Heart Rate Does Not Reflect the %VO 2 max in Recreational Runners during the Marathon

Véronique Billat, Florent Palacin (), Luc Poinsard, Johnathan Edwards and Michael Maron
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Véronique Billat: Department of STAPS, Université Paris-Saclay, Univ Evry, 91000 Evry-Courcouronnes, France
Florent Palacin: Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles Neuroscience Institut, 1070 Bruxelles, Belgium
Luc Poinsard: Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles Neuroscience Institut, 1070 Bruxelles, Belgium
Johnathan Edwards: Billatraining SAS, 91840 Soisy-sur-École, France
Michael Maron: Department of Integrative Medical Sciences, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH 44272, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Exercise physiologists and coaches prescribe heart rate zones (between 65 and 80% of maximal heart rate, HR max ) during a marathon because it supposedly represents specific metabolic zones and the percentage of V ˙ O 2max below the lactate threshold. The present study tested the hypothesis that the heart rate does not reflect the oxygen uptake of recreational runners during a marathon and that this dissociation would be more pronounced in the lower performers’ group (>4 h). While wearing a portable gas exchange system, ten male endurance runners performed an incremental test on the road to determine V ˙ O 2max , HR max , and anaerobic threshold. Two weeks later, the same subjects ran a marathon with the same device for measuring the gas exchanges and HR continuously. The %HR max remained stable after the 5th km (between 88% and 91%, p = 0.27), which was not significantly different from the %HR max at the ventilatory threshold (89 ± 4% vs. 93 ± 6%, p = 0.12). However, the % V ˙ O 2max and percentage of the speed associated with V ˙ O 2max decreased during the marathon (81 ± 5 to 74 ± 5 % V ˙ O 2max and 72 ± 9 to 58 ± 14 %v V ˙ O 2max , p < 0.0001). Hence, the ratio between %HR max and % V ˙ O 2max increased significantly between the 5th and the 42nd km (from 1.01 to 1.19, p = < 0.001). In conclusion, pacing during a marathon according to heart rate zones is not recommended. Rather, learning about the relationship between running sensations during training and racing using RPE is optimal.

Keywords: self-pace run; energy cost of running; exercise physiology; endurance; running performance; pacing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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