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How did you train to get your heart rate lower? (ani.social)

submitted 3 hours ago by amnesiaftw@ani.social to c/running@lemmy.world

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I’m a casual runner. Not very consistent. In 2022 I was running more and aimed for speed for 1-4 miles usually. But my heart rate was always in zone 5. 180+. Some runs were 90% in zone 5; obviously not safe.

So lately I’ve gotten back into running and I’d like to get close to what I was doing 4 years ago, but with a safer heart rate. I’m assuming I can simply run very slow 11-minute miles and keep my heart rate below 160. But perhaps you have some experience or advice on how to maximize efficiency? I’ve seen experienced runners doing sub 8 minute miles for 10 miles with an average of 140bpm. That’s so out of reach for me right now. I’m 36 and my max HR is currently 194 based on recent activity I guess.

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[–] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 3 points 1 hour ago

So normally just doing more cardio should lower your resting heart rate but resting HR can be very different from HR under load.

One of my colleagues is super fit, regularly does marathons etc, but when she's at pace her heart rate gets up to and exceeds 220bpm. She's seen several doctors about this out of concern and they noted that so long as she feels fine while it's doing this (no pain, not feeling faint etc, she experiences no ill effects) then it's fine. They said her body will let her know if she needs to slow down, it's just how her body is. They had no tips for how she might lower it.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't be concerned and that you should definitely see a doctor if you are concerned, but if you feel fine while running with the rate you're running at then it might be okay.

[–] Fmstrat@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Keep running the slow miles, building base takes a lot of time, and you'll build a better base with more volume and a few intervals thrown in.

My partner has been heavy into running as cardio support for cycling over the past year, and all the studies she has read basically point to the above (plus better fueling of course).

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 2 points 1 hour ago

Ah yes proper fueling is something I never actually do on purpose. Definitely need to come up with a routine that includes that. It definitely does feel counter intuitive that slow runs help you run farther faster.

[–] vividspecter@aussie.zone 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

To begin with, make sure your max HR and zones are all reasonably correct. You say your max is 194, but it's not uncommon for the real max to be a decent amount higher than what you see in regular runs, unless you truly pushed yourself the absolute limit.

I'd use lactate threshold heart rate to calculate your zones, if your hardware/software supports it. Prefer a proper strap over a watch as well if possible.

Beyond that, you're just going to have to run slower than what you are used to, to stay in the lower zones. Try to do it with good technique and reasonably high cadence. If you can't run slow enough, throw in some walking in between to get your HR down.

[–] amnesiaftw@ani.social 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Yeah I’m sure my real max is higher. Going by my age, it’s 184. But pretty sure I can hit 200. So I guess I should make it 200, but i haven’t hit that in a long time. Figured using 194 is better than 184.

I have an Apple Watch so cant do the lactate threshold thing.

Sounds good. Just did another 5K keeping my average at 148bpm. 10-minute/mile pace. Relatively fast cadence. My main method of slowing down is lowering my stride but I think I’m keeping the same cadence as my faster runs. I guess time will tell if this is working.

[–] vividspecter@aussie.zone 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Does it support heart rate reserve? If so, use that. Beyond that as long as your runs roughly feel like they should for each zone it's okay as it's not an exact science.

EDIT: Reading your original question more carefully, high HR isn't really dangerous if you don't have an underlying health problem, it's just not an effective way to get faster if that's all you do. Most people gain improvements from a mix of short, high intensity interval sessions, and longer low intensity runs. The general rule is 80/20 in favour of "easy" runs in terms of distance, but this matters more for people who are doing very large volumes. Nevertheless, you should be doing a greater volume of slower runs in terms of distance over a given period.

The reason is that people generally can't tolerate huge volumes at high intensity. Since high volume is a big part of improving fitness, a mix of the two intensities is important.