If you're only using your sports watch to track distance and pace, you're missing a major opportunity to improve your running performance.
Sports watches and bracelets are stuffed with various sensors that collect statistics about your activity. If you analyze and use it correctly, you can become faster, taller, stronger and reduce the load on the body. To help you understand the intricacies of running metrics, we have collected 10 main metrics and clearly explained their purpose.
Vertical oscillation
Take a look at a professional athlete during a race. You will notice that your upper torso remains almost motionless. The body moves smoothly forward, like a swan on water, while the legs do all the work. One of the indicators of the effectiveness of such running is vertical oscillations. In simple terms, this is the height of the “bounce” while moving.
Vibrations are measured in centimeters relative to a fixed point on the body. In the case of GPS running watches, it is located near the sensor built into the chest heart rate monitor. The magnitude of the fluctuations ranges from 6 to 13 cm. World marathon champion Paula Radcliffe has the minimum values.
So why do you need to monitor vertical oscillations? This allows you to increase your running efficiency and avoid wasting energy. During exercise you need to bounce as little as possible. In turn, vibrations are closely related to step frequency, which we will discuss further. By the way, the Garmin Forerunner 630 sports watch with a heart rate sensor can track both of these metrics.
How to calculate BMR using Basic Metabolism Calculator?
This basal metabolic rate calculator is designed for non-experts so that anyone can use it easily. No technical skills or BMR formula required here. All you have to do is enter basic numbers such as your age, gender, your weight and your daily activity level and calculate your BMR by clicking or tapping on the calculate button. When you enter information, please be assured that the information you provide to us when calculating your BMR is never stored anywhere and will not be used for any other purpose. This information is used only to calculate your BMR, and when you leave the page or site, this information is no longer used.
Cadence (cadence, step frequency)
Cadence is the number of steps per minute. The most important indicator for assessing running efficiency, which is easy to improve if you figure it out. As with vertical oscillation, some sports watches use sensors in the chest heart rate monitor to measure it, but older models will need a dedicated sneaker sensor.
Usually the cadence is in the range of 150-200 steps per minute. To achieve maximum efficiency, professionals try to run at 180 steps/min. A simple and effective way to get into the “cherished 180” is to choose music with the appropriate rhythm. Here are some famous tracks:
• Moby — Run On • Blur — Song 2 • Katy Perry — Roar • Queen — Don't stop me now • Alpinestars feat. Brian Molko - Carbon Kid
The new Garmin watches have a Metronome function, which uses sound signals to count down the desired rhythm. To turn it on, go to the Garmin Connect app settings. There you can also adjust the beat frequency and select the metronome sound.
HR Max (maximum allowable heart rate)
Maximum heart rate is the highest number of heartbeats per minute (heart rate, HR) that is reached at the body's limit during intense exercise. The maximum is different for everyone and depends on genes and age. The older a person is, the lower his HR max.
Why is it important? The boundaries of your cardio zones depend on your maximum heart rate. The more accurately you know HR Max, the more accurately you can determine the limits, which will lead to more effective training.
There are many ways to calculate your maximum heart rate. The most accurate is in laboratory conditions, but you can use the formula (220 - your age). Typically, sports watches allow you to manually add your metrics, and some models can estimate your HR Max based on your last workout.
How to increase your maximum heart rate? But no way. The only thing you can influence is your heart rate during recovery. In the following articles we will try to tell you how to reduce it, why it is needed and why it is so important. If you don't want to buy a chest strap, take a look at the TomTom Runner Cardio sports watch. They measure your heart rate right on your wrist, just as well as a chest sensor.
