat, I know I'm fat, I think about fat all the time and it is
the major focus in my life.
You need to read this book urgently.
It will change your life.
4
I think about fat a lot, have tried lots of diets. When I find one that
works I'll be able to lose some fat
and be the person I've always wanted to be.
The fear of fat is holding you back.
Read this book to shift your mindset and discover
the way to live the life you always wanted.
3
Yes, I have lots of fat so I limit myself in some ways. I guess I've just got to accept it. Fat should not hold you back from achieving your
full potential yet you are letting it.
Read Fit and Fat to discover how fitness can
help you achieve the most important thing: your health.
2
Fat is an issue but I don't let it get to me - there are more important things
to worry about in life.
Fat is an essential part of a healthy body.
Read Fit and Fat to discover why fitness is what should
be your first priority to energy and health.
1
Fat is not an issue really - I know it's what is inside that is more important. Maximizing your fat burning through fitness
training is essential as you probably already know.
You need to buy this book for somebody you know who
lives in the grip of fat or in Zones 2 through 5 in this chart.


2. The Maximum Heart Formula Has No Scientific Merit!

When you climb aboard a treadmill or elliptical trainer as you begin, it asks you a sequence of questions such as weight? Age? and level of effort? When you enter the number for age, it calculates your heart zones based on the formula 220-your age. Do you believe that this is an accurate way to set your training zones? The answer is NO. Robert A. Robergs, Ph. D. and director of the exercise physiology laboratories at the University of New Mexico and other physiologists say that the information is flawed and irrelevant for most people. Read the article originally published in the Medicine and Science in Sports magazine http://www.css.edu/users/tboone2/asep/Robergs2.pdf or read a synopsis of the article from the Chicago Tribune newspaper.


3. Sport Specific Maximum Heart Rates

Obtaining your sport specific heart rate is important for formulating the appropriate heart zones for a specific activity. Yes, "maximum" heart rate is different in each sport. There are many reasons but in large part it is based on whether the activity is weight bearing (running versus cycling), uses large muscle groups (inline skating versus swimming), uses upper and lower body activity (cross country skiing versus stair climbing). Running has one of the highest maximum heart rate (Max HR), cycling may give you a lower one and in swimming your maximum heart rate may drop as much as 10-25 beats because in part, the cooling and horizontal alignment affect. The difference in maximum heart rate is also related to your proficiency in a sport. Some may see a higher maximum in cycling over their running because that is their sport. Remember too, that there are many environmental and physiological factors that can come into play when testing for your MHR. Adequate rest, dehydration, stress and expectation anxiety prior to the test can skew the result. And don't forget that weather and your response to things like humidity or heat can also affect results. Sub-max tests are only an approximation of Max HR and to get the best result you should do a real max heart rate test. In the Heart Zone Training Guidebook and The Heart Rate Monitor Book for Cyclists, sub max test protocols are given to help guide you in obtaining a closer approximation of your Max HR. If you are testing yourself on elliptical trainers or stair steppers, remember that these machines are designed to absorb some of your weight, thus you may get a lower result. If you have specific questions about how to conduct sub-max tests, email us at staff@heartzones.com


4. Authoring Your Fitness Life:

Keeping track of the numbers is just as important as monitoring your heart rate. Now no longer the blank spiral notebook with hand drawn columns to track our progress - thanks to technology, there are now more creative ways to keep a log. Whether it is training software, web based logging subscriptions, detailed spread sheets or perhaps you have still clung to the spiral notebook, there is no reason to not keep track of your fitness activity. We invite you to share your spreadsheets or the process by which you log your activities with Heart Zones. Since I cannot attach a document to the newsletter, you can find a spread sheet that a Zoner shared with us here: spreadsheet.pdf. And don't forget that Heart Zones has three different log books: The Heart Rate Monitor Log Book, The Heart Rate Monitor Log Book for Cyclists, and the Triathlon Log Book. Share your logging system with us and if possible include a copy of your spreadsheets to Jessica.Menendez@heartzones.com. We will gladly share them and make them available for your selection and use!


5. Workout Challenge: Food and Heart Rate

Ever wondered about how food and eating affects your heart rate? This months workout or lets say assignment is to monitor your heart rate while eating. Yes, place your watch in front of your plate and as you eat take notice of how your heart rate is affected by the rate at which you eat, (how much does it go up if you eat fast), the difference in heart rate between foods (sugar is interesting to track), and what happens to your heart rate when you consciously take time to really chew your food. Do this over several meals and with a variety of food. It is interesting to see your ambient heart rate change when digesting different foods such as meat versus vegetables too! Obsessive, umm, "no!" - its simply about learning more about the physiology of your body. Since you have a monitor aren't you curious about how other activities affect your heart rate? Share your experience by writing to your newsletter editor Jessica.Menendez@heartzones.com.


6. Review: A Plug and Play Heart Rate Monitor

Always wanted to don a monitor and not push any buttons because it immediately detected your heart rate? Have you always wanted to avoid reading the "owners manual" for 1-10 hours on how to program your new monitor? Always wanted to have your heart rate fast, accurate, and without it having weird readings because you accidentally hit a button during your workout. The answer is get a "plug-and-play" heart rate monitor like the Sensor Dynamics Cardio champ. New they cost under $50 and they are as accurate as and more durable than monitors with mode and set buttons. Sure, they don't give you the time of day and your zones, but they give you that number that you most want in easy to read because they are large in size - beats per minute.


