Ideally Fuel Up Two Hours Before You Exercise By:
- Hydrating with water.
- Eating healthy carbohydrates such as whole-grain cereals , whole-wheat toast, low-fat or fat-free yogurt, whole grain pasta, brown rice, fruits and vegetables.
- Avoiding saturated fats and even a lot of healthy protein because these types of fuels digest slower in your stomach and take away oxygen and energy-delivering blood from your muscles.
If you only have 5-10 minutes before you exercise, eat a piece of fruit such as an apple or banana.
The key is to consume easily digested carbohydrates, so you dont feel sluggish, Platt said.
Determine Your Target Heart Rate Zone
Calculating target heart rate may differ from person to person, especially if you have a medical condition. You should check with your doctor to determine the best target heart rate for you.
But as a general rule of thumb, according to the CDC, you can determine your target heart rate by:
Your maximum heart rate is based on your age. To calculate your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. If you are:
- 30, your MHR = 220-30 = 190 bpm
- 40, your MHR = 220-40 = 180 bpm
- 50, your MHR = 220-50 = 170 bpm
To calculate your target heart rate zone, multiply your MHR by 64% and 76%. These numbers give you the low and high numbers that your heart rate should stay within most of the time while exercising at a moderate intensity level. If you are:
- 30, your THR is 122-144 bpm
- 40, your THR is 115-137 bpm
- 50, your THR is 109-129 bpm
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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Getting Into The Zone
What is your moderate-intensity zone? First, you need to know your maximum heart rate the upper limit of what your cardiovascular system can handle during physical activity as measured in number of heartbeats per minute.
One way to find your maximum heart rate is with a stress test, in which you walk or jog on a treadmill that makes you, and thus your heart, work progressively harder while an electrocardiograph monitors your heart’s electrical rhythms.
While this is the most accurate way to determine your maximum heart rate, a simpler option is to use a formula based on your age, which can offer a good estimate. Dr. Baggish suggests 200 minus half your age. Once you know your maximum, you can figure your target zone as 60% to 75% of that number. For example, a 70-year-old man would have a maximum heart rate of 165 beats per minute. Therefore, his moderate-intensity heart rate zone would range from 99 to 124 beats per minute.
What Does Aerobic Heart Rate Zone Mean
The word aerobic means needs oxygen, and oxygen provides a steady stream of energy to the body during aerobic exercises, or cardio. Aerobic exercise burns both fat and carbohydrates for energy. It increases your heart rate for a longer period than other forms of activity. Generally, you use your major muscle groups continuously to bring your heart rate into this zone.
The aerobic heart rate zone is a heart rate between 70% and 80% of your maximum heart rate . You reach it while exercising at moderate to vigorous intensity. In this zone your breathing quickens, but youre not out of breath, and you can still have a conversation with a person running next to you. The aerobic heart rate zone is zone three of the five heart rate zones.
Your individual aerobic heart rate zone is a heart rate between 70% and 80% of your max heart rate.
Exercises in this zone are sustainable for long periods of time, at least 40 minutes. Moderate aerobic activities include brisk walking, swimming and mowing the lawn .
At least 150 minutes a week of moderate activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity is recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services. Ramping up to 300 minutes or more of moderate aerobic activity, or 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity has additional health benefits for most people.
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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:
Examples Of Aerobic Workouts
Moderate aerobic workouts do not have to include jogging or walking mile after mile on hard pavement, or swimming laps in a pool. Varying types of exercise will help you work different muscle groups, avoid letting your body get used to the strain, and let you find workouts that you personally enjoy.
Moderate Aerobic Workouts
- Stair climbing and elliptical machine
- Spin class and other stationary bike routines
- Circuit training
- Chores such as sweeping, vacuuming and mopping can also provide moderate aerobic exercise
Vigorous Aerobic Workouts
Vigorous aerobic activity occurs when your breath is coming hard and fast and its difficult to talk or maintain a conversation with your exercise partner. These workouts consume more oxygen to complete the activity. Examples include:
- Cycling more than 10 mph or uphill
- Heavy gardening
- Tennis and other court sports such as handball, squash and racquetball
- Team sports with lots of running or movement like basketball, soccer and hockey
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Measuring Your Target Heart Rate
There are several ways to measure your heart rate:
- Resting heart rate – Your heart rate when youre not doing any activity.
- Maximum heart rate – The highest number of times your heart can beat in one minute.
- Target heart rate – The rate your heart should beat during exercise in order to get the most improvement in aerobic capacity . This is usually expressed as a range.
Your target heart rate is a percentage of your maximum heart rate. So to calculate your target heart rate, you have to first find out what your maximum heart rate is.
To calculate your maximum heart rate, use the following equation:
- HRmax = 208 )
This formula has proven to be accurate regardless of gender or current physical activity levels.
To calculate your target heart rate, use the following equations:
- During light intensity activity – Target heart rate is between 45% and 54% of your HRmax
- During moderate intensity activity – Target heart rate is between 55% and 69% of your HRmax
- During high intensity activity – Target heart rate is between 70% and 89% of your HRmax
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.
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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.
Exercise Heart Rates For 70 Year Olds
Light to Moderate Exercise
The target pulse rate zone for a 70 year old male to burn fat during light to moderate exercise is 75 to 103 beats per minute1. 70 year old females working out to loose weight should exercise between 72 and 100 bpm. This exercise range corresponds to 50% to 69% of the maximum target rate for your age.
Moderate to Intense Exercise
The American Heart Association recommends hard exercise up to 85% of your maximum heart rate1. The target zone during intense exercise ranges from 105 to 128 beats per minute for a 70 year old male and between 101 and 123 for females.
