DETERMINATION OF HEART RATES FOR TRAINING USING POLAR SMARTEDGE HEART RATE MONITOR

Abstract

1430 Previous studies have reported systematic decrease in the vagal modulation of heart rate variability (HRV) during incremental exercise. The HRV(R-R-interval) analyzed by Poincaré plot during exercise has been reported to plateau, which has been suggested to serve as a marker for exercise intensity (Tulppo et al. Am J Physiol 271, 1996 and Wilkinson et al. Circulation 94, 1996). Based on these studies, Polar Electro has developed a heart rate (HR) monitor (SmartEdge), which determines the lower and upper limits for target HR based on HRV plateau and age. This study compared Polar SmartEdge target heart rates to the ACSM target HR recommendation of 60-90% HRmax for cardiorespiratory training. Twenty four men (age 36±6 yrs, maximal aerobic power (VO2max) 44,8±5,1 ml/kg/min and HRmax 190±7 bpm) and 24 women (age 37±5 yrs, VO2max 35,1±4,4 ml/kg/min, HRmax 183±6 bpm) volunteered into the study. The subjects participated first in a maximal exercise stress test in the laboratory and next week in a field test in an indoor hall. This field test included a 10 min walk-jog-test with 2 min speed increments. The lower limits determined by the SmartEdge HR monitor were(mean±SD) 124±4 and 119±4 bpm in men and women, respectively, and corresponded to 62±4% and 65±3% of the HRmax. The upper limits were 163±6 and 156±5 bpm in men and women, respectively, which corresponded to 80±5% and 84±3% of the HRmax. Taking the ACSM recommendation as a reference, the results show that the Polar SmartEdge HR monitor can be used for target HR zone determination in adults.