Welcome to the August 2005 edition of The Heart Zones e-Newsletter
copyright: Heart Zones, your source of heart rate training information

1. 25 Facts about Your Maximum Heart Rate
2. The New Heart Zones Training System – Anaerobic Threshold or Heart Zones Training
3. Stress Test Predicts Sudden Death Risks
4. Saving the Lives of Soldiers and Rescue Workers
5. New Fitness Technologies To Watch
   
   and...
   
   
6. Workout: Field Test Your Anaerobic Threshold Heart Rate
7. School Phys Ed Programs add Heart Zones Training to the Curriculum
8. There’s a New Way to Train and Get Your Fittest
   

Maximum heart rate is the anchor point for setting the five heart zones in the Heart Zones Training(max heart rate) system. Knowing your maximum heart rate is an essential. Do you know your body weight? Probably. Do you know your blood pressure? Probably. Do you know your maximum heart rate? Well… at first you may say yes because you have always used the arithmetic formulas to calculate it. But the formulas are invalid! Junk!

Can you estimate someone’s body weight or blood pressure by a mathematical formula or looking at them and saying, “you look like your blood pressure might be 120 over 80 mmHG”? Nope.

Well, you can’t just look at someone or just use a mathematical formula to know their maximum heart rate either.

Here are five key facts about maximum heart rate - click here for another 20 maximum heart rate facts:

1. Maximum heart rate is genetically determined
2. Maximum heart rate is a number that you are born with
3. Maximum heart rate is sport specific
4. Maximum heart rate is a fixed number unless you become chronically unfit
5. Maximum heart rate is affected by some medications and most drugs

Your anaerobic threshold, popularly called AT, is by definition the crossover point between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism.

Whew. I know! That sounds complicated, so let me break this down a little.

Here’s a quick glossary to make these words have value for you as you train:

Anaerobic : Without sufficient oxygen for aerobic metabolism; an exercise characterized by short-spurt, high-intensity activities where metabolism occurs resulting in an oxygen deficit.

Anaerobic Metabolism : Oxidation (burning) of carbohydrates without the ready availability of oxygen.

Anaerobic Threshold : The point at which your body is producing more lactate than it can handle.

Imagine that your anaerobic threshold is the doorway as you pass between two different places: the place where you can breathe comfortably without shortness of breath and the room where breathing becomes labored. This threshold can be measured without a lot of technical equipment or cost. (Stay with me here)

Your anaerobic threshold (or your AT) can be associated with the heart rate at which you switch from having sufficient oxygen to having an insufficient oxygen supply to continue your workout at that intensity. At this heart rate threshold, (measured in beats per second), the length of time you will be able to continue your workout at that intensity becomes limited.

This system of training is also known as Heart Zones Training(AT) system. We will continue to provide you with more information about anchoring your training zones on your anaerobic threshold over the next several months. If you want to measure your AT heart rate, try the workout that we recommend in this issue.

People whose hearts beat too fast during rest have a greater risk than others of sudden death from a heart attack. So do those whose heart rate is too sluggish during exercise. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that men whose heart rate did not increase fast enough during exercise had about four times the risk of death compared to those who did.

Sudden death was twice as likely in men whose heart rates did not slow down enough in the minute after the end of exercise. Sudden death occurs when a heart attack or an abnormal heart rhythm stops the heart. It is responsible for 5-10% of all U.S. deaths, or about 500,000 deaths a year. The study only looked at men but the results probably also applies to women.

A stress test is a health and fitness assessment in which people walk or run on a treadmill or exercise pike while medical professionals test them using sophisticated EMG computers that record the heart’s activity and patterns.

Note to Subscribers:
The bottom line is heart-rate profile during exercise and recovery is a predictor of sudden death. All subjects were asymptomatic working men. It is a long term study (23-year follow up period)

“Heart-Rate Profile during Exercise as a Predictor of Sudden Death”. French study with 5713 male subjects. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, May 12, 2005, Vol 352, No 19.

At Sandia National Laboratories, engineers are hoping their new ultra-covert type of wireless communications can save the lives of soldiers while letting military brass and medics track exactly where they are on a battlefield, said Tim Cooley, a Sandia researcher. When a soldier is hurt, the medics know where and how badly. The system is made of small sensors, transmitters and computer encryption combined into a wireless "ultra-wideband" network that is virtually hacker-proof.

Police and rescue workers might also take advantage of the technology to monitor firefighters when they go into a fire or SWAT-team members when they go into a dangerous situation. The system is too expensive for troops or emergency workers at this point, but that likely won't be the case in five years when the price may drop down to $10 per soldier.

A radio pill that transmits a player’s body temperature to a nearby wireless device may be considered for use by the Minnesota Vikings. Four years ago the Vikings former linesman Korey Stringer died of a heatstroke. The Vikings attorneys claim that Stringer’s use of the controversial supplement ephedra was the cause of this stroke. Another player, right guard David Dixon, Stringer's training camp roommate, said in a signed affidavit that Stringer told him he used Ripped Fuel the morning of his death.