Nina Alekseeva (translation)
Kent Holtorf in his interview “OPTIMAL TREATMENT OF HYPOTHYROIDSIS” said that the levels of tissue thyroid hormones are the main factor determining overall metabolism, so the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) can be considered the GOLD STANDARD of thyroid function in the human body. I offer a short translation of Lisa Lorraine Taylor’s article to introduce you to this indicator of thyroid function and learn how to calculate it yourself. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the minimum amount of energy consumed by the human body to maintain its own life at rest. This energy is spent on breathing, blood circulation, digesting food, maintaining body temperature, etc. Our BMR slows down by about 2-5% every 10 years after our 20s, which is why many people can't understand why they gain weight as they get older despite living the same lifestyle as they did in their 20s, 30s or 20s. even 40 years old. We must change our BMR so that age-related changes that occur in the body do not affect us! Did you know that external temperature also affects the increase in basal metabolic rate? If the weather is cold, the body must create more heat to stay warm. Anything that affects body temperature causes an increase in BMR to counteract this effect. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW YOUR BMR. Whether your goal is to lose weight (get rid of fat), gain weight (muscle mass), or simply maintain your current weight, knowing your BMR will help you achieve and maintain your body in great shape. HOW IS BMR CALCULATED? There is a simple formula to calculate BMR. MEN: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kg) + (5 X height in cm) - (6.8 X age in years) WOMEN: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kg) + (1.8 X height in cm) — (4.7 X age in years) For example: You are a woman. You are 30 years old. Your height is 167.6 cm. At the same time, you weigh 54.5 kilograms. Your BMR = 655 + 523 + 302 – 141 = 1339 calories/day. Next, we take into account your activity: Low = BMR X 1.2 (sedentary work, almost no exercise) Light activity = BMR X 1.375 (Light exercise 1-3 times a week) Moderate activity = BMR X 1.55 (Moderate exercise 3-5 times per week) High activity = BMR X 1.725 (Strong exercise/sport 6-7 days per week) Extreme activity = BMR X 1.9 (Heavy physical work, serious training 2 times a day 5-7 times a week) FOR EXAMPLE: Your BMR is - 1339 calories per day. You have an average level of activity (You exercise 3-4 times a week) Your activity factor is 1.55. Your result: 1.55 X 1339 = 2075 calories per day. Now you can easily understand how much you will need to eat to lose or gain weight. CALCULATE YOUR CALORIES TO LOSE WEIGHT One pound, either fat or muscle, is equivalent to 3,500 calories. This means that a person must reduce the number of calories they eat or burn those calories through exercise in order to lose one pound per week. By creating a 500 calorie deficit per day, you will ultimately lose one pound per week. If your total calorie needs are 1,917.98 to maintain your current weight, simply reduce by 500 from that and you will have the amount you can eat each day and still lose 1 pound each week. In this example, that would be 1,418 calories per day. HOW TO IMPROVE METABOLISM. Our metabolism is the true indicator of the success of diet and fitness. We really need to keep our "engine" hot in order to burn the most calories each day. Unfortunately, there are many things that can slow it down. These include: Age: Our metabolism actually slows down by 5% every 10 years. Fat: Muscle tissue burns 3 times more calories than fat. Diet: Significantly cutting calories shocks our body and sends it into “starvation mode.” This basically slows down the metabolism in order to conserve calories because the body "believes" there is a shortage of available food. When this happens, our weight loss progress hits a plateau. Increasing muscle mass by strength training two to three days a week (minimum) will help increase your metabolism, which in turn will help you reduce unwanted fat and create a leaner body. Remember, knowing your BMR along with good nutrition and exercise will give you the body you've worked so hard for! https://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html
| Basal Metabolic Rate - Learn How To Calculate and Find Your BMR |
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR, basal metabolic rate, BMR)
Basal metabolic rate is the number of calories burned during rest. Like most metrics in sports watches, the best way to determine your BMR is to go to a laboratory where you will be fitted with a special mask to measure your breath. But you can do without expensive tests: many sports watches determine BMR based on age, height and weight.
Why know how much energy your body burns per day during rest? BMR must be monitored while the body is drying. In other words, BMR is the minimum amount of energy required to maintain human life. The Polar V800 tracker can divide the calories burned per day into BMR calories, daily activity and training calories.
HOW MUCH ENERGY DO YOU NEED TO KEEP LIVING?
Are you on a weight loss mission and want to know what is the least amount of calories you need to stay alive, then this BMR calculator is the tool you need?
The BMR calculator or Basal Metabolic Rate calculator calculates the number of calories your body needs to function properly. If you want to know what my BMR is, you need to calculate your BMR using this BMR calculator. BMR depends on the muscle mass you have in your body. If you are more muscular, your BMR will be higher than someone who is simply fat but doesn't have good muscles. And your muscles need energy to keep working and if your body is not getting the least amount of energy, it will weaken your muscles and you will start to feel tired and sluggish.
Heart Rate Zones
Based on the value of the maximum heart rate, sports watches divide the heart rate into several parts (zones). Usually, for convenience, zones are painted in different colors. Cardio zones are an important topic that deserves its own article.
