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RMI Guide Linden Mallory checks in from Chukung.
On The Map
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Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
As you design a training plan to prepare for your next climb, data about your training and level of fitness is a really useful tool. One of the best ways to get an objective idea of your current level of fitness and to measure your gains is by tracking your heart rate with a heart rate monitor.
There are two main types of heart rate monitors available: watches that use an infrared sensor to your heart rate at your wrist and monitors that use a chest strap with two electrodes to record the electrical pulses from your heart. The infrared sensors on watches measure the change in the size of veins to record your heart beat, and can give a good rough idea of your heart rate trends. Movement of the watch on your wrist can interfere with the accuracy of the sensor however, so the normal movement that comes with training activities can mean that it doesn’t record your workout very effectively. The electrodes on a chest strap pick up the electrical signals from your heart very effectively despite any movement, and therefore and the best way to get a good picture of your workouts, and what we recommend.
Heart rate monitors are effective for a couple of different purposes. First and foremost, a heart rate monitor gives you the ability to track your training more accurately. Heart rate monitors use versions of the 5 training zones that most athletes utilize, so you can begin to build an accurate picture of how much time you spend in each zone and how effective a given period, week, or workout might have been for you.
A heart rate monitor also helps you to hit your target intensity zone for a given workout. This works in both directions; it can help you to tone it down on your long level 2 endurance training if you start to push a little hard, or it can let you know that you need to push even harder to make it to your target L4 zone on a set of intervals. One of the most helpful is setting an upper heart rate threshold alarm during your aerobic building workouts to warn you when you go too hard, which happens to most!
Tracking your heart rate over a period of time can also give you a picture of your overall fitness. As your training pays off, your resting heart rate should drop, and you will find yourself covering more ground and going faster, but at the same intensity. Conversely, a sudden spike in your resting heart rate may indicate that your training load is adding up and that you need to focus a bit more on recovery.
As an added bonus, most of the better heart rate monitors also have the ability to track your workout with GPS, so you can keep track of your training routes. A heart rate monitor won’t make you fitter, but it gives you invaluable information that allows you to create a more informed training plan.
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Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
There are so many choices with heart rate monitors. Can you make a few recommendations? Thank you.
Posted by: Mike on 10/8/2023 at 9:17 pm
Posted by: Jack Delaney, Jackson Breen, Keeley Rideout
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guide Jack Delaney led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise July 14 - 19. The team met last Thursday for their orientation and gear check. The next morning they went straight to the mountain. Their first camps were above Paradise and they used the terrain for training, getting everyone up to speed on cramponing, glacier travel and ice axe arrest skills. Additional training took place as the group slowly ascended over the next few days. Yesterday the team made the jump to Camp Muir. After dinner and discussion about the climb ahead they crawled into sleeping bags for a few hours of rest. With an alpine start the team left Camp Muir, they reached the summit after 6 hours of climbing, approaching the crater rim around 7 am. After enjoying the views and photo ops from the summit the team is returning to Camp Muir. Once back at Camp they will pack up and continue the final 4.5 miles back to Paradise. Their program concludes today with a celebration once they return to Rainier BaseCamp.
Nice work team! We hope you enjoyed your time on the mountain!
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Jeff Martin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 18,510'
On The Map
Well done Johann & all the team.
Posted by: Jackie Melllo on 8/14/2014 at 4:03 am
Job well done Jessie and Team!!!!
Posted by: Len and Cathy Gagliardi on 8/13/2014 at 6:41 am
Posted by: Brent Okita, Eric Frank, Mike Haugen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Congrats Lindella and team. We are so proud of you!Mom and Dad
Posted by: Linda Smith on 8/4/2012 at 9:20 am
Congrats to Mike on 100!! I was there on the summit with him and our team had an incredible climb together. Thank you to our amazing guides and to my fellow climbers for a great four days on the mountain.
Posted by: Cindee Teer on 8/3/2012 at 9:12 pm
Posted by: Mike Haugen, Matias Francis, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guide Mike Haugen checked in via radio at 7:40 am as the Kautz Seminar July 18 - 23 team was just reaching the crater rim. The team did well and climbed strong from their camp at the top of the Wapowety Cleaver. After enjoying the views from the summit the team will descend via the Disappointment Cleaver route. This group met at Rainier BaseCamp on Sunday, July 18 and after two days of off mountain training began their ascent via the Kautz Glacier Route. Their time on the mountain included glacier travel training as well as focusing on techniques required for the current conditions on the upper mountain. The team will conclude their program with a celebration in Ashford later today.
Congratulations to the Kautz Seminar climbers!
Amazing accomplishment Dustin! Can’t wait to hear all about it!!
Rose
Posted by: Rose on 7/24/2021 at 12:48 pm
Way to go Dustin! We are so proud of your accomplishments! Can’t wait to hear about your expedition when you get back to work! Your fans at iMemories!
Posted by: Sheila Beals on 7/23/2021 at 11:56 am
Posted by: Steve Gately, Ben Ammon, James Bealer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
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Posted by: Alex Van Steen, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Carstensz Pyramid
Elevation: 11'000'
Mark Tucker checks in from Putigapa
On The Map
When your on that mountain, all you gotta do is give ahundred puhcent. You know me and my boyz dwade and chris all we do is get the rings. If you ever make a big desicion call me up (1-800-got-ring)
Posted by: Lebron (The King Who Got His Ring) James on 6/30/2012 at 8:54 pm
Hey Team!!!! Hope you all are not too worn out so far! You are in our prayers! Keep having fun p.s. Katie I hope you are not using as much chapstick as you did on kili or else you will be out by now….
Posted by: Billy (Bmeister) Mcgahan on 6/30/2012 at 8:49 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
It was pretty incredible to wake up deep within Tarangire National Park just before daylight. Birds were starting to sing, monkeys were at play a few feet from our tents and lions were about. Someone heard an elephant. We drank coffee and watched the light come up. The team ate breakfast, bid the hotel staff goodbye and hopped into our now familiar Landcruisers. We set off on our final morning of Safari on a big cat mission… no stopping for zebras and wildebeest… bring on the kitties. And sure enough, we struck lion gold. First there was that big, beautiful male hanging out with four females… but wait, wasn’t that another couple of lions over in that tree and still more under it? All told there were thirteen, big and small in the pride. We watched them watch us and we watched them wrestle and climb trees. And then we made slowly but steadily toward the park gate (we did indeed still stop for zebras and wildebeests). The day got ordinary -though still pleasant- as we commuted back to Usa River and Rivertrees Hotel to repack and prepare for the airport. We recalled our favorite parts of the climb and Safari, we planned out future trips. Then the team busted up finally… hopping on planes and departing Africa.
I’ll stay on for another climb and Safari that will begin soon. Thank you for following.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
Awesome Dave! Loved following along
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 8/13/2022 at 3:14 am
We opted to go for the summit today ahead of expected precip tomorrow. We called our high point a bit above the saddle. There is a large cornice along the summit ridge and loose, wet snow that was unstable. There is a lot of snow in Boston basin still, no rock to be seen along the summit ridge.
Our plan is to descend tomorrow am, one day early.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
We are anxious to hear how things are going. So you summit Saturday, which means Friday night Nepal, which means Friday day EST. I’m confused and I’m at sea level.
Keep the Sat phone updates coming Linden
Posted by: john barsanti on 3/29/2012 at 9:14 am
Thanks for the update. We are going through withdrawal without our daily blog feeds from Linden and Dana Marie. Take care and keep looking upward.
Posted by: Thurston on 3/29/2012 at 8:25 am
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