Important Of Knowing Your Target Heart Rate
How do you get your heart rate on target?
When you work out, are you doing too much or not enough? Theres a simple way to know: Your target heart rate helps you hit the bulls eye. We dont want people to over-exercise, and the other extreme is not getting enough exercise, says Gerald Fletcher, M.D., a cardiologist and professor in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Jacksonville, Fla.
Taking Your Heart Rate
Generally, to determine whether you are exercising within the heart rate target zone, you must stop exercising briefly to take your pulse. You can take the pulse at the neck, the wrist, or the chest. We recommend the wrist. You can feel the radial pulse on the artery of the wrist in line with the thumb. Place the tips of the index and middle fingers over the artery and press lightly. Do not use the thumb. Take a full 60-second count of the heartbeats, or take for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Start the count on a beat, which is counted as zero. If this number falls between 85 and 119 bpm in the case of the 50-year-old person, he or she is active within the target range for moderate-intensity activity.
- Lifetime Fitness and Wellness. Provided by: Extended Learning Institute of Northern Virginia Community College. Located at: . License: CC BY: Attribution
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How To Calculate Your Target Heart Rate
This article was co-authored by Steve Bergeron. Steve Bergeron is a Personal Trainer, Strength Coach, and the Co-Owner of AMP Fitness in Boston, Massachusetts. With over a decade of experience, Steve specializes in educating, guiding, and empowering his clients to develop healthy habits and reach their individual fitness goals. He holds a BS in Exercise Physiology and is an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach , ASCM Health and Fitness Specialist , Strong First Kettlebell Coach , and Certified Functional Movement Screen Specialist . AMP Fitness mission is to create a community that is inclusive and gives people the tools and support they need to succeed.There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, several readers have written to tell us that this article was helpful to them, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 2,656,595 times.
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Food As Fuel Before During And After Workouts
Your body is your vehicle, so you have to keep your engine running when you work out. That means fueling up your body by eating the right foods and drinking the right fluids, in the right amounts at the right times.
The American College of Sports Medicine says, Adequate food and fluid should be consumed before, during, and after exercise to help maintain blood glucose concentration during exercise, maximize exercise performance, and improve recovery time. Athletes should be well hydrated before exercise and drink enough fluid during and after exercise to balance fluid losses.You dont have to adhere to a rigid schedule and there are no hard-fast rules, said Riska Platt, M.S., R.D., a nutrition consultant for the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. But there are some things you should do before, during and after you work out.
What Target Heart Rate Zone Should You Use
It’s your choice which zone you use, you can mix it up and enjoy moderate-intensity exercise on some days and vigorous on other days. You will be training different aspects of your aerobic and endurance exercise systems by exercising in different target zones.
- Low-intensity zone: Don’t discount low-intensity exercise, such as walking at an easy pace. It can help relieve stress and it reduces the health risks you’d be increasing if you just stayed sitting. Many forms of flexibility and strength exercises are also lower intensity yet still have benefits for your muscles and physical condition.
- Moderate-intensity zone: For health and fitness benefits, aim to exercise in the moderate-intensity zone for 30 minutes per day, five days per week for 150 total minutes per week. This is the zone for brisk walking.
- Vigorous-intensity zone: Try doing vigorous-intensity exercisesuch as running, for 20 minutes, three times per week for a total of 60 minutes per weekto build cardiovascular strength.
A weekly walking workout plan varies your workouts throughout the week with different heart rate zone workouts. This plan can help you set up a great schedule to boost your fitness.
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Key Target Zones For Exercise
This table a rough guideline for the intensity of work out expressed in % of max heart rate. You can use it to guide what you input in the “Target exercise level” field of the calculator.
| Zone | ||
|---|---|---|
| Aerobic effort. Improves vital capacity, respiratory rate, increases size & strength of the heart and cardiac output. | ||
| 81-90% | Hard exercise | Maximum fat burn, but only if you are fit enough. Improves VO 2 and you become less succeptible to sore muscles. |
| 91-100% | Extreme effort | Athelete level, sustained for short periods of time . Develops fast-twitch muscles. High risk of over training and injuries! |
Maximum Heart Rate And Beta Blockers
Our HRmax Calculator asks you to check a box if you use beta blockers. The reason for that is that heart patients and others on beta blockers will have a reduced maximum heart rate.
Beta blockers bind to adrenaline receptors and block access for adrenaline molecules. Adrenaline causes the heart to pump both harder and faster. Hence, beta blockers reduce the maximum heart rate. The magnitude of the reduction depends on the dosage, so we recommend that you test yourself to find an exact HRmax.
