[We asked an expert] How to walk using the PRO TREK Smart WSD-F21HR, which can measure your heart rate, to help you improve your endurance without fatigue?

Many of you may know that heart rates are said to be useful for people's health management and for training athletes. To put it simply, heart rate is the number of times the heart beats in one minute. The resting heart rate for ordinary adults is estimated to be approximately 60 to 80 times per minute. Naturally, the way your heart rate rises differs depending on how much exercise you are doing.

Professor Maekawa Yoichi (Department of Physical Education, International Martial Arts University) He has a track record of 6th place in Lake Saroma 100km Ultra Marathon (1999) and completed the Fuji Mountain Climbing Race, and is well versed in heart rate research, measuring and demonstrating his own heart rate. He was active in the Hakone Ekiden 5th ward at the University of Tsukuba. Lectures in various regions provide a wide range of instruction to beginners and advanced players, from junior athletes to masters, and in health-building projects, they also provide guidance from walking to jogging. His major works include "Marathon Textbooks that I Couldn't Have Been" and other works.

This time, we spoke with Professor Maekawa Yoichi of the Department of Physical Education, International Martial Arts University, a training science specialist, whether it is possible to use CASIO's outdoor smartwatch PRO TREK Smart WSD-F21HR (hereinafter referred to as F21HR) to measure your heart rate, and how to practice it. After that, I actually used the F21HR to climb while controlling my heart rate, and tried out how I could climb for the purpose I wanted, so I'll report back on it right away.

table of contents

• Why is it tired when your heart rate rises?
• The contents of the exercise change with the heart rate zone, which indicates the intensity of the exercise
• The key to climbing without getting tired is to "whether you're walking while burning fat?"
• When climbing, be careful of heart rate fluctuations due to steep slopes etc.
• To increase your endurance, climb in heart rate zones 3-4.
• Maximum oxygen uptake is also important for your body that is less likely to get tired.
• I actually tried climbing the heart rate with the aim of climbing without fatigue and improving endurance.
• summary

Why is it tired when your heart rate rises?

For example, let's say there is a 5km paved road on a flat land. Whether the same person runs at full speed through this distance or walks slowly over time, the distance traveled is the same, so the energy consumed is almost the same.

However, what is the feeling of fatigue after running is the one who worked hard at full speed. Why do people burn the same calories and how tired they are, they end up in different ways? The difference is that one burned 250 calories in 20 minutes. The other part was burned 250 calories over an hour. This is where heart rate comes in.

The former runs with a fairly high heart rate. On the other hand, the latter walks without raising it much. And the critical difference between the two tired people "the energy sources used are different . The former, which has full speed, consumes glycogen as energy, while the latter mainly uses fat as energy. Continuing to consume glycogen will make you exhausted and unable to move. You can continue to exercise as long as you burn fat. , the height of your heart rate during exercise can greatly affect how tired you are and how effective you are due to exercise.

By the way, which one is better for burning body fat is actually not much different. This is because people who walk are aerobic exercises, so fat is used while walking, but those who run at full speed are less likely to use fat while running, but fat burns occur during the fatigue recovery process after running. It is an afterburning effect that burns fat after exercise. When it comes to fat burning, the fatigue rate is different, but the resultant effect remains the same.

Professor Maekawa Yoichi is not an expert in mountaineering, but is well-versed in the field of heart rate, measuring and verifying his own heart rate. He is also a senior coach at the Japan Athletics Federation, certified by the Japan Sports Association.

The contents of the exercise change with the heart rate zone, which indicates the intensity of the exercise

Heart rate height (low) is not an absolute number, but rather a relative height for each person. In order to use your heart rate to achieve your desired exercise, it is important to first know what percentage of your maximum heart rate you did. Although there are individual differences, your maximum heart rate (BPM) is estimated from 220 minus your actual age. Therefore, the upper heart rate limit generally decreases with age.

If it's just for the sake of health, it's enough to just keep moving without getting too exhausted. If you want to burn fat, you need to exercise at a slightly higher level. If it's more than that, then this is the area of ​​training. If you are aiming to improve endurance, you will need to raise your body to the zone where you can work harder. However, this does not mean that you just need to get your heart rate closer to 100%. If your heart rate reaches 90% or higher, it will be an effective exercise to improve your anoxic endurance rather than aerobic.

• Zone 5: 90-100%...Improved anoxic endurance
• Zone 4: 80-90%...Improved endurance at speed
• Zone 3: 70-80%...Improved aerobic endurance
• Zone 2: 60-70%... Fat burning
• Zone 1: 50-60%... Warm up, cool down, walking

the PRO TREK Smart website for information on heart rate zones . % is the percentage of maximum heart rate

With the WSD-F21HR, you can check your heart rate and heart rate zone while you are active. *Please note that initial settings for maximum heartbeat and resting heartbeat are required to do this.

The key to climbing without getting tired is to "whether you're walking while burning fat?"

