If you’re a runner looking to improve your performance, you need to understand how hard your body is working in each training session. Heart rate zones, or HR zones, are a way to monitor how hard you’re training. The large majority of runners is training too fast or too long on a regular basis, thus potentially compromising their progress. It is key is to create a right balance between the frequency, intensity and duration of your training sessions. This means that some workouts should be short and intense, some long and light, some can even be long and tough. It’s the variety that makes your workout regimen effective. Unlike a purely subjective evaluation of intensity, your heart rate is a number you can measure, just like frequency and duration. Using the heart rate zones helps you from running too fast on your recovery runs, thereby reducing the risk of overtraining and injuries. Likewise, it allows you to accurately determine your running pace during interval sessions. When done right, you’ll begin to build up your fitness and race performance.
Your heart at rest….
When you are sleeping or just waking up, your heart rate is at its lowest. This is your resting heart rate (HRrest). You can determine this by counting your heartbeats for one minute in the morning before you get up. Some smartwatches measure your heart rate throughout the night. Here you can see exactly when your heart rate during the night reached its lowest value. When you have to go to the toilet in the morning it is better to go first and then lie down. The pressure on your bladder increases your heart rate. Your resting heart rate is partially genetically determined. Your age also plays an important role. For example, babies up to 1 year old have a resting heart rate of around 100 beats per minute.
The resting heart rate can be influenced by training. Especially athletes with good endurance have a low heart rate. Top runners are not shocked if their resting heart rate falls below 40 beats per minute. A healthy adult has a resting heart rate of 50 to 80 beats per minute. The resting heart rate decreases with training because our heart gets stronger. Per heartbeat, a stronger heart can pump more blood around. So fewer beats are needed to transport the same amount of oxygen and energy. If you have trained hard, if you are ill, if you have eaten a lot or if it is hot outside, your heart rate can be 5 to 10 times higher than normal. When your heart rate is higher than normal for a long period of time, you may be overtrained. In case of overtraining or acute illness, it is better to allow your body to rest in order to recover quickly.
… and during maximum effort
During maximum effort that lasts for several minutes, your heart rate reaches its maximum value (HRmax). The height of your maximum heart rate has nothing to do with your fitness level. Your maximum heart rate is mostly genetically determined. A commonly used formula to calculate your maximum heart rate is 220 – years of age, but the HUNT formula is more accurate for both active men and women: 211 – (0.64 x age). By training a number of times on maximum effort with a heart rate monitor or by performing a Zoladztest, you can determine your maximum heart rate more reliably. It is important to realize that a different maximum heart rate applies to different sports.
The five heart rate zones
Your total heart rate range is from your resting heart rate to your maximum heart rate. There are different ways to identify your heart rate zones calculation. One simple way is to define them as percentages of your maximum heart rate.
There are 5 heart rate zones. You can classify the zones as follows:
| Zone | Percentage of HRmax | Goal of training in this zone |
| Zone 1 | 50-60% | Recover from heavy training the day before or to run slowly for a long time |
| Zone 2 | 60-70% | Improves endurance and fat burning |
| Zone 3 | 70-80% | Improve pace for longer distances |
| Zone 4 | 80-90% | Improve pace for shorter distances (10k racing pace) |
| Zone 5 | 90-100% | Speed and sprints (anerobic) |
HEART RATE ZONE 1: 50–60% OF HRmax
This is the very low intensity zone. Zone 1 should feel almost effortless. It is a very easy, comfortable pace that you should ultimately be able to maintain for hours and hours at a time. You should be able to carry on a full-blown conversation with a fellow runner and breathe comfortably through your nose. Training at this intensity will boost your recovery and get you ready to train in the higher heart rate zones. To train at this intensity, pick a form of exercise that allows you to easily control your heart rate, such as walking or cycling.
HEART RATE ZONE 2: 60–70% OF HRMAX
Exercising in heart rate zone 2 feels light and you should be able to go on for a long time at this intensity. This is the zone that improves your general endurance: your body will get better at oxidizing – burning – fat and your muscular fitness will increase along with your capillary density. This is trulythe zone for endurance athletes to focus on. In your training plans, you will notice that about 70-80% of your training is in zones 1 and 2.
HEART RATE ZONE 3: 70–80% OF HRMAX
Working out in heart rate zone 3 is especially effective for improving the efficiency of blood circulation in the heart and skeletal muscles. This is the zone in which that pesky lactic acid starts building up in your bloodstream. In zone 3, we improve our speed, strength, efficiency, and running economy. After working this zone, harder sustained efforts will begin to feel less taxing and result in less fatigue.
HEART RATE ZONE 4: 80–90% OF HRMAX
Heart rate zone 4 is where the going gets tough. You’ll be breathing hard and working aerobically. If you train at this intensity, you’ll improve your speed endurance. Your body will get better at using carbohydrates for energy and you’ll be able to withstand higher levels of lactic acid in your blood for longer.
HEART RATE ZONE 5: 90–100% OF HRMAX
Heart rate zone 5 is your maximal effort. Your heart and your blood and respiratory system will be working at their maximal capacity. Lactic acid will build up in your blood and after a few minutes you won’t be able to continue at this intensity.
Training possibilities for both beginners and advanced athletes
Depending on your specific training goals, your coach will give you a variety of different types of workouts based on the different heart rate zones. It should be clear, however, that just because you want to run faster, you should not only run in zone 4. Your overall training regimen should always include most of your training in the low-intensity zones of 1 and 2. As an experienced running coach, in my training regimen we first increase the number of workouts, then the length, and then the intensity. During this time, the runner is able to learn how to use the heart rate zones during the training sessions. Interval training should be done with speed control, but the heart rate monitor can give you feedback of the athlete’s recovery between repetitions. If necessary, the athlete should take more time to recover properly to accurately maintain the target pace.
What’s next?
Need help to determine your maximum heart rate and heart rate zones? How should you incorporate these zones in your workout regimen? Running on heart rate is individually, can I still run in a group? We can help you out on these and many other questions.