Different devices name the cardio zones differently, but it usually looks like this:
• Warm-up zone - 50-60% of maximum heart rate. • Endurance training zone - 65-75%. Most of the calories burned come from fat stores. The most comfortable mode for long runs. • Aerobic load zone - 75-82%. The body consumes more oxygen, the cardiovascular system is strengthened, but only half of the calories are consumed from fat reserves. • Anaerobic load zone - 82-89%. Physical fitness improves significantly, but only 15% of calories are burned from fat reserves. • Zone of maximum aerobic load - 89-94%. It is better for an unprepared athlete not to enter this zone. Only professionals can work in it, and even then not for long.
As you can see, each cardio zone uses fat reserves as a source of calories, and you can run in any of them. But only getting exactly into the required cardio zone will give an effective result.
VO2 Max (Maximum oxygen consumption)
VO2 Max sounds like something out of a high school chemistry textbook, but it's actually the maximum amount of oxygen (in mm3) you consume in a minute, divided by 1 kilogram of body weight. Measured at maximum load.
In simple terms, this is the body's ability to absorb oxygen. This is important because the higher your VO2 Max, the better and faster oxygen gets to your muscles, and the longer and faster you run. If you're going to lose weight, you need to increase your VO2 Max. The indicator affects the overall running efficiency and cardiovascular endurance.
As with your maximum heart rate, the best way to know your oxygen consumption is to do a lab test. But many sports watches use complex algorithms in conjunction with a chest heart rate monitor, vital signs, and recent workout results to determine VO2 Max.
If your sports watch can calculate your oxygen consumption, you can estimate your current performance. To do this, connect your chest strap via ANT+ and run for 10 minutes. By the way, unlike HR Max, it is possible and even necessary to increase VO2 Max.
What affects the speed of PBM
Since the body is a closed, well-coordinated and autonomous system, any internal or external factor can instantly affect its activity and life support. Consequently, when changing body position, as well as all types of movements, basal metabolism increases in order not only to support the functioning of the body with the proper level of energy, but also to ensure its physical activity.
This increases your metabolic rate. This is due to the fact that the musculoskeletal system, which accounts for up to 40% of body weight, takes over the share of energy, consuming it in large quantities. A significant portion is spent on muscular activity, so ultimately adding muscle mass helps increase BMR.
At the same time, there are factors that can actively influence these processes. Among them:
- gender of the individual;
- physiological age of a person;
- level of thyroid function.
MIO PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence)
PAI is a patented technology from MIO, which was presented at CES 2016. It is an algorithm based on the Norwegian Hunt population health study.
The idea is simple. Your heart rate is the most accurate indicator of physical activity and reflects your overall health. Each person has a different heart rate, and you can't compare everyone with metrics like the number of steps taken per day. Some people walk 10,000 steps in an hour, others in a day, and all this affects the body differently.
MIO PAI reads your heart rate during training, heart rate at rest, and, taking into account your gender and age, brings the results to one indicator over 7 days. In the application it is displayed as a heptagon. The goal is simple, as is the idea: collect at least 100 PAI.
The technology only works on MIO bracelets; you can view statistics through the proprietary MIO PAI application.
What is BMR?
As we said above, BMR or Basal Metabolic Ratio is the body's caloric intake at zero activity level. In other words, it is the amount of energy you need for your healthy survival. And if your body doesn't get that minimum amount of calories, your basal metabolic rate will drop and you'll start to feel tired without the energy to do anything. So, it is important for every person to calculate BMR and how to calculate BMR, you can calculate Basal Metabolic Rate using our effective Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator.
Orthostatic Test (orthostatic test)
When taking an orthostatic test, your heart rate is measured while lying down, then while standing. As a result, you will know your heart rate during rest, the peak value when getting up and after the rhythm calms down. The test is carried out 2-3 times, after which average heart rate values are obtained, for example: 54-83-62 (lying average, standing maximum, standing average).
These indicators are necessary to understand your overall health and how ready you are to return to exercise. If the average standing pulse is 10 beats per minute higher than the average lying pulse, then the body needs to restore strength.
Ground Contact
Another metric used to improve running efficiency is the time your foot touches the ground. This is the period of time during which the foot/sneaker is in contact with the surface. Measured in milliseconds.
On average, runners have contact with the surface for 160−300 ms. For two-time Olympic champion Mohamed Farah and marathon runner Geoffrey Mutai, this value is 190 ms.
