Here at Heart Zones, we want to educate you on everything related to heart rate training. We believe that the more educated you are, the more effective your workouts will be, and the healthier you will be!
Heart rate training can seem intimidating at first if you aren’t familiar with it and heart rate jargon can seem like a foreign language if it is new to you. So we wanted to provide you with this list of heart rate terms so you can get educated before you dive into your heart rate training program. Enjoy!
Ambient Heart Rate – The number of beats per minute your heart contracts when you awake but in a sedentary and stationary position.
Anticipatory Heart Rate – The cardiac response awaiting an event such as heart rate waiting for the start of a race.
ANT+ – A low power transmission protocol developed by Dynastream allowing interoperability between heart rate monitors or other devices.
Average Heart Rate – The average of all of the beats per minute during a period of time.
Cardiac – Pertaining to the heart.
Cardiac Drift – The slow usually steady rise in heart rate during exercise that occurs as a result of loss of blood volume, principally caused by dehydration.
Cardiovascular (CV) – Pertaining to the circulatory and blood vessels systems of the cardiac system.
Ceiling of the Zone – The top of a heart zone, also called limit.
Criss Cross Workout – A workout that ranges up and down a range of heart beats
Delta Heart Rate – Difference between heart rate measured in a prone or lying down position and that heart rate taken after standing for two-minutes.
Exercise Heart Rate – The heart rate during your exercise activity.
Floor of the Zone – The bottom of a heart zone. The heart rate num ber at the bottom of a zone is known as the floor heart rate or the limit.
Intensity – The degree of energy, difficulty, or strength, as relates to a workout.
Heart Rate – The number of beats or contraction cycles your heart makes per minute, measured by the electrical impulses (EKG waves) emitted by the heart during this process.
Heart Rate Monitor – An electronic device which measures the electrical activity of the heart and displays it.
Heart Rate Point – A single heart rate number that is the marker such as a midpoint or a threshold heart rate point.
Heart Rate Zone – The same as a heart zone. A predetermined range that your heart rate is present in. There are five heart rate zones numbered one through five, with five being the highest heart rate.
Heart Zones Training – aka HZT, a proprietary and branded CVT (cardiovascular training system) developed by Sally Edwards which is foundation or core cardio-training.
Maximum Heart Rate – The greatest number of beats per minute possible for your heart; this number is highly individualized and varies with fitness, age, gender, and other factors.
Maximum Sustainable Heart Rate – The highest steady state heart rate that can be sustained or held over an extended period of time.
Mid-point Heart Rate – That heart rate number which is in the middle of a heart zones and lies 5% below and 5% above a ceiling or a floor.
Minimum Heart Rate – The lowest heart rate during the activity. Some heart rate monitors store this number for latter retrieval.
Peak Heart Rate – The highest heart rate number in beats per minute during any single period of time.
Percent of Maximum Heart Rate – The relative heart rate number. The absolute heart rate number divided by maximum heart rate number. Example: current heart rate (absolute) is 140 beats per minute. Individuals maximum heart rate is 200 bpm. The percent of maximum heart rate is 140/200 or the relative heart rate number of 70% of maximum heart rate.
Pairing – Connecting a transmitter with a receiver in order for the two to communicate and transfer data between themselves or other device. Used with digital heart rate monitors that pair using a unique digital code for transmission.
Pulse – The regular throbbing felt in the arteries caused by the contractions of the heart. This is not the same as electrically measured heart rate.
Recovery Heart Rate – The rest time between interval sets. The difference in the heart rate after an exercise session and after rest and commonly measured two minutes after stopping or slowing exercise. There are two types: Total recovery: a rest period in which you stop moving completely. Active recovery: continue to move but at a very low effort.
Resting Heart Rate – The number of heart beats per minute when the body is at complete rest.
Steady State Heart Rate – A heart rate or training rate that is sub-maximal and maintained at a constant intensity, speed or rate of work.
Sub-Maximal – Exercise intensity below maximum heart rate.
Threshold Heart Rate – The heart rate number at the cross over point between aerobic and non-aerobic exercise intensity.
Time in Zone (TIZ) – The sum of all time within a single or multiple heart zones. Can be used to calculate Heart Zones Training Points, load.
VO₂ Max Heart Rate – The heart rate number at your aerobic capacity also known as VO₂ max. VO₂ max is a quantitative measurement expressed in millilitres of oxygen consumed per kilogram of body weight, per minute (ml x kg-1 x min-1).
Zone – A range of heart beats that is fixed percentage of an anchor point such as 10% of maximum heart rate or 5% of threshold heart rate.
Zone Weight – The value associated with a training intensity that is used in the calculation of training load. Example: Zone 3 has a zone weight of 3 points.
We hope you learned a lot from this list of terms. Read our other blog posts to learn more about how to get started with heart rate training. Good luck on your fitness endeavors!
More to come ..
Keep your eyes peeled as we continue to release excerpts throughout upcoming weeks. If you want to read the entire book, make sure to swing by our online store and grab a copy: The Heart Rate Monitor Guidebook.