Target Heart Rate And Estimated Maximum Heart Rate
One way of checking physical activity intensity is to determine whether your pulse or heart rate is within the target zone during physical activity.1
For moderate-intensity physical activity, your target heart rate should be between 64% and 76%1,2 of your maximum heart rate. You can estimate your maximum heart rate based on your age. To estimate your maximum age-related heart rate, subtract your age from 220. For example, for a 50-year-old person, the estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220 50 years = 170 beats per minute . The 64% and 76% levels would be:
- 64% level: 170 x 0.64 = 109 bpm, and
- 76% level: 170 x 0.76 = 129 bpm
This shows that moderate-intensity physical activity for a 50-year-old person will require that the heart rate remains between 109 and 129 bpm during physical activity.
For vigorous-intensity physical activity, your target heart rate should be between 77% and 93%1,2 of your maximum heart rate. To figure out this range, follow the same formula used above, except change 64 and 76% to 77 and 93%. For example, for a 35-year-old person, the estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220 35 years = 185 beats per minute . The 77% and 93% levels would be:
- 77% level: 185 x 0.77 = 142 bpm, and
- 93% level: 185 x 0.93 = 172 bpm
Estimating Maximum Heart Rate
Maximum heart rate is estimated by using the formula 220 minus your age, as in the following examples:
- If you are 20 years old, your estimated maximum heart rate is 200 beats per minute .
- If you are 35 years old, it’s 185 BPM.
- If you are 50 years old, it’s 170 BPM.
- If you are 70 years old, it’s 150 BPM.
Heart rate typically increases as the intensity of your activity increases. At higher heart rates, you are also burning more calories. Heart rate zones can be used to gauge your exercise intensity.
Using heart rate zones to monitor your activity level isn’t appropriate for everyone. If you take medications that regulate your heart ratesuch as beta-blockers and calcium channel blockersyou won’t see it increase during exercise as it normally would.
Continuing to aim for a specific heart rate could lead you to overdo it. If you take these medications, consider using a different tool to assess your effort during exercise, such as the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion scale.
What Should My Heart Rate Be During Cardio Exercise
Your heart rate has to be 80 percent of your age adjusted max. Your age adjusted max is 220 minus your age for men, 208 minus 82 percent of your age for women. The easy way is 220 minus your age, take away 20 percent. To be in the optimal cardio range, your heart rate has to be at 80 percent of your age adjusted cardio max. Even better if it is at 100 percent. You are really buff if you get it to 110 percent. Dont try that at home unless your first name is Mehmet.
Start by subtracting your age from 220. This is a theoretical heart rate that is considered your maximum. If you are new to increasing your activity, build toward working out at 60 percent of this number. For example if you are 40, your theoretical maximum heart rate is 180 and 60 percent of that is 108 beats per minute. Warm up for 5 minutes then increase intensity until you reach 60 percent of your heart rate max. Maintain it only for as long as you are comfortable, even if only for a few minutes. Work toward maintaining it for 30 minutes. Attempt this for 2 to 3 days per week. Remember though, that the formula is a rough estimate and a good place to start, and is not the definitive measure of intensity.
- 220 age = MHR
- MHR x training intensity = suggested heart rate
- Ex: 220 25 = 195
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Why Is Heart Rate Important
Cardiovascular exercises increase your heart rate. Factors like fitness level, age, medical condition, and the present activity you are engaged in can determine your ideal heart rate for training.
Your heart rate is an important indicator that helps you keep track of how much energy you burn during training.
It can help you determine when and how long you should engage in an exercise.
Indeed, working out offers plenty of positive benefits to your heart health. But you have to do it correctly to get any of those benefits.
Ignoring your heart rate when exercising can cause more harm than good.
When you pay attention to your heart rate during workouts, you will enjoy some or all of the following positive effects:
- Reduces your risk of developing diabetes.
- Lower your blood pressure.
- Help to reduce inflammation throughout your body.
- Help you maintain good and healthy body weight.
- Keeps your heart healthy by preventing heart diseases.
- Boosts the muscles ability to draw oxygen from the blood, and reduces the need for the heart to supply more blood to the muscles.
- Reduced risk of sudden heart attack or other chronic heart problems.
- Eliminates stress hormones that put an extra burden on your heart.
Exercising benefits your heart significantly. To make it even more beneficial for your heart, it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle in addition to eating a good and balanced diet.
