six seconds). This recovery time is also available in the
Recovery Time screen, which can be accessed from the Time
in Zone main screen.
Note: Any stored recovery time value
will automatically be cleared the next time your heart
rate goes above the high recovery limit.
When the recovery timer is running, the "RCY" icon will
flash and be visible in all main screens.
1. To enter the Recovery Timing set-up screen from the
User’s Age/Maximum Heart Rate set-up screen (see Fig. 7),
press the Select button. In the Recovery Timer set-up
screen, the high recovery limit will be flashing, and will be
displayed in the upper row, and the low recovery limit will
be displayed in the lower row. The “up” arrow will be
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heart rate (the maximum heart rate value must first be pro-
grammed, see p. 14).
Note:
• There must be a minimum of a five beat-per-minute differ-
ence between the high limit and low limit. Whenever a new
high limit setting is entered, you may need to reset the low
limit as well.
• If no values are entered within a few minutes the screen
will revert back to the Stopwatch ("STW") main screen (#4).
Press the Select button to advance to the Maximum Heart
Rate set-up screen.
Setting Your Maximum Heart Rate
A maximum heart rate value is required for the HR400 to
accurately calculate and display the current heart rate as
a percentage of maximum heart rate.
In the AGE/MHR screen (see Fig. 7), enter user age or maxi-
mum heart rate (if known). If age is entered, the HR400 will
calculate an approximate maximum heart rate (the unit cal-
culates your maximum heart rate as: Max HR = 220 – AGE).
1. Press the Adjust button to advance the flashing digits.
When the digits are below 100, “AGE” will be displayed (and
the number will be interpreted as an age). When the digits
are above 100, “MHR” is displayed (and the number will be
interpreted as a maximum heart rate). To increase the digits
rapidly, press and hold the Adjust button.
The total age range is from 10 to 99, and the actual maxi-
mum heart rate value setting range is from 121 to 240.
Note: if no values are entered within a few minutes the
screen will revert back to the Stopwatch ("STW") main
screen (#4).
2. Press the Select button to advance to the Recovery set-
up screen.
Setting the Recovery Timer Upper and
Lower Limits
The Axiom HR400 automatically measures the time it takes
for your heart rate to descend from the preset high recovery
limit to the preset low recovery limit. When your heart rate
crosses the threshold below the high recovery limit, the
recovery timer starts. When your heart rate falls below the
low recovery limit, the recovery timer stops. When this hap-
pens, the HR400 will emit a series of rapid “bleeps” and the
current screen contents are temporarily replaced with the
recently measured recovery time (which will be displayed for
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Recovery Heart Rate Time
What is recovery heart rate time? Why would you want to
know your recovery time? Recovery time refers to the time
it takes for your heart rate to go from a higher reading to
a lower one after you have finished your workout, and if
used in a consistent way tells you something about your
fitness level. In general, as your recovery time decreases,
your fitness is improving. Or, for example, if you have a
particularly slow recovery time after a workout, it may
indicate that you’re more tired, or overtrained.
One thing to remember is that when using recovery time
as a measure of fitness, it’s only a measure of your fitness
relative to an earlier state. It is not at all useful to com-
pare rates from one person to another. Also, for the rela-
tive measurements to be meaningful, you should compare
readings only after a similar intensity workout on the
same course. A hard day in the hills will give you a very
different reading than an easy day on the flats. Your activ-
ity level during your cool down period will affect the
recovery time.
The setting of the upper and lower limits of the recovery
heart rate function will depend on the heart rate range
that you will be exercising in. As an example, let’s assume
you have set the upper and lower target zone settings at
160 beats per minute (bpm) and 130 bpm respectively,
and that your resting heart rate is normally around
60bpm. You might want to set your recovery limits at
100bpm for the high and 85bpm for the low. If you set the
lower recovery limit too near your resting heart rate, the
recovery phase may take hours, instead of minutes.
We recommend that you experiment with values that will
make the recovery time a useful number for your applica-
tion. Again, it’s only a comparative value with your earlier
efforts, and not a meaningful number in itself.
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