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"I felt ok, but my heart rate was crazy!" I hear that with some regularity from athletes. Heart rate monitors (HRMs) are a fantastic tool when it comes to monitoring your exercise intensity but they aren't perfect. Stress, caffeine, and tech issues can all result in data anomalies. That's why I recommend using your monitor as a tool to train your perceived exertion. When your HRM says you are in the target zone think about how you feel and especially focus in on your breathing rate. The harder your body works the more oxygen it will need and that never lies. If you work harder, you breathe harder. That's the basis for the famous 'talk test' - if you're able to talk a little then your oxygen demands are low enough that you are likely working aerobically or in zone 1 to 2.
Years ago as an athlete I grew to realise that the rhythm of my breathing as counted by my foot strikes when running was quite a reliable means of determining my level of intensity. It has always frustrated me that this coupling, breathing and foot strikes, was not more widely recommended. I certainly recommended it to my athletes when I started coaching 25 years ago and it has made a very positive difference for them. I've only ever once seen this correlation mentioned in print and it was a brief paragraph in Jack Daniels' famous Running Formula book. Through a deep dive on the internet I have discovered a little history on what I now know is referred to scientifically as Locomotor Respiratory Coupling (LRC). Over the last 25 years there have been just a handful of studies but it certainly was nice to see this correlation has been recognised.
There is certainly some room for variance from athlete to athlete but I'll list below what I find to be the most common breathing rates. You are counting how many foot strikes take place while you are inhaling. Inhalation is more subject to intensity than exhalation as build up of CO2 will shorten the inhalation side of the cycle whereas exhalation is more easily controlled by effort from the respiratory muscles (ie you can push it out hard or push it out slowly). These rates are also base on a cadence of around 170 strikes per minute.
Zone 1: Inhaling over 5 foot strikes.
Zone 2: Inhaling over 4 foot strikes. This is the key level to maximize aerobic development.
Zone 3: Inhaling over 3 foot strikes.
Zone 4: Inhaling over 2 foot strikes. This is on the threshold of the second lactate turn-point (aka anaerobic threshold).
Zone 5: Inhaling over 1 foot strike. This is over the threshold and a level that is not sustainable for the body (eg sprint finish)
I've had athletes do lab testing for their zones over the years and this scale has always held up as being very accurate, sometimes more accurate, than the lab results. By 'accurate' I mean in comparison to the runner's pace history in training and racing. Lab testing is a fantastic tool when done well but is costly, subject to human error, and is performed in a lab not out on the roads where we do our running. Still, one can learn a lot from lab testing so if it's something you're interested in go for it!
When you next go for a run check in on your breathing rate. If it's supposed to be a zone 2/endurance building run then see if you can sustain a breathing rate that sees you inhaling over four foot strikes. Again, it doesn't matter if you exhale over 2, 3, or 4 strikes. And you don't have to sustain this rate for the rest of your run, a couple minutes will do. Some runners are just more comfortable breathing with a 3/3 rhythm. The question is can you make the inhalation rate of 4 work for a couple minutes if you try. I'm often asked both in running and swimming whether to nose breathe. We need to get in as much air as easily as possible so go with mouth and nose together.
If you have a solid run fitness base and you want to experiment further then go for a run in which the pace increases every kilometre or so by 15 to 30 seconds, for example from 5:30/km to 5:00/km. Monitor your inhalation rate around the times that you increase pace and see at what the pace and heart rate you are when forced to increase your breathing rate. As things get harder the CO2 build up will force you to stop inhaling after three steps because of the need to exhale. The same happens as you transition to threshold and can no longer maintain an inhalation rate of 3 and are forced to inhale over two.
While there is a learning curve it's not a difficult one and the advantages of developing this skill are huge. If nothing else, you don't have to depend on batteries and GPS! I will also add that this method really help you to become interconnected with your body and turns running into a much more meditative practice.
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