My heart rate zones

ADVANCED FITNESS PERFORMANCE

The Zones

Much like the speedometer of your car, your heart rate can be used as a marker of the amount of work your body is doing. The heart rate vs work load and oxygen consumption (VO2) is specific to you ( your age, size, activity and fitness level )and can be divided into distinct metabolic zones.


                   low zone                    middle zone                    high zone
rest-----------------------------------------------------------------------maximum
                                        AT                                     VCP                            VO2max
Heart rate                     ?/min                                ?/min                          ?/min
VO2/min?                      VO2/min?                          VO2/min?                  VO2/min?

The Low zone starts at rest and goes to your Anaerobic Threshold (AT). During an incremental exercise test your resting heart rate and your heart rate at AT are noted. The amount of oxygen your body uses at rest (VO2 at rest) and at the AT is noted.
This zone is characterized by pure aerobic metabolism. All of your muscles are receiving all of the oxygen they are demanding. You can exercise for many hours in this zone without getting fatigued. The object of training is to get your oxygen consumption (VO2) at AT ( anaerobic threshold ) as high as you can. Using the AT your aerobic fitness percentage* can be computed. At Advanced Fitness Performance we feel that the aerobic fitness percentage is one of the best measures of aerobic fitness. Recent studies have found that elite distance runners spend 70%-80% of there training in this zone!

The Middle Zone starts at AT (anaerobic threshold ) and ends at the VCP (ventilartory compensation point). Also called the lactate accommodation zone ,an increasing number of muscle cells are switching to anaerobic metabolism and producing lactic acid. As the lactic acid is produced the body does its best to neutralize it. There is a balance between lactic acid production and neutralization until near the VCP when the lactic acid reaches a high steady state balance called the maximal lactate steady state.
You can exercise in this zone for hours as your body balances aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. This is the best zone to exercise in for the majority of us. Exercising in this zone will improve the AT and your aerobic fitness.

The High Zone starts at the VCP (ventilatory compensation point) and ends at maximum exercise with the VO2max. This zone has been called the lactate accumulation zone. Although the majority of your muscle cells are using oxygen (aerobic metabolism), there is an increasing number of cells in anaerobic metabolism producing lactic acid. In this zone the lactic acid is being produced faster than it can be neutralized and it accumulates. This accumulation leads to muscle fatigue and cramping along with increasing shortness of breath.
This zone has also been referred to as the interval zone since the length of time you can stay in this zone is short. Training in this zone is important for short distance runners (ie 400 meters) to be able to tolerate high lactate levels. It is the zone that is more prone to cause injury and muscle fatigue.

Let ADVANCED FITNESS PERFORMANCE™ find your Zones and your Aerobic Fitness Percentage™

* Aerobic Fitness Percentage™ = ( measured VO2 @ AT/predicted VO2max ) X 100
(developed exclusively for Advanced Fitness Performance)