Newsletters November 2002 Serenity Through Technology
Serenity Through Technology

Serenity Now!
You stand, majestically, ready to start your workout. The sun is rising, all's well with the world. As you reach down to press the start button on your HRM, you realize, "Darn, my heart rate zones aren't set, my timers aren't set and I'm not sure I remember how long I was supposed to be in zone three, or even what my zone three heart rates are." You curse as you fiddle with the buttons, trying to navigate the labyrinth of menus, guessing at today's assignment from the coach. The sun slips behind a cloud. The beauty of the moment has been lost; your serenity is shattered.

It is true that sometimes the gadgets we use in training can be a source of stress. In this case, however, the solution may be more technology, not less. Here's tomorrow's story:

As you press the start button on your HRM, it understands that today is Wednesday, and that this particular Wednesday's workout from the coach starts with a 15-minute warm-up in zone 1 (for you, 106-128). After the allotted time, it gently beeps at you - it's time to kick it up to zone 3, and your new thresholds are already active. You see from the timer counting down that you need to hold in zone three for 20 minutes. You pick up the pace, hit your zone, and find peace and joy, until you are gently brought down to earth by your HRM beeping to notify you that your time in the zone is up - it's time to coast back down to your recovery. The perfect workout: not too much or too little, just what the coach wanted, with a chance to let your mind wander.

The surprising story behind these vignettes is that you may already have everything you need to experience the good life. With PC Coach software and many models of Polar HRM (the entire S-Series) you can start your day off right by uploading all of the workout parameters into your HRM from your PC. Some even allow you to upload a week's worth of workout parameters.

How hard is it to get these things uploaded into your HRM? If you are following one of the PC Coach training plans, or if your own coach is giving you workouts using the Remote Coaching Service (RCS), it takes only three simple clicks of the mouse.

If you are designing your own workouts, you can create an exercise definition yourself and upload it to your HRM using the Upload Wizard (described later in this article).

Either way - following a training plan, RCS from your coach, or self-coached, once a workout is scheduled and contains 'planned' data, there are several different ways to get to the upload function, and get this information into your HRM. You can use the 'Data Center' (button on the left toolbar) or do it straight from the Workout View. The method of choice depends on the model of HRM you have. Here's the breakdown:
Polar HRM Model Communication Link Best Upload Method
S610 — S710 - S720 Infra-Red Quick HRM Setup
S210 — S410 — S510 SonicLink Workout View
S120 — S150* SonicLink Workout View
*Upload to S120 and S150 models will be supported in PC Coach version 3.6

Uploading Workout Information Using The Workout View

This method works for all Polar S-Series models, and it will upload the definition for a single workout to your HRM. (If you are a S610, S710, or S720 owner, you may also use Quick Setup, described below.)
To access the workout view, double click on today's workout on the PC Coach calendar. The Workout View opens. Click the upload button (left side) and follow the directions. You will be given the choice of "Upload" and "Exercise."
The "Upload" button sends the definition for this workout up to your monitor. All the needed information for that workout (timers, heart rate limits, etc.) is now in your monitor. This workout will be automatically invoked next time you press the red button to start a workout. Wasn't that easy? The serenity has returned... you are ready to exercise!

What if you have questions about how to use your monitor for this exercise? Worried about which buttons to press, what beeps you will hear. If you have any questions, go back to the workout view, press the upload button again, and this time, choose "Exercise".

You will see a movie of just how the monitor will work during this workout. It guides you through each button press, countdown timer - every screen you'll see. This feature is especially useful if you are doing a complex workout, like intervals with recovery!

Polar S610, S710, or S720 Owners:
Use Quick Setup

For these Infra-red equipped models the communications link is bi-directional,and supports multiple commands in a single session.

 
 
This means that PC Coach can perform a number of operations for you all at once.
The Quick Setup feature is designed to perform all of the common operations you need in regular use. This includes downloading any new workouts stored on the monitor and clearing the monitor memory. It also includes uploading the parameters for the next five workouts that are found on your calendar. This means you can open PC Coach on Monday, load up the next five workout definitions, and not have to return to the program until Friday.

To keep your workouts organized inside your watch, PC Coach gives each workout set a name that indicates the day - a workout on your calendar on Tuesday the 14th, will be stored into the monitor and named TU 14.

If you have a Polar 610, 720 or 710 monitor and you don't see the Quick Setup button, it is because you don't have this monitor set as your default. To do this, go to the Data Transfer Center. (Click 'Manage Data Sources', select your monitor type (610 or 710), click 'Add To My List', and check 'Make This My Default')
How To Use the Upload Wizard to Create Your Own Exercise Definitions

If you are self-coached, or if you just want to create your own workout definition, it is still possible to set your HRM from the computer. Click on the Data Transfer Center icon, and choose "Upload Data" and "Workout Setup". Here you will find the Exercise Definition Manager. The Exercise Definition Manager is a wizard that helps you through the process of defining a workout (timers, HR limits, recovery, etc.), and then stores these definitions for you with a unique name.

These exercise definitions stay in your PC Coach program, and you can use them again and again. (This method works for any of the S-Series monitors.)
For example, you may wish to define an exercise definition for your Tempo Run. You will want to create timers for specific warmup and cooldown times, and a specific time for the tempo portion of the run. You can also set up your heart rate limits for each section of the workout. Now, save this definition as "Tempo Run". Each time you're going out on a tempo run, just upload this definition, and your HRM is all set in seconds!

Want to Learn More?

Uploading your workout definitions is a powerful feature that can save you time and frustration. For a complete description on Uploading and Downloading data, read the "Quick Start Guide - Heart Rate Monitor Downloading/Uploading."
Before You Start Uploading
Be sure you have the latest release of PC Coach - version. If you need to update your copy, visit www.pccoach.com and click on "Support".

There have been a number of improvements to uploading in recent releases. Specifically:
  • Support for uploading to the Polar S610 and S710 via the 'Data Center' requires PC Coach version 3.5.4.

  • Support for Polar S210 requires version 3.5.4, currently available.
    Support for upload to Polar S120 and S150 is planned for PC Coach version 3.6, scheduled for release in November 2002
Remember that if you own PC Coach version 3 ( 3.0.0 or later) you can update to the latest version at no charge.
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