check out our training-pace calculator for a better indication of how these intensities translate in practice (calculated from a recent race time) or read our ultimate guide to heart-rate training for the most objective way of monitoring your progress

to your race paces, but heart rate is an equally good guide (especially if you're new and you don't know what your race paces are). The glossary suggests target heart rates, and so even the most basic heart rate monitor (from about £40) will be a valuable

in between the efforts in a speed session:Easy - Easy - a gentle jog at below 75% maximum heart rate (MHR):Slow - conversational pace (73-78% MHR):Steady - a comfortable, but purposeful, pace. About marathon pace (79-84% MHR):Brisk (or Threshold (THR

it by the percentages in the table (left). Once you have computed your results, you can begin to use the heart rate ranges in training and racing to ensure you’re working at the proper intensity. Repeat this test several times a year to track your lactate threshold

to 10 watts (if you happen to have a power meter). The benefits of this session apply equally to both short- and long-distance athletes.53-minutes continuous cycling as follows:• 10-minutes warm up at 60-70 per cent of your maximum heart rate (calculate

maximum heart rate in beats per minute (BPM) – 220 minus your age is a good rule of thumb. Then try and make sure you don't go above 75 per cent of that maximum while you're training – this will ensure you don't exhaust yourself and dread the next session

heart's stroke volume or your ability to extract oxygen from blood that changes with age, says Sandra Hunter, an exercise scientist at Marquette University in the USA. "It's that your maximum heart rate declines, and no one can change that. It just

to the run will give you a physical and mental boost on race day but shouldn't be the only brick session you do. It's vital to include a wider variety of combinations to keep you motivated and help you to reach your goals.Training toolsUsing a heart-rate

as it takes you to run the repetition – and walk the last 50 metres of the recovery before starting the next effort.” If you're using a heart-rate monitor, don't start the next rep until your heart rate drops to 120 (men) or 130 (women).Check your progress

, consider the pace you ran for your last 10-mile race or half-marathon. This pace is likely to be just below your lactate threshold, or roughly 80 to 85 per cent of your maximum heart rate, says Nick Anderson, the British cross-country coach. An even simpler