If your heart rate is below 80% (zone 3 or below), you are basically fully oxygenated, so the fat in your body can be converted into energy. If it's 60% to 70% (zone 2), you're sure to be fat burning . If you use fat as your energy, fatigue will not accumulate. However, if you don't exercise at all, you may experience lactic acid in that area (my muscle fatigue occurs). Also, the way lactic acid is produced differs depending on whether fat is used (as energy) or not.

If you walk at a minimum of 70% of your maximum heart rate, you can turn fat into energy and climb without getting tired.

When climbing, be careful of heart rate fluctuations due to steep slopes etc.

If you dash towards the end of a marathon, lactic acid will be temporarily released, but if you keep the pace at a constant pace even in a marathon, lactic acid will generally not accumulate. However, when it comes to climbing, you may be able to hold your body tight and use your muscles as you try to lift yourself up . It can cause lactic acid as it damages the muscles. Lactic acid is being produced, which means your heart rate is rising. In other words, there is a lack of oxygen. This means that there is not enough oxygen for the intensity of exercise. If your heart rate increases and you are not able to supply the required amount of oxygen, lactic acid will accumulate and fatigue will accumulate.

In addition, if you are walking on a gentle uphill, your heart rate will not increase very rapidly. However, that's not the case when climbing. A variety of terrain, including slopes, overhangs and rocky areas, and changes in the ups and downs, naturally, are more likely to appear than in marathons, making your heart rate more likely to fluctuate. Another negative factor in fatigue is that your heart rate suddenly fluctuates too much.

If you want to climb in a way that is not too tired, it would be easier to climb by taking the time to walk to avoid lowering your heart rate as much as possible. If your heart rate is constantly rising, your body won't last, so even if it rises for a moment, it will drop again and return to steady state. If we can keep the time in steady state for a long time, I think we can climb without suffering much. In the end, you will feel less fatigued by keeping your heart rate as low as possible. In that sense, when you feel suffocating right now, check your heart rate, and if it's high, slow down the climbing pace a little or take a break. If we respond in this way, I think anyone can move forward without any effort.

Because there are many ups and downs in the mountains, the heart rate tends to rise and fall more frequently.

To increase your endurance, climb in heart rate zones 3-4.

For example, if a beginner marathon is aiming to complete the race, there is no need to train hard at all. We will teach you to slowly increase your running distance without increasing your heart rate. However, if you want to shorten your completion time, you will have to get used to running at a faster pace. This will require training to increase your heart rate and improve your endurance. When it comes to building endurance, it is effective to exercise at a range of 70-90% of your maximum heartbeat and around 3 or 4 heart rate zones . The important thing is that just moving tightly to the very lasts doesn't mean you'll gain more endurance.

As you continue to train, your heart rate will become less likely to rise even if you exercise with the same strain. This will allow you to speed up even more. Also, even if people who are training suddenly increase their heart rate, they will drop sharply after resting for about a minute, but those who are not exercising will continue to get out of breath and their heart rate will not drop easily.

If you walk at 70-80% of your maximum heart rate, your heart rate will gradually become less likely to rise even with the same exercise, and you will gain endurance.

Maximum oxygen uptake is also important for your body that is less likely to get tired.

Another indicator of endurance is that if you can walk quickly even when climbing mountains where there are intense ups and downs, your maximum oxygen ups and downs will have a large maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max (V with dots)). Maximum oxygen uptake is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can take in. When your maximum oxygen uptake increases, it becomes less likely that your body will experience a lack of oxygen, which means less fatigue, and more roomy to exercise. If you exercise the same, your physical strength will last longer, and if you do the same distance, your speed will increase. effective to raise or lower your heart rate with care in order to improve your maximum oxygen uptake . Repeating the effort and resting areas rather than continuing to apply a constant load will stimulate your oxygen uptake. This is what is called "interval training."

It's not impossible to say that you should climb a mountain above the level at once. You must take steps to ensure that oxygen can be delivered to your entire body. That's why cardiopulmonary function, such as the heart and lungs, is important. It's best to climb a mountain for a long, slow climb, and then transport oxygen to the edges of your body. Especially the higher the mountains you go, the more it becomes more relevant to your maximum oxygen uptake. What percentage of oxygen can we utilize in the presence of thin oxygen? The higher you climb mountains, the more important it becomes.

An effective way to improve your maximum oxygen uptake is to move your heart rate more up and down.

Next page: I tried using the WSD-F21HR to practice heart rate climbing

I actually tried climbing the heart rate with the aim of climbing without fatigue and improving endurance.

Based on Professor Maekawa's opinion, I immediately tried two ways to walk at Mt. Oyama (1251.7m above sea level) in late October: a way to climb without getting tired, and a way to climb for training. The climb starts from Yabitsu Pass (761m above sea level), and is intended to be staying in a tent, so the luggage I carry was 9.215kg. The maximum heart rate for the author (age 41) is 179bpm.

The backpack weighs 9.215kg. It's about one night in a tent.

