Table of Contents
Advertisement
Feedback
TRAINING LOAD AND RECOVERY
The training load feature in the Diary in Polar Flow web service will conveniently tell you how hard your training session was,
and how much time is needed for complete recovery. This feature tells you if you have recovered enough for your next ses-
sion, helping you find the balance between rest and training. In Polar Flow web service you can control your total workload,
optimize your training, and monitor your performance development.
Training load takes into consideration different factors which affect your training load and recovery time, such as heart rate
during training, duration of training, and your individual factors, e.g. sex, age, height, and weight. Continuous monitoring of
training load and recovery will help you recognize personal limits, avoid over or under training, and adjust training intensity
and duration according to your daily and weekly targets.
Training Load feature helps you to control total workload, optimize your training, and monitor your performance development.
The feature makes different kinds of training sessions comparable with each other, and helps you to find the perfect balance
between rest and training.
FITNESS TEST
The Polar Fitness Test is an easy, safe and quick way to estimate your aerobic (cardiovascular) fitness at rest. The result,
Polar OwnIndex, is comparable to maximal oxygen uptake (VO
Your long-term training background, heart rate, heart rate variability at rest, gender, age, height, and body weight all influence
OwnIndex. The Polar Fitness Test is developed for use by healthy adults.
Aerobic fitness relates to how well your cardiovascular system works to transport oxygen to your body. The better your aer-
obic fitness, the stronger and more efficient your heart is. Good aerobic fitness has many health benefits. For example, it
helps in decreasing the risk of high blood pressure and your risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. If you want to
improve your aerobic fitness it takes, on average, six weeks of regular training to see a noticeable change in your OwnIndex.
Less fit individuals see progress even more rapidly. The better your aerobic fitness, the smaller the improvements in your
OwnIndex.
Aerobic fitness is best improved by training types that use large muscle groups. Such activities include running, cycling,
walking, rowing, swimming, skating, and cross-country skiing. To monitor your progress, start by measuring your OwnIndex
a couple of times during the first two weeks in order to get a baseline value, and then repeat the test approximately once a
month.
To make sure the test results are reliable, the following basic requirements apply:
You can perform the test anywhere - at home, at the office, at a health club - provided the testing environment is
l
peaceful. There should be no disturbing noises (e.g. television, radio, or telephone) and no other people talking to you.
Always take the test in the same environment and at the same hour.
l
Avoid eating a heavy meal or smoking 2-3 hours prior to testing.
l
Avoid heavy physical exertion, alcohol, and pharmaceutical stimulants on the test day and the previous day.
l
You should be relaxed and calm. Lie down and relax for 1-3 minutes before starting the test.
l
BEFORE THE TEST
Wear your heart rate sensor. For more information, see
your training.
Wear Heart Rate
Benefit
), which is commonly used to evaluate aerobic fitness.
2max
Sensor.
39
Advertisement
Table of Contents
