Welcome to the October 3,
2001 edition of The Heart Zones e-Newsletter
copyright: Heart Zones, your
source of heart rate training information
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In
this issue:
1. Remember
nutrition basics
2. Your heart rate monitor is
your food friend
3. Coming back from an
injury? Don’t ho-hum Zone One
4. Planning ahead for your next training
season
Also...
5. P.C.
Coach software and Heart Zones
6. Trading college textbooks for heart
monitors
7. Fitness trends and heart zones
8. Heart Zones expands and grows its applications
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1. Remember the basics of
nutrition
You wouldn’t put
low-octane gasoline in a racecar, would you? Yet, even today, with all the
research on nutrition and athletic performance, athletes still fail to realize
the connection between training in the heart zones, the food they eat, and
their ability to compete in sports. Lets take a look at some of the basics of
nutrition from that perspective.
Proteins, fats
and carbohydrates are the main components of your diet. Protein supplies amino
acids for many processes in the body, but supplies little energy for exercise.
Despite all the bad press, fat is a necessary ingredient. Fat insulates nerves,
carries substances in the blood, protects organs and serves as a
calorie-warehouse for energy, some of which is used to give you the endurance
capacity, the energy power in your training.
And finally, carbohydrate is
the main source of quickly available energy in your diet. When eaten,
carbohydrates are broken down into glucose and stored in your liver and muscles
as a string of glucose molecules called glycogen.
My reason to review these
basics here is this: For sure, another
“guaranteed” and restrictive and likely backed by false research “DIET” is
going emerge as the “sure thing” to get you into shape and to shed those
unwanted pounds forever. Don’t buy into
it – hold on to the principles that have been around the longest and survived
the test of success. Follow the eating
recommendations of the USDA’s Food Pyramid. Learn about the fuels utilized in
training in each of the five different training zones of heart zone
training.
Training in multiple zones
gives you multiple benefits – and if “fat burning” is your desire – follow and
develop a training plan with 70% of your training time in Zone 3. Need help with figuring out that zone? Email Red Jersey Master Trainer Jessica
Menendez, and President, Heart Zones Coaching at jessica@menendeznet.com. Also, read
at www.heartzones.com “The White
Paper: Expanding the Fat Burning Range” on our website. Try this site as
another nutrition resource for you: http://www.vivonic.com
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2. Your Heart Rate Monitor
is Your Food Friend
I
recently suggested to a friend to wear her monitor for 24 hours and in
particular to monitor what happens to her heart rate during meal times. The Head Heart, Sally Edwards put me to the
challenge when I began to notice the lows that would come after consumption of
sugar. Not only does your heart rate
monitor help you to recognize what foods elevate your heart rate but I also
noticed how fast I was eating my food.
Here is an easy assignment for you:
Write out a list of foods that you know causes some type of reaction
(i.e. lethargy, depression, excitability, sweating etc.,) and plan your week to
include these foods. Then, as you eat
and digest these reactive foods, wear your monitor and see what happens to your
numbers! Compare these results with
more balanced food choices. Remember
that when it comes to nutrition – strive to stay away from “all of nothing”
thinking or seeing food as “good” or “bad”.
Think in terms of providing your body with the essential energy your
body needs to fulfill your training goals.
A software product that takes away the typical approach of limiting what
you eat and focuses on what nutrients you need based on your activity is
Nutrition Intuition. Check them out at http://www.nutritionintuition.com
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3. Injury comeback - takes patience doesn’t
it? Rehab is such a good thing – unless
YOU, not someone else, are in it. So,
what can you do to address the conflict between your motivation to preserve
your fitness with the restrictions your body has during rehabilitation? It is difficult to let go of the idea that
we may be the exception to the rule – believing that we CAN push through
because we are strong. Remember – one step
forward and two steps back can really test your patience and set you back even
longer. Spending time in Zone 1 and
Zone 2 gives you a great opportunity to go back to the basics – working on
technique and form. For cyclists it is
concentrating on your pedal stroke. For
runners it may be focusing on your stride.
And for swimmers it may be working on body positioning and stroke to
become more hydrodynamic – or just improving your breathing and lung
capacity. Determine what exercises you
can do to aid in your rehabilitation and then break it down to form and
technique. You will come back fitter
and stronger if you do. Before my cycling injury 7 weeks ago, my shortest swim
was 1 and ½ miles, my shortest bike was 80 and shortest run was 16 miles – yes,
we are talking Ironman training reduced to 20 to 30 minutes a day. I am now up to 9 workouts a week, (4 swim, 2
run and 2 cycling). 80% of my time is
in Zones 1, Healthy Heart and Zones 2, the Temperate Zone. Let go of what you can’t do and focus on improving
technique and form. Never push through
pain; it is a voice that you need to listen to. Remember to consult with your
doctor, physical therapist and personal trainer about your limitations and your
expectations of progress. And, always wear your monitor and say in the heart
zones for every workout.