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Calculating Your Target Heart Rate
Your fitness routine has likely changed with current circumstances.
The pandemic year with gyms closed and stress levels high affected us in multiple ways. As we tiptoe back into an exercise regime, its important to do so with awareness. That includes knowing your actual target heart rate and using that number for a safe, effective workout, whether youre going out for a run, or heading back to a studio for the first time. Measuring your target heart rate is a concrete, numbers-dont-lie way to sneak a peek inside your body to find out what exercise intensity is right for you. In fact, it may be the piece of data that finally convinces you not to push too aggressively during your cardio routine or not take it so easy that you barely get your heart rate up. Not everyone is meant to work out the same way, and figuring out your target heart rate can give you a clearer sense of just how hard you should push yourself to improve your health and fitness.
Heart Rate and Your Health
During aerobic exercise, your heart, lungs, and circulatory system are called on to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the muscles youre engaging. Your heart rate is one way to measure just how hard your body is working to do all of that.
Knowing your THR helps you navigate your workout safely and effectively.
How to Calculate Your Target Heart Rate
Your target heart rate is 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, which must be determined before you can zero in on your target range.
Age And Fitness Level Based Formula
This formula uses your age and fitness level to determine your target zones. It is a more personalized number and recommended for people who are experienced exercisers. First, you must take your heart rate for three mornings in a row before getting up from bed. Once you have those numbers you can calculate their average by summing them and then dividing the sum by 3.
/ 3 = Morning Resting Heart Rate
This is the single best indicator of your state of fitness. Once you have this number established as a baseline, you can use it to understand more about yourself than you can imagine. Take it again every once in a while, at least once every two weeks. As your fitness improves, you will most likely see that number going down.
If you see an elevated number, it could mean one or more of the following:
- You did not recover from a hard workout the day before
- You need more rest
- Your body has begun fighting off an oncoming illness
Your estimated maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. In order to get your target heart rate zones you need to do the following calculations:
|
Heart rate zone |
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Many Heart Rate Zone Formulas And Theories
Estimating your heart rate zone can be confusing for people when starting a new exercise program. There are so many heart rate zone formulas and theories about projected heart rate that it can make your head spin just trying to figure out which one to use.
Are the target heart rate calculations accurate? The short answer for a long question is not entirely for the most part. Then the question comes So why use them at all? The answer is they are a good place to start.
Anyone who has been around the fitness industry or is an avid fitness enthusiast knows if you use a heart rate zone calculator you will barely break a sweat during your workout and never get to your target RPE . Some calculations do produce more accurate results especially when used in conjunction with other methods.
Infofit has a variety of fitness calculators available to help you assess your and your clients progress. Check them out and use them often! Fitness Calculators
Scientists are now saying that the validity of the equation was never established and it will usually always underestimate the intensity of your training zones.
New research by Hirofumi Tanaka, PhD , has however produced a slightly more accurate version of this method. The new heart rate calculation is 208 0.7 x age. What would that be now for the 45-year-old? 208 = 177. Which would be a 2 beat difference and that can be significant when you are in the 80 90 % training zones.
Maximum Heart Rate Calculator
With our HRmax Calculator you can estimate your maximum heart rate based on age and gender. Knowing your own maximum heart rate is important in your own personal exercise training. It is also of great importance for exercise stress testing to uncover cardiovascular disease. Our calculator will only give a rough estimate, and we also give recommendations on how to find your real maximum heart rate with an exhaustive exercise test.
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Beginner Tips For Heart Rate Zone Training
Working out can seem overwhelming, especially when you are short on time and energy after work. Using the latest tech and the adidas Runtastic apps makes staying on top of your workouts easy, so all you have to do is show up and let the app guide your training.
Here are five beginner tips to keep in mind when starting heart rate zone based workouts:
Note:The above-mentioned tips and calculations apply to healthy individuals. If you have any heart problems, are on any medication, or have been advised by your doctor to stay within a certain bpm range, make sure you follow their instructions. And, as always, check with your doctor before starting any new fitness regimen.
Why Does Resting Heart Rate Matter
Resting heart rate is an indicator of overall health. Changes in resting heart rate can be among the first signs of an underlying issue. Having a lower resting heart rate doesnt necessarily indicate a cause for concern. Elite athletes and people who have a high fitness level tend to have lower resting heart rates. Medications and sleeping patterns can also lead to lower resting heart rates.
In some cases, low heart rates or significant decreases from your normal baseline can be a sign of an underlying problem such as heart disease. Additionally, heart attack, underactive thyroid, and some infections can also cause low resting heart rate.
