10 Eye-Opening Heart Rate Truths REVEALED

[@skofijak]

That was really imformativie, specially part about long runs, i was always worrying thst my hr is too high after na hour or two, now i know its ok

[@CoachParry]

So glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching.

[@nipplegripple8581]

Correct...train to the conditions. Its common knowledge within coaching platforms.

[@RudraNaik]

1. Heat 2. Humidity 3. Cardiac drift 4. Stimulant effects 5. Sleep 6. Stress 7. Fatigue 8. Race excitement 9. Illness 10. Age These factors affect how the heart rate varies, and hence the training zones decided in one set of conditions may not uniformly apply to different contexts.

[@tommyrq180]

I’ve used heart rate for serious endurance training for 40 years. It tells you a lot when you do it consistently and compare it to other variables. It will never be a perfect diagnostic but it is very important and I would say foundational. It’s especially important for longer endurance work where the HR can stabilize. It’s not as important for high-intensity intervals although it tells you a lot in the recovery phase. It’s like body weight. One measurement doesn’t tell you much and can mislead. Many for a long time, integrated and compared, tells you a lot.

[@Ben-yw8be]

I stopped training to heartrate. I changed it to effort instead. So many factors alter heartrate. I stopped worrying about it and just trained depending on what type of workout I am trying to do.

[@AncoraImparoPiper]

The clearest and most comprehensive explanation of HR as it pertains to running.

[@WinStrong85]

In the end, your HR reading is your HR reading. Yes, it is good to know what may be impacting that reading.

[@kevinlewis390]

I think failing to mention how valuable monitoring heart rate is during training (monitoring fatigue, RPE underestimation early in a workout or interval session, HR drift as an indicator of aerobic fitness...) has given many of the commenters the wrong impression here (e.g. I just go by RPE 🙂 now) . Also, a reduced heart rate response at higher workloads is great indicator of fatigue. While I understand this is a complex issue that cannot be covered in a short 13 minute video, just a quick comment at the beginning of the video would have gone a long ways. Lastly, cyclist have learned long ago HR and power data for training and, for the most part, turn it all off for race days.

[@flowerfaeri]

Love this - most heart rate formulas are too arbitrary. I generally train by perceived effort and have slowed down on most of my training runs. I have seen my heart rate decrease as result without the frustration of having to stop and walk every 5 minutes because I'm a few beats over going up a hill or picking it up to cross a street before a light changes. I have also seen my times improve. Many things affect heart rate as the video indicates and it's foolish to be a slave to a prescribed formula that doesn't take them into account.

[@skirtonbear1]

I love running in the cold here in Sacramento, California. Have a high heart rate -endometriosis-and low blood pressure. Can’t control my core temperature in the heat, have to wear ice packs, but the cold weather is fabulous.

[@ronlanter6906]

I run hilly trails year round here in the St Louis area, even when it's -5F (-20F wind chill). I'm still soaked from sweating but it doesn't bother me in the least. I've known about how temps, humidity, AND dew point affect heart rate (hr) since I changed to hr zone training for the last 5 years. I follow *80/20 Running by Matt Fitzgerald* and it has done more to my stats than anything else I've done.

[@JamieDonald]

Great video, thanks for putting this together. I've been beating myself up for years because i couldn't keep my HR in zone 2 on long training runs. Now i know not to worry about it after the 90-120 min point with cardiac drift

[@chrisjoyce5935]

Timely! My long run turned into a 2-hour threshold run yesterday, here in South Florida. Heat and humidity kept me pinned at 185.🥵 Lots of water, and electrolytes kept me going, but had to cut it short anyway. Thanks for all the great content. You have taught me much and confirmed many things I already intuited. 🙏

[@BadwulfGrey-ef2zj]

No disagreement with the facts in the video here. But seems to me you should probably compensate by running slower if you want to stay in zone 2. If your heart rate is too fast you will drift into the lactic threshold 2 and you don't want to be there right? So if you have a bad day - seems you should pay more attention to your heart rate not less. No?

[@dylanschubert2139]

HR isn’t totally indicative of what the lactate levels actually are in the blood. It’s a pretty good correlation but all these variables can influence heart rate and some even lactate production as well. If it’s hot and humid out HR might be 5-10 beats higher, but blood lactate could still be at expected levels for a certain pace or power output. The only way to truly know training zones is getting your lactate threshold tested. All HR zones are more estimates and a way to manage physiological stress.

[@BadwulfGrey-ef2zj]

Are we certain that if your heart rate is elevated because of outside conditions so will your thresholds?

[@nikolaipetrovych]

Thank you so much for this video! Very informative.

[@Zooga_Boy]

Knowing my HR has helped me learn about my effort.. and more specifically how my body is handling the effort I am requesting of it. And over the years I have realized that temperature and humidity and how much sleep I've been getting or how much stress I've been experiencing are all factors that will ultimately reflect how high or low my heart rate is. At first, I obsessively monitored my heart rate. Only because I was trying to do all of my easy "zone 2" work at the ceiling of that effort. These days, I truly wouldn't need it. I know where all of my gears are without having to look at the dashboard, but I still look at the dashboard cause it's endlessly fascinating. 😅 This video was very informative and I learn several things that I did not know.

