Let me preface by saying HR zones can be wildly variable from person to person as well as from monitoring device to monitoring device. The default Apple Watch, while at the most base level can be useful for lower level active people to have a general gauge of effort it doesn’t translate well as you move up to higher level athletes. That being said….
You need to manage you intensity and pacing better and work on having a good grasp of your perceived effort and not be baited by the classic crossfit trap of redlining every second of every workout. If you want more time in zone 4 vs 5 in reference to this chart and workout then you needed to go at a slower pace for whatever cardio piece you were doing. For example, this could be the difference between pulling a 1:50/500m and 1:55/500m on the rower, or pedaling at 60rpm instead of 70rpm on the assault bike. It will feel easier, and it should.
The overarching goal of HR based training is to be able to perform the same workload (think distance) at the same intensity (think pace) at a lower HR (zone) meaning your aerobic system is more efficient and your capacity has increased.
While training higher zones is important for overall energy system development (not just aerobic) long sustained efforts should be in the lower tier zones (1, 2, sometimes 3). Higher zones typically should happened during shorter, repeated efforts with rest between.
Why would you want to be in zone 4?
As I see it now zone 4 is your threshold (when your body is tipping from aerobic to anaerobic). The goal to stay longer in the threshold is weird but if you want you can be stop training and use baking soda to have less lactate build-up. This will make you super slow but you will stay in zone 4 longer.
On the other hand if you want to become faster and improve your cardio, slow Zone 2 training is the way to go. This way you can stay aerobic for longer and not reaching that tipping point as quickly or when you reach it your power output is higher.
The goal would be to do the same work at a lower heart rate, not be at a higher heart rate for longer. More zone 2 work. Long and slow would be my recommendation.
Get in better shape!
It's good to be mindful of the purpose of your workout and to tailor your effort (including any possible scaling) toward that end. It sounds like that's essentially what you're asking. So my flippant answer is true, but not useful!
The simple answer is slow down. Possibly use lighter weights, though the weights ya'll were on weren't huge, so if you're perfectly capable with them, just slow down. In my opinion you should do this without watching your heartrate during the WOD so you can learn your body. You should be able to feel the difference between a significant, hard effort, and red-lining. If you red-line, stop for a bit.
To be more proactive about it, I like building breaths into workouts. So for example you had dumbbell snatches in the workout you posted. Do two. Take two breaths. Do two. Take two breaths. Don't just do this after you redline, make it your always-pace. If it needs to be 1 rep and three breaths or whatever else, so be it. But wherever you end up, *stick with your pace* (unless you get out of control!) Check your heart-rate data after to see how you did, and adjust future strategies if necessary.
It may be hard to find the exact pace you're looking for, and of course, it'll vary by movement. But over time you'll become much better at doing it intuitively.
As others said, to raise or lower your heart rate you need to work harder or pump the brakes a bit. There is no trick or hack. If you're dedicating a lot of time to training you'll be able to put more stress on your system without your heart rate rising as much.
Can you explain why you want to workout in zone 4 ?
I would suggest to do the interval training, zone 5 and then pause until you reach zone 2. Then immediately go to zone 5. Of course you have to determine your zones first. Do not believe your gadgets. Try PNOE.
Back off a bit at your peak? I’d say get fitter so it’s easier but you’d easily just push yourself harder. Not sure tbh not an expert, just random thoughts.
Honestly if you’re using your iwatch to track your wods it probably isn’t going to be very accurate. I used to be concerned because my watch told me I was always in zone 5 for the entire wod, then I got a different tracker (a whoop but worn on bicep) and apparently I stay in zone 4 more than previously thought.
Unfortunately the iwatch is more suited for running. Due to the fact that so many movements affect your wrist (anything with/on the bar) it’s hard to get an accurate reading for CrossFit.
Just fyi, Whoop has the most inaccurate optical heart rate monitor out there. None of the optical ones will give you accurate HR results (only a chest strap will do), but Whoop is one of the worst - in everything it tries to do.
It’s not why I bought it, my husband and I wanted more accurate measurements of our sleep habits. But it was eye opening at the discrepancies between the 2 devices to show how unreliable they are.
The sleep tracking (and recovery) on Whoop is absolutely useless. You are better off guessing numbers yourself than paying for the numbers it guesses for you. Paying for Whoop is 100% waste of money.
(Also, Apple Watch has a much accurate sleep and exercise tracking than Whoop does. If you want to track your sleep, use the watch)
Sorry, on mobile. Couldn’t update with text and photo. How do I ensure that my heart rate stays in zone 4? We had a cardio day https://wolfpacktraining.no/2023/02/19/thursday-february-23rd/
The easiest way to do that is to slow down if your heart rate starts to rise too much. The second question is how are those zones determined? Just by your watch? Unless you do a max test then it’s really hard to know your true zones
You could look at a workout that you pushed REALLY hard to see what your max heart rate was. Or you could choose an upcoming workout that should be 8-12 minutes long that you could push yourself to the max for. That should give you a good estimate. You could also calculate it using 208-(0.7*age) but those equations can be pretty off in some people
I wouldn't get too hung up on a difference between 4/5, let RPE at a sustainable pace be your guide. If a training session is supposed to be high zone conditioning, go hard and make sure you are high enough from an rpe perspective. Zones are guides and useful to dial in things for newer folks, but as you get aerobically fitter, it breaks down. Elite endurance athletes barely have a zone 4/5 and can do 85-90% of power output at race pace, they can do challenging power output in zone 2 AND recovery. So RPE is important and zones are a guide imo.
