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Kettlebell Using a heart-rate monitor ... for the data-averse

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Don't lose sight of the goal: to improve the aerobic system. Using swings to do this is a bit tricky, but do not let emotion get in the way. It is not a "problem" that your HR spikes too high, it is a sign of a comparatively poor aerobic system. So, what?

Lots of folks are taking their numbers to heart (no pun here). To be able to do more work under your aerobic heart rate indicates aerobic improvement. Constantly busting your aerobic HR is at odds with this. Going heavier into glycolysis because you must use this bell size, or must get this number of reps is shooting yourself in the foot, if aerobic improvement is your goal.

For you folks with this "problem", I would recommend, first, that you keep the work set under 10sec... for your typical cadence with 1-h swings, this means 5-6 reps. See how your HR reacts to this. Over time, you will find that you can increase reps per set, one at a time. This method will SLOWLY work into mild glycolysis, as your buffering capacity improves. Lastly, warm up properly... if you jump right into swings, you will end up doing less work than if you warmed up for 10-15 first, slowly bringing your aerobic system up to speed.

For runners, this is no different than running slow to maintain your aerobic HR; even slowing down on hills, or as you turn into the wind.

Take your mind off the quantities of sets, reps, loading as goals... and see the protocol for what it is: a "tool" to improve the aerobic system. However you need to, the most important element is working up to, but not exceeding your aerobic HR (another issue is overestimating aerobic HR... because more is better right? No.).

Great work to everyone trying this... it's not easy to stick to at first.
 
Al, is the recommendation to keep the heart rate less than 138 age specific or general in nature? Does this mean that my heart rate shouldn't be above 138 at the end of a set of swings?

So I would check my heart rate at the end of a set of swings and if it is above the target I need to either rest more between sets, use a smaller bell, or do fewer reps? And thus will help my aerobic capacity improve faster, as well as my strength?
 
Jeffrey,

Aerobic HR = 180-age, a la Maffetone. I test people to individualize, but that is a pretty good formula for most. You can even adjust based on his categories of health.

Make sure the spike after the set does not exceed your aerobic HR. Then, yes, rest to a lower HR, or do fewer reps. Dropping a bell size is more commonly only for those who started too heavy.

And, yes.
 
Great. I learned something new.

Are most of you using heart rate monitors with the type of sensor that wraps around the chest rather than the wrist? The wrist watch type looks more convenient but couldn't be used for snatching, cleans, presses, getups, or anything involving holding a kettlebell against the wrist. It looks like the wristwatch type of monitor would be good for swings unless the constant acceleration from swings would tear the monitor up.
 
Jeffrey - I'm a recent convert to the hr gadget world. How tech to you want to be?
I bought a watch and strap on ebay, to test it out, really. Does what I want it to do, heart rate. It has calorie counter etc but I don't use it. You need a chest strap. Sounds as though it would be an inconvenience but it isn't really. I wear the watch for swings, remove it for get ups, leaving it to the side and check it now and then. After using it a few times now I don't really need to monitor it for get ups, I stay well below my hr zone, so leave it now. They work by range, so just walk over to pick it up and it will display your reading. You can also get a bluetooth chest strap and connect to an app on your phone to log all the data. You can print out all your graphs, logs and stats and display them around your house should you choose and analyse every left ventricular heart beat to impress your cardiologist. You could get into hrv too - heart rate variability - and no doubt do other stuff. Maffetone recommends Polar watches as you can input your own aerobic zone. Not sure if other manufacturers offer an individualised heart rate zone. I have a basic one, new ones come with gps. As I'm in my garden and haven't got lost yet nor do I do S&S whilst driving in the mountains, it was a feature I figured I won't ever need. When I run I usually have an idea where I'm going and how to get back. Might get a bluetooth one though. I like a good chart now and then.......
 
Jeffrey, mine is the Garmin 705 edge that I use for bike riding. I put the chest strap sensor under the sports bra and the cell-phone sized Garmin unit on the floor so I can watch HR. I really like the GarminConnect site - the unit syncs the data when I plug it in, and I don't have to count sets or record rest periods, I get all that from the Garmin data after upload as with the link above.

Sometimes you don't know what data you need until later (like several weeks in, "I wish I had my Average HR for these sessions... oh, I do), it's nice to have it all electronically recorded.

One note about Garmin or other units normally used while in motion - you may have to fiddle with the settings to get a good capture. I have to turn off "auto-pause" and put the Data Recording setting on "Every Second" instead of "Smart Recording" (which only records data while in motion).

Interesting note about the HR graphs --- the HR spike lags the swing set by 10-20 seconds (which also varies slightly day-to-day). So when you see the graph going uphill, about mid-way up the hill is the end of the set when I set the bell down. HR continues up, peaks, then starts coming back down. When I see it come down to 120-125 or so, I go with the next set of swings.
 