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4.Planning ahead for your next training season
begins now. Fall
is the time of year for you to consider a transition period. It is a good time
to start planning for the 2002 participation season. Begin with a review of the past to develop a plan to go
forward. A mantra that, Jessica
Menendez uses with success is this: “Plan your work – Work your plan”. But, before you start to map out your events,
you need to look back at this past season’s goals, objectives, training
schedule, and race results. Find the
time now to sit down and interview yourself.
Remember too that some of the events you may be planning may need
confirmation NOW before filling up!
Some questions to ask yourself as you plan ahead: Did you measure and
monitor your workouts? Did you manage your training with a plan and a logbook?
Did you keep track of your heart zone training points? Was your training
balanced with other time commitments in your life? What was fun and what was not in your training? Did you meet your training goal – and if not
can you identify why? And, if you are a heart zone trainer you know to go back
to the 10 steps and the training tree.
And if you haven’t taken a heart zones seminar, go to http://www.heartzone.com for a schedule of
seminars dates and locations across the country.
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5. P.C. Coach is a training software system
that helps individuals to log and analyze their training. It features SonicLink®, the revolutionary
data transfer technology that downloads your data without an expensive
interface kit. P.C. coach software
program then takes the data from you heart monitor and gives you detailed heart
rate graphs so you can see how your body responded during each phase of your
workout. You can snag a copy for under $70 from http://www.heartmonitors.com.
PC coach has remote coaching capabilities, you can
send/receive our workouts to/from your coach via email. Heart Zones Coaching is teaming up with P.C.
Coach to produce physical and virtual heart zone training camps software for
your training needs. With the heart
zones training system and a software training tool specifically designed to
follow heart zones training application – we’ll get you to the finish line of
Danskin, AIDS rides, walks or just plain fitter! Check it out at http://www.pccoach.com
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6. Trading college textbooks for heart monitors
is what Alinda Perrine www.freespirit@inetone.net; a West Virginia teacher is
doing at her college. On the first day of school, her aerobics class
participants strap on their heart rate monitors and immediately learn all about
heart zone training and how to work out in their own individual heart zones.
One of the Heart Zones applications and specialties is helping middle school,
high school, and college teachers to implement heart zone training in their
health and physical education curriculums. Deve Swaim, Heart Zones Education
and Rob Kerr, Heart Zones Circuit Training has developed applications specifically
for the education market. Contact them
if your school wants to put the heart into health and physical education
classes: http://www.heartzones.com.
7.How is Heart Zones keeping up with the trends
of the fitness industry? Heart zone
training is a health, fitness and sports operating system or methodology that
can be used in any physical activity as well as for improvement in emotional
health. Over the past 6-years, the 10 programs that experienced the greatest increase in growth were
stability ball-based classes (+44 percent), boxing-based classes (+40 percent),
yoga (+38 percent), Pilates-based classes (+37 percent), indoor cycling (+29
percent), martial-arts-based classes (+22 percent), tai chi (+19 percent), back
pain prevention classes (+18 percent), personal training (+17 percent) and
outdoor group activities (+16 percent).
Strap on your heart rate monitor at your next class and see where you
go.
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8.
Heart Zones expands and grows its applications as it approaches it’s
seventh year in business. Additionally, the company is growing internationally
with associates in three different countries. Currently, there are 13 partners
and associates plus 4 staff members that drive the engine. The team at Heart
Zones has focus on its mission: to brand and support the heart zones operating
system. To contact or learn more about
our applications, services, products, and support –
Partners:
Diane
Lydon, Heart Zones International
Dan
Rudd, Heart Zones Blitz
Pietro
Michelucci, Heart Zones Software
Rob
Kerr, Heart Zones Circuit Training
Sally
Reed, Heart Zones Cycling with
Kathy
Kent, Heart Zones Cycling
Deve
Swaim, Heart Zones Education
Chris
Wentworth, Heart Zone Training Association
Associates:
Jessica
Menendez, Heart Zones Coaching
Thomas
Hofstetter, Switzerland
Glenn
Warry, Australia
Rick
Kiddle, United Kingdom
Lorraine
Brown, Heart Zones (TBD)
Support
Sarah
Winkle, Heart Zones Operations Manager
Tessa
Gillespie, Heart Zones Merchandise Manager
Alan
Silva, Heart Zones Graphic Designs
Benjamin
Edwards, Heart Zones Website
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copyright: Heart Zones
staff@heartzone.com
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Fax:
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