Regardless of the circumstances, it is considered likely that most football players in the NFL use supplements that are marketed to increase body mass. When this is done, the body may not function properly and can overheat. A device such as the HQ Cortemp (http://www.hqinc.net)ingestible core body thermometer pill could help trainers monitor players that they may feel are susceptible to this type of threat from the use of supplements or just plain over exertion.

An RF-compatible miniaturized data recorder was designed to monitor, record and report real-time core body temperature in time-correlation with heart rate. Each pill costs about $40, though the price varies according to volume. NFL teams pay closer to $30 a pill.

This assessment gives you an estimate of your anaerobic threshold (AT). Your anaerobic threshold, like your maximum heart rate, is sport specific, cannot be determined by any mathematical formula, and is directly related to your current fitness status (condition, health, and level). The test is called the 5-20-40 Anaerobic Threshold Test. The name relates to the elapsed time of the test by sport mode as follows:

5 minutes – Swim test
20 minutes – Run test
40 minutes – Bike test

The protocol for the test is identical regardless of the mode of activity. Divide the test time in half and put a brief rest in the middle. After a proper warm-up, quickly increase intensity until you are at the highest heart rate that you can sustain for the time required. Hold that high heart rate number. At the half-way point (time) do an active recovery, continuing to move but with no resistance. At the end of 5-, 20-, or 40-minute test, cool down slowly. The highest heart rate number that you can maintain is your estimated sport-specific anaerobic threshold.

Example: Cycling.

Warm up for 3-5 minutes. Begin the test by accelerating quickly to the highest heart rate number that you can hold – maintain that heart rate number until you reach minute 20. Pedal slowly with no resistance and recover for 2 minutes and then quickly increase to the same high heart rate number for a final 20 minutes. Heart Zones Cyclists know this assessment as the “Two by Twenty Minutes” workout, and it is a tough one!

Your anaerobic threshold estimate is the highest heart rate number that you can maintain for two times for 20 minutes each time.

To purchase a set of 8 different Fitness Tests ($10) plus two chart-cards including the “Two by Twenty Minutes” visit the Heart Zones store at www.HeartZones.com.

7. School Phys Ed Programs add Heart Zones Training to the Curriculum

Would you like to learn the latest in training? Would you like to learn the science of training from the guy who leads the most prestigious group of medical professionals and exercises scientists in the world?

Then attend the Heart Zones Conference 2005 in Colorado! Meet Dr. Carl Foster, the President of the American College of Sports Medicine. Carl and his exercise science lab at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse provides the testing and research on the Heart Zones Training systems to insure that the protocols, assessments, and methodology matches the latest in exercise training systems. Carl’s keynote address, seminars, and workshops at the Heart Zones Conference 2005 will provide our community’s annual update on new discoveries in fitness, health, and sports performance.

Here’s your chance to get to know him and personally ask him for answer to any and all questions you have saved up.

Sign up this week for the Heart Zones Conference 2005 (to be held at the University of Denver) October 14-16th.

Register on our website and join us for a weekend of great training, workouts, and networking. Stay ahead of the game because There’s a New Way. www.HeartZones.com

2005 Seminar Workshops Certification Schedule

20 Additional Facts about your Maximum Heart Rate

1. Maximum heart rate does not predict better athletic performance.
2. Maximum heart rate does not predict worse athletic performance.
3. Maximum heart rate does not reflect your current level of fitness.
4. Maximum heart rate is the highest number of beats per minute that your heart can contract in one minute.
5. Maximum heart rate is not affected by your current level of fitness. It isn’t higher if you are more or less fit.
6. Maximum heart rate cannot be increased by training.
7. Maximum heart rate cannot be increased by training eating certain foods, getting stressed out, or drinking energy drinks.
8. Maximum heart rate may be test-day sensitive particularly if you are not properly rested before taking a maximum heart rate test.
9. Maximum heart rate is altitude sensitive, decreasing ~ 1 bpm per 1,000 feet of elevation.
10. Maximum heart rate varies greatly among people of the same age.
11. Maximum heart rate is frequently measured at over 200 bpm in children.
12. Maximum heart rate cannot be estimated by using any mathematical formula.
13. Maximum heart rate is the 100% value or the top of Zone 5, the Red Line Zone in the Heart Zones Maximum Heart Rate Chart.
14. Maximum heart rate can be assessed relatively accurately by using sub-maximum testing protocols.
15. Maximum heart rate can only be sustained for 15-45 seconds before you are forced to stop.
16. Maximum heart rate in adults has been measured as low as 155 bpm and as high as 240 bpm.
17. Maximum heart rate is higher those with a small heart size or mass.
18. Maximum heart rate is often higher in women.
19. Maximum heart rate of an elephant is ~30 bpm and for a hummingbird is ~500 bpm.
20. Maximum heart rate is the anchor point for setting your five Heart Zones Training(Max HR) training zones.

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The Heart Zones e-Newsletter is a Heart Zones publication
Publisher: Sally Edwards, the Head Heart

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