Mine is a polar m31. It will have been updated as it is a few years old. Not sure all polar watches have the options for individual heart rate training, so you can check out polar's website if you want to buy a new one, or at least a model that is still in circulation. FYI, mine the m31, m32, m61 and m62 have the function as it is the same user manual for each.
 
I've had 3 RF ablations for afib. My resting HR is around 90 (used to be 60). Just getting up and walking over to the kb gets it nearly to my target rate of around 114. Not quite sure how to scale, but if I keep my HR that low it's like not working out at all. If I push too hard I crash. I get a blank look from my doc about this.
 
Mike,

Yours is a very individual case. I would go find a doc who is knowledgable with both your condition and how exercise affects your "new" cardiac responses.
 
Anna,
Thanks for the recommendation. Since the swing sets already seemed so short, I didn't even consider shortening them more. But I have experimented with the reps on my swings, starting with 5-6 as Al recommended (thanks to Al for his free advice, as well), and with the same weight I was using previously, I can get 7-8 reps per set with the heart rate staying just under the aerobic goal, and recover more quickly between sets. Quite interesting that just 2 reps makes the HR spike 15-20 bpm more. Anyway, nice tactic to have as I move forward with swings. Thanks again.
 
Could anyone suggest a good heart rate monitor? I don't really know what to purchase

I just want to track my strenght training and maybe some of my running in the future
 
Okay, I am going to keep my heart rate at or below 189-age during my swings, but can I key my heart rate climb above that figure during my getups?

Alex, I just bought a Polar FT7.
 
I got a polar M400 which has GPS function in which is useful to track pace in running. If you dont run I wouldn't bother with the extra expense though.
Polar stuff seems reliable and has some useful web software to help track and analyse.
 
"Okay, I am going to keep my heart rate at or below 189-age during my swings, but can I key my heart rate climb above that figure during my getups?

Alex, I just bought a Polar FT7. -Jeffrey Tabb"

Jeffrey, if you're referring to the Maffetone method, it's 180-age. 9 beats per minute higher will alter things quite a bit. Not for the better, in my opinion. It might've just been a mistype on your part, but I wanted to point it out in case it wasn't.

I saw that Al Ciampa mentioned just doing your getups and not paying attention to the heart rate during those, because they will spike above your threshold.
 
It was a mistype. I meant 180-age.

Since getting a heart rate monitor, I have discovered several things. My resting heart rate is in the low 50s. My aerobic limit is 127 (53 yrs old). I can exceed 127 PDQ. As Anna stated, the heart rate continues to climb after I set the bell down, but pacing up and down causes it to not climb as much, and to come back down faster. At this point in time I need to limit my swings to 6 per set and let it come down to around 85 between sets, which is a bit surprising because I don't feel all that winded.

In terms of good, better, and best, is there merit to trying to keep my heart rate below 127 during my getups? If I rest long enough to get my heart rate down to 85 I can do a getup and then have my heart rate peak 15-20 seconds after I set down the bell at 127-129 range. If it really doesn't matter then I will say the heck with it and just crank out my getups in a few minutes.

Why would it be important to keep my heart rate below 127 during swings and it not matter with getups?
 
Jeffrey,

How long is your swing session? What are you trying to accomplish? Judging by your resting HR, you might be able to get away with using a slightly higher HR value. Have you ever had a lactate test done?

Some of the reason why we don't care about HR during strength work like get ups is that it's not conditioning work; and because usually it does not take you close to your aerobic HR. However, get ups are long enough under tension that HR can spike pretty high; and, just the act of going from horizontal to vertical against gravity will spike HR too.
 
Al,

I haven't timed my swing session. Now that I incorporated the HRM it will certainly be longer. I have only done two swing sessions since getting the HRM. Last night my HR didn't go above my limit a single time, even during getups, and my rest intervals were shorter. It doesn't take long for my HR to come from 127 back down to 85 or so. I will see if that trend continues.

I have never had a lactate test.

What am I trying to accomplish? I want to be healthy, strong and well conditioned. I am not training for a specific event but I like to get outside and do a variety of things and want to be in good overall shape. I guess you could say I want to meet the Simple Standards. If my left shoulder could take it I would like to do The Strong program with doubles using the C&P.
 
Hi all,
I am new tothis forum...So Hello from Ger,any:)
I swing for almost a year now, always wearing my Polar. But I gave up measuring/tracking my other activities.
When I do my swing intervals, my heartrate goes up pretty high at max (about 176 at highest point). I use the swing training as my HIIT workout.
 
Unless you are 4 years old you are exceeding your aerobic threshold.

All kidding aside I trained about as hard as I could push myself when I was younger. I used to think that was a good thing. As a result of new information (to me anyway) and advice from the SF community, with Al being a big part of that, I wonder what it would have been like to try to stay out of the glycolytic zone as much as possible when I was in the prime of life. I am in my 50s now and train much differently now than I did when I was younger. That isn't because "we just can't do what we did when we were younger" as much as the way I trained when I was younger wasn't so good after all.
 
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