Moderate: 64% To 76% Of Mhr
The moderate heart rate zone is from 64% to 76% of your maximum heart rate. This is the higher end of the moderate-intensity exercise zone. If using the talk test to measure your intensity, you will be breathing heavier but will still be able to speak in short sentences.
You burn more calories per minute than in the light heart zone because the exercise is a little more intense.
In the moderate heart rate zone, your body fuels itself with 10% carbohydrates, 5% protein, and 85% fat.
You get the same health benefits and fat-burning benefits as the light heart zone. An example of a workout in this zone is a brisk walking workout.
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Heart Rate Tips To Keep In Mind
- Start at your beginning. Before getting overly concerned about your heart rate, Martin says, its best to simply get moving. If you havent exercised much before, start where youre comfortable and gradually exert yourself more over time.
- Listen to your body. Your body provides other indicators of how hard its working that you need to consider along with heart rate. Pay attention to how hard youre breathing or sweating, and stop if you feel very uncomfortable, Martin says. Devices recording your heart rate have been known to malfunction, for exampleanother reason listening to your body is important.
- Remember that target heart rate is just a guide. Dont get overly fixated on numbers, Martin says. Ideally, they just push you to work a little harder.
Very Light: Under 57% Of Mhr
This heart rate zone represents when you are sedentary or engaged in very gentle activity. Your ability to talk is not hindered at all but you’re also not going to get the same level of calorie burn that you’ll have with some of the higher heart rate zones.
Training within the very light heart rate zone is beneficial if you’re recovering from a more intense exercise session or after participating in a grueling event. Exercises that are likely to place you in this zone include light walking or cycling on a flat terrain.
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Maximum Heart Rate Formula
206.9 –
This and other MHR prediction equations are the subjects of ongoing research since they tend to underestimate the MHR for people over age 30. That means that if you are older than 30, it may be more accurate to use +11/-11 deviation from the number as a more acceptable range.
So if you are 35 years of age with a maximum heart rate of 183 , the estimate would be between 172 to 194. The maximum heart rate may be a little higher for women and older adults.
Some fitness trackers or smartwatches automatically measure your resting heart rate and then use that information to suggest and measure the target heart rate. An advantage of using these devices to find your target heart rate is that the manufacturer can easily update them to match the current research-backed zones.
Does Your Healthy Exercise Heart Rate Change With Age
While you might think that there are things that you can do to stop the effects of aging, as you age your optimal heart rate while exercising is going to drop .,no matter what you do.
As you get older you will need to closely monitor the intensity of your workouts.
Now that you know that your exercise heart rate is going to lower as you get older, you might want to know exactly what your heart rate should be. There are several different ways to calculate this rate.
The first method is known as the Karvonen approach. It is perhaps the easiest, and while it doesnt give you the most exact number, it is a good ballpark number to work off of.
- Simplest way What you do is you take the number 220, and then you simply subtract your age. The number that you arrive at is considered your peak heart rate while exercising. This, however, isnt very accurate and some experts suggest that you work towards a goal of 80% of that total number. What this means is that if you are 58 then your exercise heart rate should be 162, 80% of that is 129. While this isnt a perfect method, it is easy to apply.
- More accurate method To get a more exact heart rate number you will need something a bit more involved than a simple piece of subtraction. The most precise number comes from a heart rate stress test. This particular method will give you the most accurate maximum heart rate number you can find.
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How Does Exercise Affect Heart Rate Over Time
As a person starts to exercise regularly and gain fitness over time, they will be able to exercise within a higher heart rate zone. This is because they are training their heart and muscles to respond to repeat exertion.
People may start out with a target of 50% of their maximum heart rate, but before long, they will be able to comfortably train at a target of 85%.
A 2018 review study found that people can improve their heart health and lower their resting heart rate by exercising regularly. Regular exercise reduces a persons risk of heart attack, stroke, and other medical conditions.
However, the researchers also suggest that continuously high levels of exercise such as marathon running could be harmful to heart health.
Engaging in aerobic and endurance exercises also contributes to improved fitness, increased muscle tone, and improvements in general physical and mental well-being. In fact, one 2016 meta-analysis reports that exercise has a large and significant antidepressant effect on people with depression.
Ways To Assess Fat Burning
When measuring exercise intensity, youâll consider how you feel and your actual heart rate.
How do you feel? The first way to measure the intensity of your workout is by taking note of your perceived exertion. This differs from person to person. What may seem like a difficult run to one person could feel like a simple jog to another. This is a subjective measure of how your workout is going.
