What are good protocols for measuring cardio fitness with a heart rate monitor?
How can I have efficient training and get good measurements at the same time?
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The idea is to have something closely aligned with cardio fitness (Like measured with a VO2Max test).
I would do this in a gym with cardio machines, and I imagine fixing work is simpler than fixing hearth rate.
How do MAJOR fitness apps such as Google Fit support such protocols?
There is actually a very easy way of checking the strength and fitness of your heart using a heart rate monitor: measure your resting heart rate. Anything below 60BPM is better than average. Below 40BPM is getting close to elite endurance athlete levels of heart strength and fitness.
A 20 minute time trial on an exercise bike that measures power output is another simple way of measuring heart strength and fitness. Your average power output over the 20 minutes is the measure of your performance. This is actually a better test than the first because if you can do the 20 minute time trial with a good average power output, your heart is definitely strong. It would be possible to have a low resting heart rate because of certain medical disorders without having a strong heart.