Garmin, in collaboration with professional track and field athletes, found a correlation between touch time and the likelihood of injury. Ideally, you should place your feet on the ground symmetrically with each other. The indicator is inversely proportional to the frequency of steps: the higher it is, the shorter the time of contact with the surface and the faster the run.
How to reduce touch time? For example, you can reduce your stride length—the distance between the landing point of one foot and the other. Or focus on strengthening your gluteal muscles and add sprints to your regular workouts.
Lactate threshold (lactate threshold, anaerobic threshold)
Measuring your lactate threshold allows you to better understand what your body is capable of without resorting to complex tests, blood draws, and treadmill testing in a laboratory setting.
Lactate threshold is the maximum endurance or running intensity at which the body is able to rid the muscles of lactic acid. When this threshold is exceeded, fatigue appears and running speed drops.
According to Garmin, professional athletes should have their lactate threshold at 90% of their maximum heart rate. For regular runners, it’s below 90%. It is very important not to exceed these values, since energy reserves must remain in the body.
This is one of the most important indicators for track and field athletes, so at the moment it is possible to measure the lactate threshold with high accuracy only in laboratory conditions. If you don't have a sports watch that calculates your lactate threshold, you can use a chest heart rate monitor.
Get on a treadmill or find a flat path in a nearby park. Warm up for 10 minutes, then run for another 10. Start your stopwatch, and stop after 30 minutes of running. As a result, the pulse was found out at the 10th, 20th and 30th minutes. The heart rate value at the twentieth minute is your lactate threshold.
What is metabolism?
Evolutionarily, the human body strives to maintain the ideal weight and fat percentage from a survival point of view, which are set by genetics. This protects a person from any extremes: both from exhaustion and from obesity. Both reduce the chances of passing on your genes to offspring in the wild.
The “ideal” weight for survival is controlled by a part of the brain—the hypothalamus. It is he who slows down or speeds up the metabolism if he sees any deviations from the norm for a particular person. With the help of a variety of substances - hormones, the level of glucose and amino acids in the blood and much more - it collects information about what is happening in the body: whether there is enough fat stored, whether food is regularly supplied, how high-calorie it is.
Comparing the data with the “ideal” genetic setting, the hypothalamus turns the metabolism up or down, depending on the situation. Let's look at examples of what an ideal metabolism looks like.
If a person has eaten an unusually large amount for one or more days, his appetite itself decreases in the following days. A person will eat less without noticing it. At the same time, he will be more mobile and active. And even if he does gain excess weight during vacation or holidays, he will quickly get rid of it as soon as he returns to normal life, without doing anything special to lose weight. The hypothalamus will regulate appetite and activity levels to bring the system back into balance.
And the opposite situation. The same person suddenly began to eat unusually little for himself: he went on a diet and stopped eating due to stress and busyness. In response, the hypothalamus increases appetite in the following days to make up for the average caloric intake. At the same time, it reduces activity - the person becomes more lethargic, sleepy, moves less and, at the first opportunity, wants to sit or lie down.
It turns out that a person with a healthy metabolism can have approximately the same weight for many years without doing anything special.
How does the hypothalamus do this?
The brain controls appetite through a variety of mechanisms.
- Leptin, glucagon, obestatin, neuropeptides S and FF, cholecystokinin, neurotensin, enterostatin, thyroid hormones and other hormones reduce appetite.
- Amino acids and glucose in the blood are a sign that a person has eaten.
- Full stomach: it has sensors for mechanical distension. They tell the hypothalamus about food inside.
- Contraction of the gallbladder and its production of bile after eating.
- Intestinal filling.
The following chemicals increase hunger and push a person to search for food and craving for certain foods, especially high-calorie ones: ghrelin, neuropeptide Y, orexin, galanin, noniceptin, motilin, B-endorphins, etc. As well as low levels of glucose and amino acids, empty stomach.
A person begins to receive greater pleasure from food - from its taste, smell. Food becomes a source of pleasure. Dopamine and endorphins are responsible for this, which are released every time a person eats.
This is an excellent defense mechanism against starvation and exhaustion: if we were indifferent to food and not motivated to seek it, we could not receive almost narcotic pleasure from it, things would be bad with survival. Although, today this plays against us: we no longer need to look for food. The most delicious, fatty and sweet food is in abundance at arm's length. Because of this, dopamine and endorphin receptors are bombarded more often, stronger and more than nature intended. This disrupts all the internal settings of the body in terms of eating behavior.
Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC, post-exercise oxygen consumption)
Let's dive further into science. EPOC is the degree to which the body's metabolism (calorie and fat burning) increases after exercise.
Everyone knows that during exercise we burn calories to provide energy to our muscles. But even after finishing training, fat deposits are consumed, and more intensely than before training. The body needs to recover after exhausting work.
Some Suunto sports watches can predict EPOC so the athlete can estimate the intensity and intensity of the workout. If you constantly monitor your performance while running, you can catch an EPOC value at which further rest after training will be more effective.
Real-time EPOC tracking allows you to accurately track your workout duration and plan your workout steps. The Suunto Ambit3 Peak Sapphire watch is perfect for these purposes.
Fast and slow metabolism
The metabolic situation described above is ideal. In life, sometimes everything seems to be the other way around: the more a person eats and moves less, the less he wants to move and eat more. And someone is thin, eats very little and cannot eat anymore.
To understand about fast and slow metabolism, you need to know this. The human nervous system consists of two sections. The first is the central nervous system. It consists of the brain and spinal cord. The second is the autonomic nervous system. This is the main regulator of metabolism. It controls the functioning of the glands, organs, digestion, manages the nutrients supplied by food, and does other things important for life.
The autonomic nervous system has two branches: sympathetic and parasympathetic.
- the sympathetic nervous system is activated during times of mental or physical stress, and in the wild - during flight, defense or attack. It “accelerates” metabolism and is responsible for the mobilization of energy from reserves and its use. It controls the functioning of the muscles, heart, thyroid gland, reproductive system, and stimulates the release of adrenaline.
- The parasympathetic nervous system restores the body after stress. It “slows down” metabolism, stimulates digestion, accelerates the absorption of nutrients and their storage. It also controls the immune system.
Depending on the situation - stress or recovery - any person turns on either one or the other branch. But for some people, each may dominate most of the time. This determines the metabolic rate.
It is important to understand: when talking about fast and slow metabolism, we are not talking about metabolic diseases that need to be treated by a doctor. Everything else is within the normal range of a healthy person, but with deviations in one direction or the other.
Fast metabolism
People with a dominant sympathetic nervous system are the lucky ones for those who spend their entire lives trying to lose weight. They are slim and have no problems with being overweight.
These are usually lively, active, emotional people, with fast, sudden movements. Their pulse is more frequent, and their blood pressure is increased. Their thyroid glands are more active. They are always a little nervous, excited about life and spend a lot of energy during the day. They don't get fat, but they also have difficulty gaining muscle.
Slow metabolism
People with a dominant parasympathetic nervous system gain weight easily but have difficulty losing weight. These are sedentary, calm, relaxed, and in extreme cases - apathetic, lethargic people. They quickly absorb nutrients, which, coupled with a very good appetite, creates problems with excess weight.
In response to excess food, the hypothalamus may not reduce appetite in the following days, as it might in an ideal situation. One of the metabolic problems is poor sensitivity of the brain to leptin.
Leptin is a hormone produced by adipose tissue. With its help, the hypothalamus sees the amount of stored energy (fat) in the body. Lots of fat = lots of leptin. The hypothalamus reduces appetite and increases activity, because there is no need to be afraid of starvation. Low fat = low leptin, which means there is little energy, appetite needs to be increased, and the desire to move needs to be reduced.
But sometimes the hypothalamus does not see leptin, even if there is a lot of it and fat. This means constant hunger and decreased activity. A person begins to eat more and more over time.
Sometimes poor leptin sensitivity is acquired, due to poor lifestyle and excess weight. And sometimes it is genetic, when a mutation in the structure of the hormone itself or in the receptors of the hypothalamus prevents the signal from being received correctly.
If a person with a slow metabolism suddenly decides to go on a starvation diet, great suffering awaits him: his appetite becomes simply brutal. Begins to crave everything fatty, sweet or salty. Activity drops very significantly and puts him in amoeba mode with constant thoughts about food, bad mood, lack of strength and libido. The function of the thyroid gland worsens even more.
Added to this is the low sensitivity of muscle cells to insulin, which makes fat storage easier.
From an evolutionary point of view, those who survived were those who could store more fat to survive famine, long winters and pass on their genes to their offspring. Now this is no longer an evolutionary advantage, but many of us carry these genes and struggle with excess weight throughout our lives.
