Heart Rate Training

Hi There,
I've recently bought a Polar HRM and very nice it is too. However I am confused by various training levels out there!
Max and resting heart rates no problem.
However:
The hrm measures "true" percentages of a max heart rate, yet in the booklet that came with it (Written by Ken Maclaren) it instructs you to obtain your "range" combined with a formula to work out your percentage levels. This is also true of the book "Heart Rate training for the compleat idiot" which seems to get recommended alot on these forums.Ideas or recommendations please? at present I'm just using the "basic" method at the moment as this seems to be the only one that will work with the percentage function on my hrm.Any help appreciated!

Bill for a start the formulas are notoriously inaccurate and you are far better off doing a max HR test to establish that and then taking your resting HR and working out the percentages and ranges thereafter, I think there is a table in the HR/complete idiot book for this

Hi Meldy,
I've managed to do a max heart rate test by doing alternate 200m laps and managed to get a max of 190. The porblem is the various ways of working out the percentages i.e. do I do just a basic percentage of my max or add my range/resting rate to get a percentage? I was just wondering which "percentages method" is the best for running?

I think they are much of a muchness as long as you stick to one of them, I have heard that adding the resting back in is better but I guess its personal opinion

Bill-I use the percentage of working heart rate formula not percentage of max becasue it gives me a higher training heart rate.

Max 186 RHR 50. So using the pct of WHR gives me 65% of 139 (186-50=136 x 0.65 +50)
while 65% of my max is 120. I can reach 120 just walking fast...

Here's an online calculator to make it easyhttp://www.ottawarun.com/heartrate.htm

Thanks Mykey - sorry for the delay in getting back to you - been christmas shopping (yuk)