Your heart rate varies when youre under stress during strenuous exercise and when youre just lounging. Its normal for your heart rate to be higher when you exercise because your heart has to pump oxygenated blood to your organs faster when youre exerting a lot of energy. Exercise and mood changes can cause an increase in resting heart rate. Think about the last time you were really excited or nervous. The feeling of your heart pounding in your chest is a reflection of an increased heart rate.
When your heart rate is consistently too high, you may have a health problem. Asthma and other breathing conditions can cause an increased resting heart rate. Anemia, heart problems, and medications can also raise heart rate numbers.
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How To Measure Active Heart Rate
People can measure their own heart rate during any given exercise by following the steps below:
- Stop the exercise temporarily and immediately place the index and middle fingers firmly on the artery on the thumb side of the wrist.
- Concentrate on feeling the pulse in the wrist.
- When it is possible to feel the pulse, use a watch or the timer on a smartphone to count the number of times the heart beats in 60 seconds. Alternatively, count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply the number by two.
The number of beats per minute will tell someone their current heart rate, which can help them determine whether they are exercising at the right level of intensity.
People can also monitor their activity level via perceived exertion , which involves noticing physical signs of exertion in the body. For example, a person can consider how fast the heart rate feels and look for other signs of exertion, such as sweating and muscle fatigue.
Anyone experiencing drastic changes in heart rate, physical discomfort, or pain while exercising should stop the exercise and speak with their doctor.
The ideal active heart rate for someone will depend on their age. The following calculations can provide a rough guideline for the average adult.
What Is A Normal Heart Rate
Your resting heart rate is when your heart is pumping the lowest amount of blood you need for your metabolism for function. If youre sitting or lying, calm and relaxed, and you are not currently ill, your heart rate should be between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
You can measure it by taking your pulse with your fingers at the carotid artery for exactly 15 seconds, then multiplying it by 4.
If it happens that your heart rate is lower than 60, it doesnt necessarily mean you have a medical problem, as there can be a number of normal reasons for that. For example, it could be due to taking a drug such as a beta blocker. A lower rate is common for athletes or people who get a lot of physical activity, because their heart muscle is in better condition and doesnt need to work as hard to pump the same volume of blood. Moderate physical activity usually has little to no effect. During excercise, your target heart rate should always be higher than your normal heart rate.
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What’s The Target Heart Rate For Fat
The target heart rate to burn the most fat, and even continue to burn fat after youve finished exercising is 70-85%. This is known as the ‘afterburn effect’, and it happens because your high-intensity workout has caused a metabolic disturbance which means calories are still being burnt even when you’re finished your workout.
The fat-burning myth
There’s a rumour perpetuated by many fitness and health magazines, which states that the optimum fat-burning ‘zone’ is between 55-65% of your maximum heart rate. Experts have dispelled this myth and put it to bed many times, but it’s worth reaffirming.
The concept of the ideal fat-burning zone came about because at lower exercise intensities , more fat is burned relative to glycogen, the substance that stores carbohydrates in your body. That might sound great – but when you look at the calorie burn, the figures are very different.
High intensity exercise will burn more calories than low intensity workouts, and this is key when trying to create that coveted ‘afterburn effect’.
A bit of science
A study was carried out at the University of Southern Maine, which involved two groups of people doing different types of exercise. One group was cycling at a steady rate for 3.5 minutes . The other group performed three 15-second sprints, running for as fast as they could in a short space of time .
What Are Exercise Heart Rate Zones
Heart rate zones are a percentage of your maximum heart rate . Exercise too close to your maximum HR and your heart and body will struggle to keep up with the demands.
The goal of heart rate zones is to make you the most efficient, but to allow you to challenge yourself to improve cardiovascular fitness, says Travers.
Exercise heart rate zones are the training levels based on your maximum heart rate. As you increase your pace, cadence and workload, you increase the demands on your heart. Travers breaks it down:
- Lower-intensity zone: Youre exercising at 50% to 60% of your max heart rate. At this point, 85% of the calories you burn are fat. The downside? Youre burning fewer calories overall than you would if you were exercising at a higher intensity. Youre generally able to sustain this zone the longest amount of time.
- Temperate zone: Youre exercising at 60% to 70% of your max heart rate. Roughly 65% of the calories you burn are fat.
- Aerobic zone: Working at 70% to 80% of your max heart rate puts you in the aerobic zone. About 45% of the calories you burn are fat. But youre burning a higher number of overall calories compared to the other heart rate zones. You generally sustain this zone the shortest amount of time.
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