7. From the E-Mail Bag:

Subject - Question about data in "The Heart Rate Monitor Guidebook To Heart Zone Training

I live in Pretoria, South Africa, where my wife and I Mountain Bike every chance we get! I recently bought "The Heart Rate Monitor Guidebook To Heart Zone Training" by Sally Edwards and I am very excited and inspired by the book! I am just a little confused about some data given in the chapter about The 10 Steps to Heart Zones. I would appreciate it if you could perhaps put me on the right track. Here goes: In chapter 13, where the Training Tree is discussed, a table is given that shows the amount of time per training hour that you should spend in each HRZ for each of the given Training Tree Branches then on page 152, there is a table that gives basically the same info, but this time on a percentage basis If I calculate the percentages from the table on page 149, I get different results from those reported on the table on page 152. This is quite a change in focus. I did a quick check and the data reported for the Strength branch seems fine, but the data for the Speed branch seems incorrect again. I also want to just say thank you for a GREAT book! It is a real motivation and makes my training objectives feel reachable because I am actively in control!!

RESPONSE: Yes...the observation of the data being incongruent is correct. There are a few typos on the second chart on page 152. The chart on page 149 for the training tree with examples provided in time is correct. The chart in % of time in each zone on Page 152 should read like this:
Heart Zones Training Tree:
Zone Base Endurance Strength Speed Peak
5       10% 10%
4     10% 10% 20%
3   50% 70% 60% 60%
2 70% 40% 10% 20% 10%
1 30% 10% 10%    


8. Highlights of the 2003 Heart Zones Conference

October 3-5, 2003, Seattle, Washington. Join the Heart Zones team for a weekend of education, experience, fun, and a chance to meet teachers, healthcare workers, and athletes, those interested in the Fit and Fat program, cycle trainers, personal trainers, an emotional fitness training practitioners. Here are just a few of the highlights of the Conference:

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
  • The Town Meeting: Obesity and Inactivity in America
  • Two Major Keynotes
  • The Distinguished Zoner Awards
  • The Conference Awards Party and "Share Your Story"
  • Guided Trips of Seattle
  • Check Out Your New Digital Timex Heart Rate Monitor and the ZoneX program
  • 5 Tracks, 6 Certifications, 31 Workshops, 18 Workouts and 3 Seminars
  • Continuing Education Units: Category II (physicians), American Council on Exercise (ACE), Aerobic and Fitness Association of America (AFAA), and other certifications.

The Town Meeting: Obesity in America
Tackle the topic of obesity as Sally Edwards and a panel of experts showcases the 2003 hottest fitness and health book in America, Fit and Fat. In their book, authors, Sally Edwards and Lorraine Brown show both the myths and the solutions of overweight with their Max Fatburning solutions. Learn truths about one of the most misunderstood and high-risk conditions today, obesity.

The 2 Keynotes
----Robert B. Schoene, M.D., physician, author, teacher, and athlete.
Learn of the most recent research on cardiovascular and strength training and it's affects on human physiology. Dr. Schoene provides both an entertaining and informative keynote leading to the topic that fitness is the key to optimum health at any age.
----Cedric X. Bryant, Ph.D., Chief Exercise Physiologist and Vice President of Educational Services for the American Council on Exercise.
With so many different training methodologies, how do you know how to train? Listen to Dr. Cedric Bryant set the record straight by providing you with the latest information on training protocols and research to support them.

Conference Awards Party and Distinguished Zoner Awards
Gather for an evening full of smiles, idea exchanges, and a chance to interact with the Conference Faculty and participants. Followed by a Heart Zones first, the Distinguished Zoner Awards. Zoners' Awards are about you! Share your Heart Zones success stories. This is your opportunity to testify to the changes, lessons, and progress you, your clients, or organization has made since training with Heart Zones.

Guided Trips of Seattle
Local Seattle Zoners have volunteered to "show off" Seattle on Sunday afternoon. Sign up at the conference for your favorite "sight to see" for you and your family as our guest.

Timex Monitor Checkout
Literally, check out the Timex monitor. Check in our old monitor during the conference and check out a Timex loaner monitor. Experience the "no cross talk" digital Timex heart rate monitor, Trackx - the digital recorder, and "Bodylink" system.

5 Tracks, 6 Certifications, 31 Workshops, 18 Workouts and 3 Seminars
This Conference is designed to fit into your learning interests. Choose between "Make Your Own" or a specialty track. Take different seminars from beginning to advance and in one weekend, learn as much as you can with the latest in fitness and in training.

Continuing Education Units:
You may qualify for continuing education units (CEUs) from your certification organization and we will provide you with certificates from all seminars, workshops, tracks, and certifications. We provide American Council on Exercise (ACE), Aerobic and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) continuing education units, and physicians may claim Category II credits toward Washington State Relicensure.

2003 Seminars, Workshops, and Certification Events:
Seminar DatesLocation
July 19-20Denver CO
September 6Austin, TX
September 20-21Albuquerque NM
September 21San Ramon, CA
September 20Denver, CO
October 4-6Seattle, WA
October 20?Denver, CO
October 25-26Chicago, IL
October 25Atlanta, GA
October 25Long Island, NY
November 22Orlando, FL


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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
staff@heartzone.com
http://www.heartzones.com
Phone: (916) 481-7283
Fax: (916) 481-2213
Mailing address:
Heart Zones
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Sacramento, CA 95821

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

PLEASE forward this e-mail to friends and colleagues who are also interested in fitness and sports training using the heart. THANK YOU!