Many people who use the Concept2 ergs may not be aware that the machine’s performance monitor (PM) can display and record your heart rate while you exercise. Nowadays many exercisers use smart watches to track their heart rate but the data on your smartwatch may not always be accurate. For indoor rowing a heart rate chest strap is more practical as it enables you to sync it directly to the PM without having to constantly be checking your wristwatch. In general heart rate chest straps are considered the most accurate way to track your heart rate while exercising. I encourage people who take my rowing class to invest in a heart rate chest strap because in addition to the PM data it is a useful tool for observing your heart rate in real time as well as for monitoring changes in HR over time. But is it necessary?
Despite my recommendation few people in my classes use a heart rate monitor. For many people heart rate data feels like obvious feedback – the greater the effort the higher the heart rate. At Community Rowing most people focus on perceived effort (RPE) instead of heart rate as a simpler and more subjective gauge of their exercise intensity. It can also be counterproductive to fixate on your heart rate.
There is a reason why Concept2 machines are called “Ergs”. An ergometer is a device that measures “work” and the unique feature of Concept2 ergs is that they are all finely calibrated to accurately measure the work that goes into your workout, no matter where your erg is located. This is what enables many indoor rowing competitions to take place live online such as this year’s WRICH.
Power is Performance
On the Concept2 erg your workload and effort is most accurately measured by your watts or your 500m pace/split (1000m on the BikeErg). Because there is a relatively linear relationship between increased workload and heart rate during exercise when you increase your power output in watts (ie; a faster 500m pace) you will see an increase in your heart rate. For this reason heart rate is commonly used as a means to monitor exercise intensity but it’s important to understand that HR is more accurately a response to your effort and it can be influenced by many factors unrelated to your fitness including heat, caffeine, stress and sleep patterns and the heart-rate data on your smartwatch may not always be accurate.
Training Zones
Heart-rate training is based on the concept of “training zones” that correspond to different percentages of a person’s maximum heart rate. For example Zone 2 is between 60-70% of your MHR and is suitable for a steady state endurance effort whereas Zone 4 is 80-90% of MHR and is often called the anaerobic threshold zone. This is typically race pace. But for heart rate training to have any validity the zones must be based on an accurate measure of a person’s max heart rate.
The renowned American exercise physiologist Dr. Fritz Hagerman, said he had learned from more than three decades of studying world class rowers that the whole idea of a formula to predict a person’s maximum heart rate was ludicrous. Even sillier, he said, is the common notion that the heart rate is an indication of fitness.
Some fitness programmes rely heavily on heart rate data and while it is tempting to compare your HR numbers with others, your ability to maintain a higher watt output is a far more direct and objective measure of your fitness. The best use of heart rate data is to combine it with the power of the PM to measure improvement in your fitness. The PM gives you accurate and repeatable data on your workout effort so you can use it to test your progress. For example if you regularly repeat the same workout at the same intensity and perceived effort, if your fitness is improving you should see that over time your heart rate is lower for that workout. But remember it’s not the athlete with the highest or lowest heart rate who crosses the finish line first, it’s the one who can maintain the fastest pace!