Heart rate. Measuring the intensity of your workout with your heart rate is a more objective way to look at it. The higher your heart rate while working out, the higher your exercise intensity is. This also means youâre more like to achieve fat burning in your exercises.
An activity tracker can track your heart rate for fat burning and cardio. These wrist monitors will help you keep track of your perceived exertion and how that correlates with your heart rate. This will help you get a better idea of when youâre actually in a fat-burning state.
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Know Your Numbers: Maximum And Target Heart Rate By Age
This table shows target heart rate zones for different ages. Your maximum heart rate is about 220 minus your age.3
In the age category closest to yours, read across to find your target heart rates. Target heart rate during moderate intensity activities is about 50-70% of maximum heart rate, while during vigorous physical activity its about 70-85% of maximum.
The figures are averages, so use them as a general guide.
Is Resting Heart Rate Different By Age
For most of us , between 60 and 100 beats per minute is normal.1 The rate can be affected by factors like stress, anxiety, hormones, medication, and how physically active you are. An athlete or more active person may have a resting heart rate as low as 40 beats per minute. Now thats chill!
When it comes to resting heart rate, lower is better. It usually means your heart muscle is in better condition and doesnt have to work as hard to maintain a steady beat. Studies have found that a higher resting heart rate is linked with lower physical fitness and higher blood pressure and body weight.2
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Checking Your Heart Rate On Your Wrist
Place the tips of your index and middle fingers on your wrist as shown below. Position your fingers approximately 1 inch from the base of your hand, and on the top half of your wrist. This is the best location to find your pulse. It can be a little tricky to find the first time, but after that youll have it down.
Next, count the heart beats in15 seconds using your wrist watch. Multiply this number X 4, and that is your heart rate per minute.
Your beats per minute will vary greatly depending on your physical conditioning. If youre in great physical shape and do lots of cardio, you might be hard pressed to get over 130 beats per minute even with intense exercise. And on the flip side, if youre out of shape and do very little cardio, you might be over 140 walking around the block.
Heart Rate Zone : 90100% Of Hrmax
Heart rate zone 5 is your maximal effort. Your heart and your blood and respiratory system will be working at their maximal capacity. Lactic acid will build up in your blood and after a few minutes you wont be able to continue at this intensity.
If youre just starting out or have only been training for some time, you probably wont have to train at this intensity. If youre a professional athlete, look into incorporating interval training into your training plan for peak performance.
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Should You Do Cardio Every Day If You Want To Lose Weight
Weight loss happens when you use up more calories than you consume. Thats why the calorie-burning effects of cardio exercise can be an excellent way to lose weight.
For example, 30 minutes of brisk walking can burn about 140 calories. That equates to 980 calories per week, or nearly 4,000 calories a month.
Even if you dont cut back on your calorie consumption, a half hour of cardio exercise a day could result in losing at least a pound a month .
Exercising more frequently and making dietary changes could result in even greater weight loss. Keep in mind, though, that as your fitness improves, your body may become more efficient at burning calories.
What this means is that, over time, youll likely burn fewer calories doing the same exercise. As a result, weight loss may slow down unless you bump up your calorie-burning activities.
According to a 2017 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the best strategy for weight loss may be to combine cardio and strength training.
This could include doing cardio exercise 3 to 4 days a week and strength training 2 to 3 days a week.
Aerobic Heart Rate Zones By Age Chart
Aerobic heart rate is based on max heart rate for your age, gender and conditioning. A commonly used max heart rate formula is subtracting your age from 220. By this method, the max HR for a 40-year-old is 180 beats per minute . However, this equation does not consider your specific variables, such as gender, genetics, conditioning, etc.
Individual max heart rate and the aerobic heart rate zone decline as we age.
Other formulas that include more detail include the Tanaka formula and the Gulati formula but these formulas also make broad generalizations and dont allow for the variables listed above.
You can use a heart rate zone calculator or charts like the one here to find your results based on your personal characteristics. Other factors that can affect heart rate include:
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Whats A Normal Resting Heart Rate
While age and activity level can affect your heart rate, as we mentioned above, there are a few normal parameters.
Your resting heart rate is when your heart pumps the minimal amount of blood that your body needs because youre at rest.
Resting heart rates can vary by individual. Additionally, factors like age, activity level, and certain medications can also impact your resting heart rate.