Training with a Heart Rate monitor can be very beneficial to both the athlete and the coach.
Over the last 15 years of training athletes and during my 6 years as a professional triathlete, I have used one not only for the feedback of the training, but to let us know what the state of the body is when you strap one on.
For example, If the athlete’s monitor normally reads 50 beats per minute when they initially put it on and one day (not talking about race day here), it reads 60+, then we need to take note and look at why it is elevated above normal readings.
Could it be, because the athlete is a little dehydrated from the previous training session(s), or maybe he or she is coming down with a virus?
What if the athlete can’t reach it’s normal training zones during training? This is the first sign of over-training for an athlete and as we all know, it’s better to be 10% under-trained, than 1% over-trained.
During longer races, it also helps control an athlete, and keeps them from going out too hard in the beginning of the 70.3 or at the Ironman distance.
With all this said, I certainly believe that there are times when the athlete will need to go out and push with out a monitor so that one stays attuned to what it all feels like when there isn’t any data feedback. This is important in case the monitor breaks, or if an athlete (on race day) wakes up and the readings are higher than normal when he or she straps the monitor on.
The biggest mistakes I see athletes make, is that they use Heart Rate monitors without ever doing actual field tests or lab tests to establish their correct training zones.
*** Note: The 220 (-) your age is not anywhere near correct so avoid using this method as well.
Obviously, these are just a few of the benefits to using a Heart Rate monitor during training and there are definitely more, but I think you get the jist!
Train smart, and HARD!
TB