[@J.e.f.f.r.e.y]

Great video. Thank you!

[@OZSA87]

HR drift in the first 40minutes of a long run is only about 3-4bpm for me, but after 1hour it's as high as 10bpm and it just keeps going higher with the same pace, should the long run pace progressively go down after 1hr or keep the pace steady ? Talking about long runs for marathon training, so 25-35km long runs.

[@noosphericaltarzan]

I am just starting to get serious at running. Taking a pretty deep dive here and became completely fascinated. I live in a mountain city. I try to choose a lot of mostly level courses along the river, but there are slight “hills” where the greenway rises to street level, for instance. Most trails are quite hilly. I am base training at least until Sep, but I am wondering if I should learn how to integrate the power meter on my watch when I encounter gradients like this. This comment about switching to power-focused race strategy later in the race interested me, but I am unsure really how to switch back and forth in real time. I do have my watch set with a screen displaying both meters and this week’s experiment is to try to see what the power meter looks like on those easy/predictable greenway climbs. My goal here is still to build an aerobic base, so this is me experimenting for future training and trying to understand this sport. I am not looking to undermine my primary goal.

[@jimoconnor8597]

What about the 2012 study on marathon runners at the major marathons that showed humidity and dew point did not have a significant affect on HR? HR was only significantly affected by temperature.

[@chandraau1475]

Temperature is a big one. I live in Arizona and during the summer I'll rum at 5am. Even at that time that temperature can be nearly 90 degrees. I definitely notice the elevated heart rate, the increase in effort and I tend to run slower. At least I can now blame science 😅😂

[@joelallen4336]

I agree, I’m a garmin watch owner and I find software to hardware interface content with formulas to calculate most of the listed. It’s not too obvious and I question it’s accuracy but it is there. I’m an educated adventure athlete. B.A. EXP- SUNY Plattsburgh.

[@goku445]

Great info

[@liamtaylor4955]

Good video. I had not heard the name "cardiac drift" before, though I've noticed the effect. #11: Bears! I was running a trail in Yukon one time, happened to be going uphill, and saw an odd pair of dark triangles on the trail ahead, visible against the sky. The triangles rose some, and then a black bear's head followed! He was walking the trail, probably headed down to the river. Naturally, I stopped, and started backing up, looking for a place to go off trail and let him go by. Then my monitor alarm went off for being over my target range, lol.

[@MrOpticfreeze]

Great list of things to watch out for!

[@jameswrate4838]

6 is very important. I'm so happy this was included

[@stevenwirth6317]

When running on treadmill, my HR is 4 to 5 bpm lower if i watch a comedy vs watching the news, for same level of exertion

[@Zooga_Boy]

LOL

[@RunTwoWin]

As an endurance runner, I love the heat but they usually become the shorter runs. I still train in the heat but I'm careful about it and I've learned to listen tot he body. There's nothing wimpy about scaling back and cutting runs short, you can either do that or risk serious issues, your choice!

[@colincoleman1907]

If as you say a hairy arm can affect the accuracy of a wrist based monitor, wouldn't the same be true of a chest monitor if a person has a hairy chest?

[@ds77777]

Only if it is optical. But chest monitors are not.

[@Zooga_Boy]

These are the hard hitting questions I come to the comment section for.

[@ryanqz]

Im envious of runners who live in temperate climates.... all my runs are in 35 degrees Celsius and 80-90% humidity here in asia.

[@Kim-spiration-UltraRunner]

11. Medications I know one of my Rx DEFINITELY increases my heart rate, resting or exercising.

[@runningwithsimon]

Most people use wrist monitor which has questionable accuracy anyway. For endurance training, I much prefer training by effort,.

[@pinkusujit]

I recently got flu/cold. I was down for a week or so. Coming back from that was a real struggle. It's like you are beginning running all over again :(

[@karlbratby4349]

Totally agree, I had to have 6 months off due to femoral neuropathy and being 50 yrs old I now feel like I’m 90 and never ran before. 😢

[@pinkusujit]

@@karlbratby4349 I think it just takes little time, we will do just fine and come back to our form.

[@chocolatechow7697]

Get well soon, Sujit & Karl. My shoulder got disallocated back in Jan, and I just started to run again last month. Even the Garmin seems so heavy on my wrist. Since I have taken a 4 months rest, I am prepared to train for 4 months to get back to my previous level.

