WHY I TRACK MY HEART RATE & MAYBE YOU SHOULD TOO?
We all have our favorites. Favorite exercises, favorite workout styles, favorite ways to suffer (or at least tolerate suffering). Some of us love the GRIT Days. The challenge of endurance, pushing through longer efforts that test resilience. But then there’s a SIT Day - Sprint Interval Training.
SIT days in Specialized Group Training (SGT) are not for the faint of heart. These are high-intensity, short-duration efforts designed to push your power output and recovery ability to the limit. The goal? Max effort, shorter durations, and learning how to hit the gas hard without flaming out too soon. You will be rewarded with overall longer rest than work.
One of the biggest tools I use to guide these workouts and my own training is the regular use of a heart rate monitor. And if you’re serious about improving performance, it might be time for you to track yours too.
Why I Track My Heart Rate During a SIT
If you're not tracking your heart rate during high-intensity training, you're missing valuable data on effort, recovery, and performance. Here’s why I rely on it—and why you might want to start.
What to Expect from Your Heart Rate During a SIT
Max Effort = High Spikes – Expect your heart rate to climb rapidly into the 85-95% max heart rate zone during work intervals. This is the anaerobic zone—where your body is working hard, but oxygen isn’t meeting demand.
Sharp Drops in Recovery – A well-conditioned person should see a significant heart rate drop (30+ beats per minute) within the first 60 seconds of rest. If your heart rate lingers too high, it may indicate poor recovery or fatigue.
Trends Over Time – Tracking your SIT efforts consistently will show improvements in recovery speed, efficiency, and overall cardiovascular adaptation.
Knowing if your hitting the correct effort - These days are truly max efforts. You should strive to find those max heart rate zones and frankly “just thinking” you are without a monitor can be effective, but you may be missing out on pushing your limits.
How I Use My Heart Rate Monitor Effectively
✔ Start With a Baseline – Know your resting heart rate and max heart rate to gauge effort accurately.
✔ Push to the Red Zone – Don’t be afraid to hit those Zone 5 (90-100% Max HR) bursts. This is where change happens.
✔ Recover with Intent – Use your heart rate as a guide. If you're still hovering in Zone 4 (80%+), you may need to adjust recovery strategies.
✔ Check Post-Workout Data – A faster return to baseline means you're getting more efficient at handling high-intensity work.
✔ Getting Comfortable with the Uncomfortable – This is one of my favorite sayings. You need to understand what max effort feels like and understand that this is a temporary feeling of discomfort.
Heart rate monitors are not for everyone, but I’m pretty proud of the fact that the majority of my clients wear one and I can honestly say we work hard together to manage and understand your numbers.
