Listen to Your Heart

Your heart will tell how hard to work.

You can find a comfortable pace, one that you can repeat without a lot of mental stress. Why is that important? If a lot of pain is what characterizes your workouts them it won't be long before you start talking yourself out of working out on a regular basis. Not what you want for something that you ideally want to become a life long habit.

With the right pace you can progress with every workout whether you feel like extending yourself or not. At the right pace you get what is called a training effect. That is, your body will strengthen from the work you accomplish which is what you really want. This way you will find yourself stronger and faster for the same level of work a month or two down the road.

The how is the thing. Learn to find the pulse in your neck. If you are right handed use the index and middle finger on your right hand just to the left of your wind-pipe about an inch or two below your jawbone. You will find that the wind pipe and neck muscle form a natural triangle in this area. The strongest pulse will be in the point of the triangle. Feel around for the point that offers the strongest pulse and learn to find that point quickly and accurately. Always use the opposite side hand to avoid same side errors. Using a watch to count the pulse for 10 seconds, drop the first count and take your count as what's left. Example, I start my count on the ten second mark and finish on the twenty second mark. My count is twenty-three but after I subtract the first beat my actual count is 22. 22 is the number I want to work with.

That tells me that I am working well, I'm in my training range and I really don't have to work any harder to get the desired training effect to maintain my progress. My count tells me that I am at 132 beats per minute a pace I can maintain without fear of overextending myself. If my heart rate stabilises there I know I can continue to work in relative comfort. If my heart rate continues to climb as I work then I know that I am going to burn out if I continue at that pace much longer an it will probably be painful. In effect, my heart is telling me to slow down a bit to reach my goal. If I am doing sprint work, which I know is something that needs to be done in lower quantities if I am to last mentally, day in and day out, then I will allow higher rates. This becomes more and more important as I age.

The magic number you are looking for is somewhere from 20 to 24 beats of your heart for 10 seconds. Multiply by 6 to get beats per minute. Your body will tell where you need to be for best effect. That will probably depend somewhat on your age with younger people being on the higher edge of the range for best effect.

There's nothing new or revolutionary about this methodology. It's been in steady use by heart patients and international athletes since the early 1960's and is still the foundation of most serious, coached workout programs today. It works with all sports that require endurance and all fitness programs designed to increase it.

A major bonus of this method of work is that when your body is sick and/or tired you can work at your pre-planned heart rate and still get a training effect/benefit even though your work output may be off for the day. If you focus long-term on how hard you are working, eventually the performance will take care of itself.