Case Study 1 - Tina Crocker, 35 years old
“ I joined my local leisure club recently with a view to loosing weight for my sisters wedding within a couple of months time. Having undergone the usual fitness assessment, and gym induction, I was introduced to the new state of the art CV training equipment. I was told that to burn most body fat I should work between 65 – 75% and so had a maximum predicted Heart rate of 185bpm giving 120-138bpm as my target zone. The new machines had built in heart rate monitoring software to signal a warning at 10bpm over my target zone so I wouldn’t go wrong.
On the first session on the jogger I had been running for 10 mins and the machine signalled a warning and then began to slow down to walking pace. I called the fitness instructor over and was told I had been working at 17bpm over my zone but it felt very easy. I was told that I had probably been working too hard in the past and so hadn’t lost any weight. To see what level I had been working at I jogged up to a steady pace that I would usually run at and found that my heart rate was 188bpm so technically was over 100% and about to drop dead! The instructor told me that the 220 minus age formulas that the machines used didn’t work for everyone and was not accurate, although the machines were the most advanced. I had obviously been working at the wrong level and explained why I had not lost any weight.
Having heard of the Heart Zone Training programme I was firstly told that maximum heart rate is genetically determined and not related to age. My personal maximum heart rate was estimated to be 203bpm which surprised me, but has no reflection on fitness level.
After 7 weeks on this programme I can now fit into a size 12 dress size and feel much fitter. It’s clear that the knowledge within the fitness industry as a whole is out dated “.
Case Study 2 - David Worthers, 63 years old
I have been training in the gym for the past 4 months and am a keen cyclist. My goal is to become faster on the road. I have realised that from being a member of various gyms and health clubs over the years that looking at heart rates was important. My training zones had to be predicted by using maximum heart rate as the anchor point. My maximum was predicted as being 157bpm and a fitness program was designed using percentages of this number. Spending time at 70% would improve my aerobic endurance so using a heart rate monitor I began on the bike. I found that at 109bpm (70 %) was not only very easy, but far lower effort than I was used to.
One evening I attended a spin class at my local gym and wore my heart rate monitor. Following the instructors suggestions using the RPE borg scale of 1-10 my heart rate was measured over the duration of the 45 minute class. To my surprise my heart rate averaged 164bpm, reached a maximum of 188bpm and still only reached a maximum effort of what I felt to being 8 ½ out of 10. This put my predicted max at over 40bpm out.
After speaking with the instructor my maximum heart rate was predicted at 215bpm. Now after 4 months of training I am near the front of the group on our Sunday rides and I recover much quicker too. I am looking forward to continuing with the program, achieving my goals and recommend Heart Zone Training to everyone.