Don't forget to set the F21HR before you start climbing. Set your resting heart rate and maximum heart rate. In addition, with the "Zone Alert" function, an alert will sound when zone 2 is exceeded.

To avoid fatigue, you can climb at a fat-burning pace.

First, start with a way to climb without getting tired. It's chilly so I climbed wearing a thin fleece jacket. Climb as much as possible in heart rate zone 2. To review, zone 2 burns fat and zone 3 improves endurance. As I was about 400m at the beginning of the climb, my heart rate suddenly rose, and I couldn't grasp how fast my heart rate rose, but I gradually started to get used to it. Because you have set a zone alert, the clock will notify you with a vibration when it exceeds zone 2, and when you look at the display, the zone shows "3" and is flashing. The alerts quickly made it possible to get a sense of pace.

Once I got the feeling, my heart rate was around 110 bpm and I was able to climb while maintaining my heart rate zone 2. When it came to climbing, I felt a little faster and sweating, but not enough to drip. It's a pace that allows you to climb while talking. When the slope was rising, I tried to slow down my pace and climb with small stools to prevent my heart rate from rising. Although I was carrying about 9kg of luggage on my back, the climb time to the summit of Mt. Oyama was 80 minutes, just as per the course time.

Check your heart rate zone with an alert. Vibration will let you know.

By the way, from the summit, I descended as early as possible to Yabitsu Pass, but although I tend to sweat, my heart rate didn't rise easily, so I was in Zone 2 or Zone 1 (50-60% of my maximum heart rate). Although the pace of travelling downhill is fairly fast, there is also the uneven shape typical of a mountain trail, making it difficult to walk in, so the pace slows down everywhere. My heart rate remained low. For reference, the diagram below is a graph of the heart rate climbing to the summit at the time.

I aim to keep zone 3 with training in mind...

I was confused at first when I was able to get a hold of the pace of the zone 2, but I was able to get used to it almost immediately. We took a break for a while and then started climbing by keeping zone 3, with training in mind.

Carry the same 9kg of luggage on your back and climb with the heart rate zone 3 in mind. Heart rate zone 3 is the area of ​​endurance, and 4 is the area of ​​muscle strength and stamina improvements. My heart rate began to rise sharply around 400m when I first climbed. The truth is that it's quite difficult to keep zone 3 and climb. This is because your heart rate will inevitably rise to zone 4.

When you reach heart rate zone 4, your breath will rise and you will also get a lot of runny nose. It felt like sweat was coming out of my whole body. In particular, my armpits, chest and back are sweating dripping. I'm sweating so much that I want to take off my fleece jacket. Even when the slope is as hard as possible, I try to climb without slowing down my pace, and rest moderately and return to Zone 3, but when I rest I almost fall to Zone 2.

If you have a high heart rate, it seems like it takes quite a bit of getting used to it to keep your zone. My body gets tired from the middle, and I sometimes have to slow down my pace. When I arrived at the summit, I had a 53 minute time. This means that the climb was about two-thirds of the time of the course. At the point where the slope was getting tight towards the end, my legs felt heavy, perhaps because my muscles were exhausted. Zone 4 (80-90% of maximum heart rate) is the area where the body is heavily loaded and lactic acid is released. It's not surprising that it feels heavy to lift your legs.

A display screen that is easy to read even when climbing. When climbing with training in mind, my heart rate zone tends to be 4.

The figure below is the second time I climbed mountains with zone 3 in mind, aiming to improve endurance. I tended to end up in zone 4.

summary

It's not too difficult to practice mountain climbing without fatigue using your heart rate. Keeping zone 2 (60-70% of maximum heart rate) was almost the same as climbing that kept course time in my case. However, this time I was carrying about 9kg. If the conditions, including temperature, will also change the guidelines.

It burns fat as energy, and lactic acid is less likely to be produced if it is within 80% of your maximum heart rate. However, in places with a steep slope, you must try to climb at a slightly restrained pace. I think it depends on individual differences and weather conditions, but sweating can be a little bit, so you need to adjust your wearer to suit the situation.

On the other hand, if you are climbing for training, you will need zones 4 or 3. Perhaps because this was my first time climbing with my heart rate in mind, I get the impression that it was difficult to maintain a high heart rate. Lactic acid builds up, and the body becomes tired and my thoughts become dull. However, this is when the F21HR zone alerts were quite useful. In order to build a body that is more fatigue-free, conscious heart rate up and down training to increase maximum oxygen up and down is also effective.

Maintaining your heart rate zone is sensory, but it seems to take some experience to get the pace. In that sense, the PRO TREK Smart WSD-F21HR allows you to easily measure your heart rate on your wrist, and it is easy to understand your heart rate zone through displays and alerts. Of course, you can check your pace, distance, altitude, etc. at any time, and you can also set your maximum oxygen uptake. This smartwatch is perfect for a wide range of people, including those who want to do a leisurely, tireless climb, or those who want to try mountain climbing with endurance and stamina.

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