My first Heart Rate focused workout

 

I've never been one to pay attention to my exercising heart rate... I see people looking at their watches all the time and for me I have just gone based on feel.  "Fuck this is hard, I can't breath, I need to slow down to survive", "This feels good. I can hold this pace to get this work done.", Or "This is so enjoyable, I could do this forever" have been my gauges that I have followed through this journey.  Monday's first Zone 2 workout shed a bit of light for me and brings me to discuss some things to think about.  

I started my workout on the wrong setting on my watch and couldn't see my heart rate so I had to reset after the first round of slam balls.  Once I could see my heart rate, you will see that I had a hard time keeping it in the zone.  My zone is 119-145... most of that first round I couldn't break 100 BPM.  I thought I was working at the moderate pace we were shooting for but it wasn't cutting it.  I had to find a way to get my HR higher to get the "desired effect" of Zone 2.  I chose to add weight to my movements... bumped to a 25# slam ball and 40# DB, as well as added some 100m runs within my 4:00 between sets.  This did the trick.  Turns out my Zone 2 is more uncomfortable than I wanted it to be. 😂  On the bright side this is a good "problem" to have.  Here are some thoughts from that first workout...

• We are ALL at a different spot on this fitness journey. 
• If you have a hard time getting your heart rate up, it's good news, it means your heart is very proficient and delivers the needed oxygen in less beats.  HOWEVER, you will need to get MORE work done in order to get the desired effect of Zone 2 training.  So adding weight, pace, cardio to our Zone 2 training days may be needed.  
• If you had a hard time keeping your heart rate within the Zone 2 because it gets too high, too quickly, good news.... this will improve with consistency and training.  There are a couple of reasons this may be the case.
• Experienced Athletes:  
• You may have lacked consistency in your training so your body has not accommodated a "regular" training effect for you.  Get to the gym OFTEN.  
• You may have been showing up to the gym consistently, but have not been pushing yourself the way you are capable of.  You may have been training in Zone 1 or low end Zone 2 the majority of time... so full on Zone 2 seems like a big effort for you.  For you this journey will be a bit outside of your comfort zone until your body adjusts.  Hold yourself accountable for this.
• If you smoke, vape, or inhale any other kind of something... you are ABSOLUTELY impacting your heart rate and will continue to have a higher heart rate until you kick the habit.  
• Less Experienced Athletes:
• This is why you are at the gym... this will get better and you will get fitter, IF YOU SHOW UP.

2nd Zone 2 workout coming your way.  The key ingredient is YOU... Show up!