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Aqua Beat
Heart Rate Monitors Make a Splash!
Part Three
By Joanne Maybeck

 This is the third of four articles about using this hot new fitness tool in aquatic exercise classes and personal training.

In Part One (in the February/March issue), we learned the basics about heart rate monitors, and where to get one. In Part Two (in the April/May issue), we learned how to calculate an aquatic target heart rate and why aquatic heart rates are lower than comparable land-based exercise.

 So, what else can a heart rate monitor do for my class participants and personal training clients?

 You can use it to tailor workouts to their fitness level, and to help them achieve their fitness goals.  To understand how to do this, let’s start by revisiting that target heart rate chart hanging on the pool wall…

 Such charts generally display 60 to 90% of maximum heart rate, for various age groups (20, 25, 30, and so on).  For a 30 year-old, the 60 to 90% range is from 114 to 171 beats per minute.  That’s a very wide range!

 Let’s take our understanding to the next level, with a better alternative to that wide range:  To create tailored workouts, break the wide range into five smaller Heart Zones, each with its own benefits. This concept was created by world-class athlete and heart rate monitor “guru” Sally Edwards.  Sally calls this multiple zone approach “Heart Zone Training”.

 What are the five Heart Zones?

 Zone 1 – the Healthy Heart Zone: 50 to 60% of Maximum Heart Rate 

For beginners
For recovery sessions for fitter people
For after lay-off or injury
Land example: easy walk

Zone 2 – the Temperate Zone: 60 to 70% of Maximum Heart Rate

Moderate, comfortable exercise
Burns high percentage of fat
Gains muscle mass
Increases resting metabolism
Land example: Brisk walk or easy jog

Zone 3 – the Aerobic Zone: 70 to 80 % of Maximum Heart Rate

Cardiovascular improvements
Increased size and strength of heart
Increased blood pumped with each heartbeat
Increased ability to deliver oxygen to muscle
Increased size and number of blood vessels
Endorphins released
Land example: Step aerobics class

Zone 4 – the Anaerobic Zone: 80 to 90% of Maximum Heart Rate

Improves tolerance to lactic acid
High performance training
Land example: Race pace, time trials

Zone 5 – the Redline Zone: 90 to 100% of Maximum Heart Rate

Near max
Near total exhaustion
Land example: Sprints to finish line in a race

How do I calculate the five zones for aquatic exercise?

1. Use the Best Fit Formula from Part 2 of this series to estimate maximum heart rate.

2. Calculate the five Heart Zones for land exercise, by applying the percentages for each Heart Zone against the estimated maximum heart rate from Step 1.

3.  Subtract 13% or 17 Beats per minute from each “land” Heart Zone, to calculate the five aquatic Heart Zones.

 Based on the fitness level and goals of your participants/clients, choose the Heart Zone that’s right for them. When they wear a monitor, you can be sure that they are exercising at the intensity most appropriate for them.  Here are two examples:

 If a class participant is deconditioned and just beginning to exercise, they can use a monitor to ensure that they stay in the Healthy Heart Zone, as they begin their exercise program.  They will get health benefits and will feel successful, because the exercise will be comfortable for them.  As they improve their fitness level, they can move into exercising at the Temperate and Aerobic Zones.

A super-fit client will appreciate workouts that include time in the Anaerobic Zone, to improve their athletic performance.

Use the physical laws of water (inertia, acceleration, action/reaction, frontal resistance, lever length) to modify the intensity of the workout, to keep the participant/client in the appropriate Heart Zone.

Here’s one general rule – as participants become fitter, add additional zones to their training, to increase workout variety and get additional fitness results.

 Many of today’s heart rate monitors have a number of features that are especially well suited to Heart Zone Training in multiple smaller zones:

 Next … Practical tips for using monitors, plus 5 steps to start a Heart Zone Training program for your class/clients

Joanne Maybeck is a fitness instructor and personal trainer in New York City.  She is certified by ACSM, ACE, AEA, and AAAI/ISMA.  Joanne presents the CEC workshop Aquatic Heart Zone Training and will soon offer on-line heart monitor education. She believes in training with heart!  For more about Joanne, please visit her Internet web site  or email her at FitNYC@aol.com