Maximum Heart Rate
Maximum heart rate is the upper threshold that your cardiovascular system can sustain during physical exertion. This rate decreases with age. The maximum heart rate for males can be estimated using the Karvonen method as 220 minus your age. So for 70 year old men, the maximum rate is approximately 150 beats per minute. A modified HRmax formula specific to women has been developed as 206 minus 88 percent of your age2. This method results in a 144 beats per minute maximum pulse for a 70 year old female. See also: Resting heart rates for 70 year olds
Exercise heart training zones chart for 70 year old men
| % Max |
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What The Experts Do Monitor Heart Rate For Motivation
For Johns Hopkins cardiologist Michael Blaha, M.D., M.P.H., most workoutstake place on an elliptical trainer in his home. His machine has electrodeson which he can place his hands to automatically see his heart rate. Itgives me a sense of how hard Im working, he says.
Blaha also uses his targeted heart rate to guide the course that heprogrammed into the machine, so that he works up to where he wants to be interms of exertion. Knowing your target heart rate and trying to achieve itcan be very motivating, he says.
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.
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What Should Your Heart Rate During Exercise Be
Heart rate increases during physical activity, meaning the heart performs more beats per minute to meet the demand of delivering oxygenated blood around the body and to the working muscles. According to the American Heart Association , there are many long-term health benefits associated with regular exercise that elevates the heart rate, including improved circulation, lower blood pressure, lower levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol, and a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke.
The heart is a muscle, and conditioning it to work more effectively with exercise also lowers your resting heart rate , which is a marker for good health. A normal RHR for adult men and women ranges between 60-100 beats per minute and a 2013 study published in Heart Journal found that an elevated RHR is not only an indicator of poor physical fitness, but a risk factor for mortality.
Using heart rate as a training metric is an effective method to improve health and fitness and it’s not a new concept. According to the American Council on Exercise , it’s an accurate way to gauge how hard the body is working during exercise in order to get the associated cardiovascular benefits, without putting a strain on your system.
You can achieve different levels of intensity by incorporating an exercise machine into your workings, and you can monitor your heart rate with most of the best fitness trackers.
What The Experts Do
Monitor Heart Rate for Motivation
For Johns Hopkins cardiologist Michael Blaha, M.D., M.P.H., most workoutstake place on an elliptical trainer in his home. His machine has electrodeson which he can place his hands to automatically see his heart rate. Itgives me a sense of how hard Im working, he says.
Blaha also uses his targeted heart rate to guide the course that heprogrammed into the machine, so that he works up to where he wants to be interms of exertion. Knowing your target heart rate and trying to achieve itcan be very motivating, he says.
Stay on Top of Your Heart Health
If you have a new or existing heart problem, its vital to see a doctor. Our heart health checklist can help you determine when to seek care.
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What Is Target Heart Rate
Your target heart rate is a range of numbers that reflect how fast your heart should be beating when you exercise. A higher heart rate is a good thing that leads to greater fitness, says Johns Hopkins cardiologist Michael Blaha, M.D., M.P.H. During exercise, you can monitor heart rate and try to reach this target zone. Doctors also use target heart rate to interpret the results of a cardiac stress test.
Knowing Your Heart Rate Zone Reminds You To Maintain A Proper Level Of Exercise Intensity
Are you working hard during exercise or hardly working?
Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. But “moderate intensity” can vary per person. What is an effort to one person can be easy to another.
A good way to maintain your level of moderate intensity is with heart rate training, where you exercise at 60% to 75% of your maximum heart rate. This is your cardio Goldilocks zone where the intensity is not too hard or too light, but just right.
“Heart rate training can give you an ongoing reminder of your intensity and tell you when you need to pick up the pace or slow down,” says Dr. Aaron Baggish, director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. “This way you can stay within your moderate-intensity zone as much as possible.”
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New Max Heart Rate Formula
Tanaka & Gellish performed in 2001 and 2007 studies that demonstrated the necessity to revise this old and empirically untested formula. Tanaka produced the formula HRmax = 208 – 0.7 x Age while the study by Gellish et al., which included much more subjects and followed them across a longer time span results for members participating in a university-based health-assessment/fitness center), resulted in a regression with the following formula:
HRmax = 206.9 – 0.67 x Age
Since this is the study with the largest sample size and possibly best predictive value, this is also the formula used in our heart rate calculator. Below you can see a comparison between the old formula and the two newer formulas.
* the graph is not zero-based and may appear to exaggerate the differences
As evident from the chart, the old formula overpredicts the maximum heart rate by a small margin in younger adults, while it underpredicts it significantly for older people. The three formulas agree only about the average 40-year old person. The difference between the Tanaka formula and the Gellish formula is minimal at all ages.
How To Monitor Heart Rate
Once a person has calculated their target heart rate zones, they can find out whether or not they are meeting these ranges by measuring their heart rate while running.
The most basic method for testing heart rate is to count pulse rate by hand. To do this, a person can place two fingers lightly on the opposite wrist until they can feel the pulse.
Count the number of pulse beats that occur in 30 seconds and multiply this by two to find out the number of beats in 60 seconds.
An easier way to measure heart rate during exercise is to wear a wristwatch or chest monitor that picks up on heartbeat. There are many products to choose from, such as heart rate watches and heart rate straps, online.
Otherwise, it may be a good idea to book some time with a treadmill or a personal trainer to get accurate heart rate readings and set goals.
Although an increased heart rate is one aim of exercise, pushing the heart too far can be harmful.
Signs that a person is pushing their heart too far include chest tightness, difficulty breathing, and a relative inability to talk while running.
If a person notices any of these signs, they should slow down and concentrate on breathing steadily. If a person always experiences chest pain with exercise, they should seek a professional medical opinion immediately.
It is important to note that these target heart rates are for average individuals who are otherwise healthy.
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