How to use heart rate monitor?

Heart rate monitor helps a lot to manage your walking pace during hiking.  

You will have a great experience with this method, 

"Pace management with your heart rate"

Use heart rate zone!

Do you know heart rate zone?
This is a range of heart rate which can define a strength of your exercise.

This is a very popular method for RUNNING WORLD!

Many marathon runners using this method to manage their marathon pace.
It helps to get their personal record during a race.

We can use it for hiking!!  This is where this idea is coming from!

For hiking, you want to keep your heart rate in Zone 2 / Zone 3!!

The lowest cost solution!

How to define the HEART RATE ZONE?

Heart rate zone is different for each person!

To define your heart rate zone, you need to know your maximum heart rate.

The easiest way to get the number, you can do an exercise with "All out".  

You will see what would be your maximum heart rate.

However it is probably not a good way for many people.

It would be a high risk for trouble, especially people who is more than 40, not have a training in regular basis.  So I do not recommend this method.

Instead of a real measurement, there is a simple equation to guess your maximum heart rate.

Max HR = 220 - (your age)

This is not very accurate, but it is a reasonable way to fiture out a rough number of your maximum heart rate.  For example, if you are 40 years old, your maximum heart rate would be somewhere around 180 (bpm) = 220 - 40.

Based on the maximum heart rate, the zone definition is following:

• Zone 1: 51% ~ 60% of your maximum HR
• Zone 2: 61% ~ 70% of your maximum HR
• Zone 3: 71% ~ 80% of your maximum HR
• Zone 4: 81% ~ 90% of your maximum HR
• Zone 5: 91% ~ 100% of your maximum HR

For hiking, you wants to stay your heart rate below 80% of your maximum heart rate.

If you want to more comfortable range, you might want to stay less than 70%.

If you are 40 years old, it would be less than 127(bps) (=70%) 

Nice device with GPS function!

The pace is too slow?

If you follow the pace with less than 70% of your maximum heart rate, you may feel the pace is so slow.  But this is probably a better pace for you.   This indicating your pace in the past is probably too fast for you.
If it is just a short hiking, you may be able to push faster pace.  You would be able to do without much trouble.

However, if you hike more than 10,000 feet, you'd better to follow the guidline that you stay in the Zone 2 for more comfortable hiking for your best experience.

More outdoor feature!

The total time could be very similar

Even if you feel the pace is so slow, the overall time to a desination could be very similar.  If you are over pace, then you might need to take more reset.  If you stay in the zone, you do not have to take a lot of rest.  Therefore even if your pace is slow, you have less resting time.  As a result, the total time to your desination would be very similar as walking faster, especially in high elevation.