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Comment by scottiebarnes | Hacker News Reader

Heart rate training is key for a smoother onboarding. Most beginners (myself included) simply try to do a pace that they simply can't sustain, think running is too hard, and then quit. Building that aerobic base is something I wish I understood far sooner.

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This was exactly my experience years ago. I tried and failed to make a running habit several times until I got a heart monitor. When I finally did, I figured out that the pace I thought was what I “should” be running at was actually putting my heart at 185-190 and I was just getting wiped out after a mile or so.

Anyhow I just slowed down to keep my heart more like 140-160 and at the beginning I would even run three minutes and walk one, but I managed to get up to half marathon distance.

These days I don’t go all that far but I do about 3-4 miles 3 times a week. I don’t go very fast either but I feel healthier mentally and physically when I’m consistent.

Honestly it’s not clear to me that trying to go really far or fast is even all that healthy. It can actually lead to heart damage and it’s hard on your joints. Doing something more moderate seems like the sweet spot.

It does not lead to heart damage and it won’t knacker your joints.

It will suck all the time you are doing it, but you physically cannot damage your heart from over exertion.

There's significant evidence that it can: https://press.rsna.org/timssnet/media/pressreleases/14_pr_ta...

If you don't think running can mess up your knees honestly all I can say is that obviously you don't know any serious runners.

Lots of 'mays' and 'mights', and I've been running long enough, and know plenty of runners, to know that running ruining joints is a myth put about by the exercise avoiders.

Anecdata is not data.

That's OK, because nobody's provided anything other than anecdote.

What heart rate monitor did you get and would you recommend it?

I think nowadays just about any smartwatch should be fine?

That was a long time ago and it was a Polar watch with a chest strap. These days I use a Garmin watch, but you could just as well use a Fitbit or an Apple Watch or a heart rate strap and your regular phone. Honestly I don't even look at my watch during a run very much anymore, because I know what various heart rates feel like. The biggest thing for me was to realize that I was just trying to go too fast, and the HRM helped me with that.

Not OP but I go for daily runs and engage in HIIT exercise and found that the Schosche armband is about as accurate as you can get outside of a chest strap (which I personally find distinctly uncomfortable to wear).

https://www.scosche.com/scosche-rhythm-plus-2-0-heart-rate-m...

Having gone through probably twenty HRM during the last 10 years, my recommandation is now Coospo's products, available on AliExpress or Amazon.

My own experience and the one of many friends using them daily is that they are more durable than every product from the big brands (Garmin, Wahoo, Polar...) while being sold for half or less.

The only reason to go for the big brands is for the gimmick extra features that are useless to 99% of the users

In the UK there is a program called couch to 5km. It's possible for anyone to follow and get to running for 30 minutes. It mostly emphasises running at a sustainable pace - even if that is just above walking.

It was popular here in the US too, and I agree it's a great program.

Worth adding that there are a bunch of paid-for apps offering 'couch to 5k', but the 2012 podcast version by the NHS was such an elegant and effective idea—essentially, a free audio coaching program of progressive run-walk training.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nhs-couch-to-5k/id3943...

https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/get-active/get-running-with...

Yeah, there are both free NHS versions of the app and the podcasts. Fwiw I preferred the podcast form as I found the app unreliable (it's hard to keep an app running in the background using GPS and suddenly playing the next blurb). Though you do have to put up with the royalty free music (to be fair it's not awful).

It's amazing how adaptive the cardiovascular system can be when you focus on the right things and keep it very consistent.

I went from having a resting heart rate of 70-80bpm to the upper 30s with a rowing regimen. The positive effect this has on moment-to-moment existence is really hard to overstate.

Wow, I've never heard of a resting heart rate below 40bpm.

Can you describe some of the effects on your moment-to-moment existence? Do you never run out of breath? Is it easier to "get up and go"? Any mental differences? Appetite & metabolism?

Sounds amazing. Please do share details of how you did it?

When I was doing swim sprints in my 20s, my resting HR hovered between 35-38 BPM. While I am still very active, I haven't engaged in that level of intense cardio for years, but resting HR still hasn't peaked above 45.

That’s why most beginner programs state “you should be able to have a conversation” as the pace marker. You don’t need a watch or a fitness monitor - just to be able to say a sentence or two

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