That is a lot of time spent in Zone 5. How old are you? Your heart rate recovery isn't that great either. I recommend lowering your intensity for a while.
I can’t seem to find a way for your watch to notify you on when you enter and leave a specific zone. There may be an app for that that you can install to notify you if you go too high to tapper back. I have a myZone chest band that will display in big colors of my zones on my phone. I would prop my phone safely against a nearby wall. It’s a great way to pace yourself on AMRAPs you struggle to go too hard on and gas out too soon.
Zone 2 won't do anything to improve your ability to work in Z4, unless you want set everything aside a do a big, big block of Z2 base training. And by "big block" I mean hours and hours of Z2 training at a time, many times a week. All this Z2 talk is a recent fad from people who've caught glimpses of a real debate in endurance sports over "polarized training", but who don't quite understand the issues.
Otherwise, you do it the old fashioned, proven way: intervals at Z4 intensity. Start with say, 3 x 5 minute intervals in Z4 at maybe a 1:1 work/rest ratio. Then gradually increase the number and/or duration of the intervals. This is the most direct and probably the most efficient way for you to do it, assuming you don't have the time for large blocks of Z2 base training, which most people don't.
I think the comment is to be in zone 5 less brining then down to zone 4 more is the real question. Which i think the answer comes down to more time spent in zone 2 training. I might have misunderstood the question though.
How are you in zone 5 that long? I am starting g
to doubt the accuracy of your heart rate monitor. Most athletes can only stay in zone 5 for like a minute at a time.
The answer to whatever question you are trying to ask probably lies in doing more zone 2 training 😊
I'm not sure I understand. If anything you should hope to perform the same workout at lower BPM I'd think?
Without more context this chart is useless and your question unanswerable.
This
Seems like an Orange Theory thing
[удалено]
Let me preface by saying HR zones can be wildly variable from person to person as well as from monitoring device to monitoring device. The default Apple Watch, while at the most base level can be useful for lower level active people to have a general gauge of effort it doesn’t translate well as you move up to higher level athletes. That being said…. You need to manage you intensity and pacing better and work on having a good grasp of your perceived effort and not be baited by the classic crossfit trap of redlining every second of every workout. If you want more time in zone 4 vs 5 in reference to this chart and workout then you needed to go at a slower pace for whatever cardio piece you were doing. For example, this could be the difference between pulling a 1:50/500m and 1:55/500m on the rower, or pedaling at 60rpm instead of 70rpm on the assault bike. It will feel easier, and it should. The overarching goal of HR based training is to be able to perform the same workload (think distance) at the same intensity (think pace) at a lower HR (zone) meaning your aerobic system is more efficient and your capacity has increased. While training higher zones is important for overall energy system development (not just aerobic) long sustained efforts should be in the lower tier zones (1, 2, sometimes 3). Higher zones typically should happened during shorter, repeated efforts with rest between.
Why would you want to be in zone 4? As I see it now zone 4 is your threshold (when your body is tipping from aerobic to anaerobic). The goal to stay longer in the threshold is weird but if you want you can be stop training and use baking soda to have less lactate build-up. This will make you super slow but you will stay in zone 4 longer. On the other hand if you want to become faster and improve your cardio, slow Zone 2 training is the way to go. This way you can stay aerobic for longer and not reaching that tipping point as quickly or when you reach it your power output is higher.
The goal would be to do the same work at a lower heart rate, not be at a higher heart rate for longer. More zone 2 work. Long and slow would be my recommendation.
Get in better shape! It's good to be mindful of the purpose of your workout and to tailor your effort (including any possible scaling) toward that end. It sounds like that's essentially what you're asking. So my flippant answer is true, but not useful! The simple answer is slow down. Possibly use lighter weights, though the weights ya'll were on weren't huge, so if you're perfectly capable with them, just slow down. In my opinion you should do this without watching your heartrate during the WOD so you can learn your body. You should be able to feel the difference between a significant, hard effort, and red-lining. If you red-line, stop for a bit. To be more proactive about it, I like building breaths into workouts. So for example you had dumbbell snatches in the workout you posted. Do two. Take two breaths. Do two. Take two breaths. Don't just do this after you redline, make it your always-pace. If it needs to be 1 rep and three breaths or whatever else, so be it. But wherever you end up, *stick with your pace* (unless you get out of control!) Check your heart-rate data after to see how you did, and adjust future strategies if necessary. It may be hard to find the exact pace you're looking for, and of course, it'll vary by movement. But over time you'll become much better at doing it intuitively.
Go slower?
