Precision Heart Rate Training

Over the past 20 years, heart rate monitors (HRMs) have
gained widespread popularity among fitness enthusiasts and elite athletes. These wireless devices monitor the body's levels of cardiovascular and physiological stress during exercise, so users can adjust their training intensity for the safest, most effective workouts.

While more people are buying HRMs, few know how to maximize their use. Precision Heart Rate Training is the best, most complete resource for anyone who wants to use an HRM to get optimal results. Written by prominent authorities from a variety of sports and fitness activities and backed by Polar Electro, the leading manufacturer of HRMs, Precision Heart Rate Training fully explains why and how to train with a heart rate monitor.

Editor Edmund R. Burke, a former Olympic coach who began working with HRMs in 1983, introduces the basic concepts of heart rate training. He explains how various factors affect heart rate during exercise, then presents several methods for establishing target heart rates.

Burke also introduces the concept of training zones, or ways of describing training intensity, ranging from very light activity to training for improved performance. Using these zones as a framework, an all-star panel of experts explains how to design and use training programs for seven different sports and fitness activities:

- Walking - Therese Iknoian
- Running - Roy Benson
- Cycling - Joe Friel
- In-line Skating - Frank Fedel
- Multisport Training - Tim Moore
- Circuit Training - Wayne Westcott
- Group Exercise - Jay Blahnik

Each chapter contains training suggestions specific to the activity described, including how to find the optimal training intensity, design an effective training program, and adjust workout intensity, plus sample workouts or programs, or both.

For those who want to develop an effective long-term training plan, Jim Dotter, founder of Biometrics, Inc., provides guidelines for setting up a measurable training system using HRMs and explains how to adjust the plan through the season.

With HRMs, athletes and exercisers at every level can use high-tech biofeedback training to develop sophisticated programs for better performance. Precision Heart Rate Training shows them how to use today's training technology to their fullest advantage.

Edmund R. Burke, PhD, began working with HRMs in 1983, when he used these small electronic devices to prepare the U.S. cycling team for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Over the years he wrote numerous articles on HRMs and served as a national spokesperson for the Polar Precision Fitness Institute.

Dr. Burke wrote or edited 11 books on health, fitness, and cycling, including Serious Cycling and Complete Home Fitness Handbook. The executive editor of Cycling Science and managing editor of Performance Conditioning for Cycling, he also wrote extensively on cycling physiology, training, nutrition, health, and fitness for Winning Magazine, MTB Magazine, NORBA News, and Bicycling. He consulted with several companies in the areas of cycling, fitness equipment design, nutritional products, and fitness programs.

Dr. Burke held a doctorate in exercise physiology. He was a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, and he served as vice president of research for the National Strength and Conditioning Association, with whom he was certified as a strength and conditioning specialist. Dr. Burke was also a professor in and director of the exercise science program at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, where he lived with his wife, Kathleen. Dr. Burke passed away in 2002.