From: smwilson@ucdavis.edu (Sean Wilson)
To: coaching@cycling.org
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 16:53:53 -0800
Subject: Re: Tall HRM Alarm Tales

>Roger Marquis  wrote:
>Personally, I've been wearing an HRM/watch 24 hours a day since 1987
>(though not usually in HR mode).  My Seiko pulsemeter is a great unit
>though I don't think they're sold anymore.  Too bad as it's very
>convenient to be able to put on a chest strap and check the readout on
>a regular watch (in HRM mode).  Without the chest strap the readout is
>still accurate though you have to put a thumb on the outer sensor.
>After watching my HR for a couple of years it got to the point where it
>wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know and from my experience
>competing and coaching hundreds of riders most also get much better
>feedback from listening to their bodies.

I also have to agree with roger on the reliability of the HRM in the field.
In a laboratory setting we are able to control the environment which the
subject is in pretty well with room temp and airflow.  Outdoors this does
not happen.  The subject can endure a fairly large heat load which will
induce cardiac drift - throwing off HR quite a bit.  The positive aspect of
the HRM's is that it gives the rider some feedback which allows them to
calibrate their relative percieved exertion against something a bit more
objective (HR) -assuming they have monitored their HR while they were in a
quasi steady state.  Once they have calibrated themselves they can go train
without the HRM but will know  what a hard, moderate and easy effort is
suppose to feel like.

The best analogy I can come up with is that training without a HRM is a bit
like driving a car without a tachometer.  A driver will initially use the
tach to learn the proper shift points but once used to the car he/she can
then shift purely by the sound and feel of the auto.  No more need for the
tach.  Similarly, how is a rider suppose to know how to train without some
feedback.   If they are continually going out and just redlining it all the
time it's not going to do them any good.  Also if they are training too
easy thats also not going to help them progress.  The HRM will help the
athlete to learn how hard they need to go in order to excel.  Once they
know how their body reacts to the training stresses they can then train by
their own internal calibration scale (RPE).

Sean Wilson

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