| Cygnet Rowing Club |
| The Cygnet Bar Steward's Heart Rate Calculator |
Steve Dargan, Bar Steward and Cygnet bon vivant has created the following javascript utility to help all Cygnet oarsmen in their daily quest not to get too puffed on the erg. If done correctly, it will take you so long to calculate your target heart rate that it'll be time to hit the showers before you've even sat on the infernal machine.
It's also worth mentioning that you should stop doing any form of physical exercise if you feel any discomfort or if your heart rate drops below 1.
Darg's writes...
The Concept II rowing machines at the boathouse are soon to be fitted with heart rate monitors. From the Concept2 website:
"Medical research has shown us that there is an amount of exercise which is enough to condition the cardiorespiratory system and the muscles of the body. That is, there is a target zone in which there is enough exercise to achieve fitness, but not an excessive amount to cause injury. Your heart rate is an excellent indicator of the amount of stress placed on the cardiovascular system. If exercise intensity is too low or too high no gains will be made in fitness. If the intensity is too low the stress levels are ineffective. If the intensity is too high injury or fatigue may occur.
The best way to monitor exercise intensity is to accurately count your pulse during exercise. Your heart rate can easily be determined by counting your pulse at the chest, wrist or at the carotid artery on your neck. But it is difficult to count your own pulse during exercise, mainly because you cannot count fast enough to get an accurate number. The Concept II optional Heart Rate Interface and Polar Chest belt solves this problem. They automatically monitor your heart rate while you are exercising and your heart rate is then electronically displayed as a digital read out on the Concept 2 Performance Monitor."
People commonly make two mistakes when calculating their training heart rate. Firstly, they estimate their maximum heart rate at 220 minus their age. This usually results in too low a figure. Get on the erg and measure your maximum heart rate after two or three 2 minute pieces. It's likely to be 5 - 10 beats per minute higher than the 220 - Age estimate. Secondly, after calculating their maximum heart rate, they work out a percentage of that directly. A more accurate calculation is to work out a percentage of the difference between maximum and resting heart rates and add back resting heart rate.
For example, someone with a maximum HR of 195bpm and a resting HR of 50bpm wanting to work at 85% capacity would calculate their training heart rate as:
((195 - 50) x 85/100) + 50 = 173bpm
Use the table and calculator below to work out your training heart rate:
| Training Intensity | ||
| TRAINING TYPE | TYPE OF WORK | % MAX HEART RATE |
| Utilsation 2 (U2) | Sustainable for > 1 hour | 65-75% |
| Utilisation 1(U1) | 40 minute piece | 75-80% |
| Anaerobic Threshold (AT) | 5000m piece | 80-90% |
| Transportation (TR) | 2000m piece | 90-95% |
| Anearobic (AN) | Unsustainable short bursts | 95-100% |