Having adjusted the strap as best as possible for a more comfortable fit, and having remembered to wet the electrode areas, the women’s heart rate monitor was now transmitting the beats of my heart for anybody with an appropriate receiver. I was going to have to stop telling lies, probably.

“All set?” my mentor asked. I nodded and motioned that the strap was in place.

He beckoned me to an area of gym mats and asked me to lie down.

Resting Heart Rate

“Ideally, you should take a note of you resting heart rate as soon as you wake up. This number should represent the lowest rate that your heart beats. We will get close to that number now, but I’d like you to take an early morning measurement when possible, so that we have an accurate measurement.”

He got me to close my eyes and relax while he looked at his watch. Not through boredom, he assured me. He was checking my heart rate. “Keep still and relax” he reminded me.

After a short while he decided that we had gotten close enough. The lowest reading was noted as my resting heart rate (RHR). He also did a couple of calculations and jotted them down too.

The recovery ceiling was calculated as follows:

Recovery Ceiling

Start with your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)

Subtract your Resting Heart Rate (RHR)

Multiply the result by 0.7 (i.e. 70%)

Finally, add back your Resting Heart Rate.

((MHR – RHR) x 0.70) + RHR

If you have a MHR of 200 and an RHR of 60, the calculation is

( (200 – 60) x 0.70 ) + 60

(140 x 0.70) + 60

98 + 60

158

In this case your Recovery Ceiling is 158.

The last number he worked out was the Threshold Floor calculated as follows:

Threshold Floor

Start with your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)

Subtract your Resting Heart Rate (RHR)

Multiply the result by 0.85 (i.e. 85%)

Finally, add back the Resting Heart Rate

((MHR – RHR) x 0.85) + RHR

So, continuing with the above example the calculation is

( (200 – 60) x 0.85 ) + 60

(140 x 0.85) + 60

119 + 60

179

So the Threshold Floor is 179.

“Now we have the numbers we need” my mentor announced “we can make a plan”.

Technorati Tags: heart rate, recovery ceiling, resting heart rate, threshold floor, Womens Heart Rate Monitor