How to Understand Your Target Heart Rate While ExercisingKnowing what your target heart rate is while exercising is a valuable piece of information. Different training regiments require different levels of intensities in order to get the full benefits from your workout.For example, if you want to improve your aerobic fitness or your goal is to keep your body in the best fat-burning zone possible your heart rate numbers will be different than if you are targeting your anaerobic system. What is my Heart Rate?Your heart rate (HR) is how many times your heart beats for a measured amount of time. HR is usually calculated for 1 minute, so you would check how many times your heart beat in a 1 minute period of time, hence calculating your BPM (beats per minute). Knowing your restingHR is another important piece of information for maximizing your training. How do you get your restingHR? It's simple, first thing in the morning before you get out of bed put your heart monitor on and there you have it.
Do it for three or four days and calculate the average. For example if your numbers are 72, 74, 72, and 71 you would add those numbers together and divide by four. In this case 72 would be your restingHR. If you don't have a monitor try this: find your pulse and take it for 15 seconds and multiply it by 4. Try to take your HR at the same time every morning. For example, if you took it at 8:00 am the first day, take it the same time every day when trying to find your resting HR. Just in case you were wondering, the average resting HR for an adult is 72 bpm. Maximum HR (HRmax)What is it and why do You need to know it? HRmax is an estimate of how hard you should exercise. For most of us our training intensity will be anywhere from 55% to 90% of our HRmax. It might sound complicated but it really isn't. HRmax=220-your age so if your age is 35 then your math would look like this: 220-35=185HRmax Now lets say that the same 35 year old wants to train at 65% of his HRmax, here's the formula: ...but first of all you'll have to know your resting HR and your HRmax. Age= 35 restingHR= 74bpm HRmax=185bpm So our targetHR is 65% of our HRmax. Here's the formula: Target HR=(HRmax-restingHR)xpercentage+restingHR=(185-74)x.65+74=146 In this example we would have to stay close to 146bpm to work at 65% of our HRmax.
I Can See My HeartThe best way to get a glimpse of what's happening inside your body is with a heart monitor. This small device fits around you wrist like a watch and another strap with the monitoring device goes around your chest. This will accurately let you know what your heart is doing and whether or not you need raise the level of intensity or lower it. You can set you heart monitor to stay within a certain zone. For example, to increase cardiovascular fitness and to burn fat a good range in terms of your heart rates bpm would a minimum of 130bpm and a maximum of 150-155bpm.
So all you have to do is set you monitor to let you know if you HR drops below 130 or goes above 155. The monitor you see here is the exact same one I use with my clients, the Polar RS100. Is it For Everyone?This may sound sophisticated and only for athletes but everyone can benefit from training with a clear picture of what's happening inside their body. Many people believe that to see results they have to train till they drop--and then end up getting symptoms of over-training and end up going backwards. Our heart rates occasionally tell us a counter-intuitive story, that sometimes less is better. More importantly, they can tell us when we need to stand down a little. Where To StartAs you train more and more often with a heart monitor you will begin to fine-tune your workouts and get to know your own body very well. But when you're new to it it's good to have some rough guidelines to follow. Here are a few ranges geared to different fitness levels: • Beginner or very low fitness level: Recommended to work within 55%-64% of their HRmax • Intermediate Level: 65%-74% of HRmax • Advanced Level: 75%-90% of HRmax Nowhere does it say to work 100% of your HRmax, and without knowing what's really going on inside your body you might be working too hard (yes, there is such a thing when it comes to fitness) and doing more harm than good. These are just a few things to think about when considering your target heart rate and what those numbers might be able to tell you.
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