The "pulse", i.e. the number of heartbeats per minute, is an indicator of how hard the body is working: The faster the heart beats, the greater the strain on the cardiovascular system. "When cycling, the working muscles need more oxygen and nutrients than at rest," explains Dr Hannes Fricke, sports scientist and cardiologist at the Red Cross Clinic in Munich. "It gets both when the heart beats more often and thus pumps more blood into the muscles."
With the help of the heart rate monitor, the intensity of the load and therefore the entire training programme can be controlled. Anyone who regularly rides a road bike with a heart rate monitor - and both beginners and professionals do this - also gains insights into their body, especially by comparing it with their own body feeling.
And how do you train by pulse?
From a test ride with a heart rate monitor - preferably a chest strap that records your heart rate (>> Test: six current heart rate monitor belts) - the various training zones can be defined using the values collected. The linchpin of training control via the heart rate is the so-called threshold heart rate - this is the highest heart rate that can be sustained for longer (around one hour).
How high an athlete's maximum heart rate is, on the other hand, hardly plays a role, says
Fricke: "If the heart can beat at a very high frequency, that says nothing about performance. The maximum heart rate doesn't change through training either, but depends on genes, gender and age."
The resting heart rate is different: it decreases with increasing fitness - because the heart adapts to regular training and becomes larger over time, which in turn increases its stroke volume. It then manages with fewer beats to pump the same amount of blood in the same amount of time as before. "Untrained people have a stroke volume of 70 to 100 millilitres," says cardiologist Fricke. "For endurance-trained people, it's up to 200 millilitres under maximum load." A Resting heart rate of 40 beats per minute is therefore Not uncommon in well-trained endurance athletes.
Heart rate increases with a delay
In any case, the doctor recommends an exercise ECG for all those returning to cycling and cyclists aged 35 and over - as part of a sports medical check-up. During the examination, a doctor tests the cardiovascular system for fitness for sport to ensure that no heart disease is present. "Tragic events during sport are rare, but often preventable," warns Fricke. An ECG should always be part of the examination until the end of the exercise programme, he says. "Many doctors stop the test beforehand, but that's a mistake. An exercise ECG must be performed until exhaustion and should only be cancelled if symptoms or certain abnormalities occur during the examination."
However, if you want to control your cycling training using your heart rate, there are a few things to bear in mind. Heart rate always reacts with a delay to a change in load. It only increases after a few metres of ascent and only gradually recovers on the descent. What the heart rate monitor displays therefore does not reflect the intensity live, but with a delay and smoothed out. The makes training with rapid tempo changes more difficultsuch as short, intensive intervals. On the other hand, heart rate control works well on longer rides with constant exertion.
Breathing reacts faster to stress than heart rate
Training according to your heart rate therefore always means orientating yourself not only to the number on the display, but also to your own feelings: If a conversation suddenly becomes difficult, you may have already reached the next training zone, even though your heart is still beating in the basic range. Breathing reacts faster to a change in exertion than the heart rate.
However, a heart rate monitor helps to improve your own sense of intensity. If you get into the habit of guessing the current value before looking at the display, you will develop a better and better instinct over time. The pulse is also a useful early warning system: if an infection is approaching, the heart beats faster before symptoms appear. "If your heart rate is higher than usual and you may even feel ill, you should stop training or at most go for a gentle run," says Fricke. "Anything else is actually dangerous because the risk of myocarditis increases."
However, heart rate is not only influenced by infections - pulse trainers must never forget this. Emotions, stress at work, the outside temperature, chronic illnesses, anaemia, hormonal changes, medication such as beta blockers, coffee, smoking, alcohol and drugs also change the heart rate. However, if you take all this into account, you can definitely benefit from a heart rate monitor for training control.
Lexicon: What the pulse values mean
The heart rate does not represent the performance 1:1, but is subject to numerous influences. This makes interpretation more difficult.
- Maximum heart rate
Is individually different, therefore has no significance - Resting heart rate
Fitness indicator and early warning system; the lower, the fitter - Threshold pulse
Individual continuous performance limit, guideline for the training zones - Pulse increases
With exertion, heat, stress, lack of energy/fluids - Pulse drops
Relative to performance with increasing fitness, is sluggish and limited with increasing fatigue