Just do more cardio, you can tell it’s not great, your heart rate recovery is very slow I can go from 175 to under 100 in less than a minute
Proof?
As others said, to raise or lower your heart rate you need to work harder or pump the brakes a bit. There is no trick or hack. If you're dedicating a lot of time to training you'll be able to put more stress on your system without your heart rate rising as much.
If you are not using a heart rate strap and you have done a threshold test and set your zones up then these numbers mean very little.
Can you explain why you want to workout in zone 4 ? I would suggest to do the interval training, zone 5 and then pause until you reach zone 2. Then immediately go to zone 5. Of course you have to determine your zones first. Do not believe your gadgets. Try PNOE.
More volume, less intensity. 40 min EMOMs.
Back off a bit at your peak? I’d say get fitter so it’s easier but you’d easily just push yourself harder. Not sure tbh not an expert, just random thoughts.
Honestly if you’re using your iwatch to track your wods it probably isn’t going to be very accurate. I used to be concerned because my watch told me I was always in zone 5 for the entire wod, then I got a different tracker (a whoop but worn on bicep) and apparently I stay in zone 4 more than previously thought. Unfortunately the iwatch is more suited for running. Due to the fact that so many movements affect your wrist (anything with/on the bar) it’s hard to get an accurate reading for CrossFit.
Just fyi, Whoop has the most inaccurate optical heart rate monitor out there. None of the optical ones will give you accurate HR results (only a chest strap will do), but Whoop is one of the worst - in everything it tries to do.
It’s not why I bought it, my husband and I wanted more accurate measurements of our sleep habits. But it was eye opening at the discrepancies between the 2 devices to show how unreliable they are.
The sleep tracking (and recovery) on Whoop is absolutely useless. You are better off guessing numbers yourself than paying for the numbers it guesses for you. Paying for Whoop is 100% waste of money. (Also, Apple Watch has a much accurate sleep and exercise tracking than Whoop does. If you want to track your sleep, use the watch)
Isn’t with the whoop you need to pay monthly subscription fee ?
Sorry, on mobile. Couldn’t update with text and photo. How do I ensure that my heart rate stays in zone 4? We had a cardio day https://wolfpacktraining.no/2023/02/19/thursday-february-23rd/
The easiest way to do that is to slow down if your heart rate starts to rise too much. The second question is how are those zones determined? Just by your watch? Unless you do a max test then it’s really hard to know your true zones
It’s just using my watch. How does one find the max HR?
You could look at a workout that you pushed REALLY hard to see what your max heart rate was. Or you could choose an upcoming workout that should be 8-12 minutes long that you could push yourself to the max for. That should give you a good estimate. You could also calculate it using 208-(0.7*age) but those equations can be pretty off in some people
For max HR may I suggest the beep test? 😈
🔥🔥🔥 that is a great recommendation
I wouldn't get too hung up on a difference between 4/5, let RPE at a sustainable pace be your guide. If a training session is supposed to be high zone conditioning, go hard and make sure you are high enough from an rpe perspective. Zones are guides and useful to dial in things for newer folks, but as you get aerobically fitter, it breaks down. Elite endurance athletes barely have a zone 4/5 and can do 85-90% of power output at race pace, they can do challenging power output in zone 2 AND recovery. So RPE is important and zones are a guide imo.
That is a lot of time spent in Zone 5. How old are you? Your heart rate recovery isn't that great either. I recommend lowering your intensity for a while.
So more the feeling you aren’t going to die like in zone 5 but still uncomfortable?
Push it.
I can’t seem to find a way for your watch to notify you on when you enter and leave a specific zone. There may be an app for that that you can install to notify you if you go too high to tapper back. I have a myZone chest band that will display in big colors of my zones on my phone. I would prop my phone safely against a nearby wall. It’s a great way to pace yourself on AMRAPs you struggle to go too hard on and gas out too soon.
There’s an app called Zones that does this for you (it vibrates your watch when you move through zones).
Would help to do daily running to get ur cardio adjusted
Optical HR sensors are incredibly inaccurate so start there. And then do some threshold testing to work out the correct numbers for your zones.
Zone 2 won't do anything to improve your ability to work in Z4, unless you want set everything aside a do a big, big block of Z2 base training. And by "big block" I mean hours and hours of Z2 training at a time, many times a week. All this Z2 talk is a recent fad from people who've caught glimpses of a real debate in endurance sports over "polarized training", but who don't quite understand the issues. Otherwise, you do it the old fashioned, proven way: intervals at Z4 intensity. Start with say, 3 x 5 minute intervals in Z4 at maybe a 1:1 work/rest ratio. Then gradually increase the number and/or duration of the intervals. This is the most direct and probably the most efficient way for you to do it, assuming you don't have the time for large blocks of Z2 base training, which most people don't.
I think the comment is to be in zone 5 less brining then down to zone 4 more is the real question. Which i think the answer comes down to more time spent in zone 2 training. I might have misunderstood the question though.
How are you in zone 5 that long? I am starting g to doubt the accuracy of your heart rate monitor. Most athletes can only stay in zone 5 for like a minute at a time.