[@pinkusujit]

@@chocolatechow7697 Take care

[@chocolatechow7697]

@@pinkusujit Thank you

[@stefanosimonetti9372]

Really interesting video! Yesterday I cycled 150km and last 5km were a very steep climb . I was expecting my HR to skyrockets but I was surprised that it didn’t go beyond 80-82% max HR. My bike mate said it’s because of the fatigue , but here the video’s saying the opposite …🤨🤨

[@RobE8475]

Heart rate is a nightmare for me.. after a lifetime of strength training I barely have to break into a jog before my HR is 150+ yet the RPE feels more like 4-5/10! I’ll stick with RPE….😂

[@caymanfrigate]

Also it takes time for your heart rate to stabilize within the first 2 miles while you warm up. So reaching conclusions before then is pointless. Good that the kids are taking baby steps in zone 2 though 😍

[@DominoGersak]

@CoachParry just a basic questions: how should I adjust my runs especially easy runs because for example the stress level? This is a big problem for me to understand when to step back, because if my HR is elevating for a longer period, ok, it might be overtraining, illness or any other of the factors you explained and there I am confident that I can spot it and take day off for example. But the day-to-day stress (hard day) is very hard to tackle for easy runs as I usually set my watch to keep me in Zone 2, but there are runs when this is really impossible (although I am pacing even much slower than usual) and I think it it's even more stresful for my mind & body to keep in Z2 on that day :) I mean, should I simply forget about zones during very stresfull days and rely more on feeling and pacing at slower tempo and ingore my "easy run" being in Z3 or even occasionaly Z4?

[@samueleketorp2628]

If you have high stress, heat, humidity etc. all these factors work against your ability to perform. These are effects that add to the stress induced by the workout. Your HR is an indication of the total stress. Allowing you HR to go above your goal HR because of added stressors will do nothing but add to your recovery time: you are putting more stress on your body than you intend. The solution is not to allow higher HR but to avoid the additional stressors. Get good sleep, train when it’s not so hot, ensure you are well hydrated etc. Much as the steel never lies in the gym, your heart rate never lies either.

[@noelting2006]

Always a frustrating matter when it comes down to training in South East Asian Countries where the humidity and the temperature is high.

[@GotDamBoi]

idk i do the same flat 5 mile loop like 100x per year and my HR is always between 155-160 regardless of temp

[@harmdegraaf5579]

I do not agree with the view that heart rate goes up in when training in cold temperatures. I live in the Netherlands. My personal experience is that when I am training in the winter my heart rate is definetly much lower then in other seasons. What happens is that the body reacts to the cold by shutting off bloodflow to the skin and the extremeties, like fingers, hands, toes and feet. This reaction to the cold is to conserve energy and is opposite to what happens at high temperatures. So training in the cold weather gives me a lower heart rate than normal and not a higher heart rate.

[@daleonov]

You've got less blood as more moisture eveporates? Whoa. That blew my mind. And scared a bit to be honest.

[@Zooga_Boy]

Dehydration is so dangerous!

[@philb2628]

Really interesting, especially regarding temperature and humidity. I live in Malaysia. I've recently started running according to HR zones, in particular an 80/20 split between Z2 and Z4/5. I'm not sure how to account for temperature and humidity especially when trying to stay in Z2. Perhaps I need to accept that my HR will drift into Z3 on a base run?

[@88thdimension]

Sama Sama in SG. Run to perceived exertion, enjoy it and learn. See where you at in a month. Watching cardiac drift rise is interesting.

[@peytonlam]

One thing I noticed is my heart rate is usually lower for a morning run compared to an afternoon/evening run. I now try to run by effort.

[@gundisrambo9054]

Exact opposite with me. In the mornings, I am 15 - 20 beats higher…

[@wy3131]

Just forget HR and invest in a running power meter as a Stryd pod. So much more sensible as what has transformed in cycling.

[@valdius85]

Have some salt and water 90-60 min before running to increase the blood volume.

[@kimbrink8257]

My 'comfortable' running is usually in zone 3 and 4. I've tried so many things and just can't seem to get it down to zone 2, except for walking. I don't see how walking always is going to help my aerobic fitness - in fact, it feels like I'd just be losing my fitness altogether. This is really helpful, but over a long period of time trying all sorts of different things I just have not seen changes and I feel a bit hopeless, like running is just not for me. Please let me know if this is normal?

[@andrewood]

I just slow down and run by hr not by effort

[@jaboneros7540]

wow if only i could run between 11 to 13c. more like 22 to 26c where im at.

[@johnrobinson4445]

Very useful. 81.

[@miculucianionel9332]

So Gordon Freeman was a running scientist all this time.🙂

[@citizenphaid1880]

There’s a reason rowers and biathletes and cross country skiers use HR training…..it works 😂

[@pandasontheroad]

I don't understand how to use HR during runs, it is just a number like any other. To be honest, who is constantly checking a watch during running? It is quite physically demanding to check your watch during long runs, I don't check anything until I finish.

[@ryanmiskin8925]

it's really not at all, about every minute I just take the 1-2 seconds to glance at it and see what my HR and lap pace is at to make sure I'm staying where I want in regards to either or both of those.

[@OZSA87]

you can even have alarms on the watch to make a beep every time it goes above or below a certain HR that you set, that's how I use it.

[@BadwulfGrey-ef2zj]

I keep it in a range all the time. Heart rate training is great IMHO.

[@RunnerThin]

No.heart rate is always how you judge effort