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HEART RATE TRAINING THE METHOD TO MADNESS
Authored by Stephen A. Black
Your heart rate provides proof that your
exercise program is making you more fit. Your heart responds
to exercise, like any other muscle in the body. Working the
heart on a regular basis will make it stronger. Just as
lifting weights can make your biceps muscle bigger and
stronger, exercising the heart will make it more powerful.
As your fitness level increases, your heart can pump more
oxygenated blood with each beat. When this happens, the
heart does not have to beat as often to get needed oxygen
and nutrients to the muscles. Therefore, you can increase or
decrease the intensity of your workout to reach a target
heart rate that allows you to exercise and burn calories
more efficiently.
Heart Rate Monitor
FAQ
Why is it important
to know my heart rate?
Measuring your
heart rate can help you in two ways:
1.
Your heart rate helps you determine your
fitness level. The quicker you return to
your resting heart rate after exercising,
the more fit and rested you are.
2.
Allows you to increase or decrease the
intensity of your workout to reach a target
heart rate that allows you to exercise and
burn calories more efficiently.
What is heart rate
defined?
Heart rate (HR) is an
indicator of the heart's work, most commonly
expressed as number of heart beats per
minute (bpm).
What is an average
heart rate?
The heart rate (bpm) that
represents the average value of heart rates
measured during an exercise period.
What is resting heart rate?
Resting
heart rate is the number of heart beats in
one minute when you are at complete rest.
The resting heart rate of a well-conditioned
person is usually lower (40-50 bpm) than
that of an unfit person (60-80 bpm).
How
do you measure your resting heart rate?
Immediately after awakening in the morning,
measure your heart rate using your heart
rate monitor. Take the measurements of five
consecutive days and find the average of
your resting heart rates. Your resting heart
rate depends on your living habits and is
affected by several factors such as fitness
level, recovery from the previous exercise,
quality of sleep, mental stress level and
eating habits.
What is maximum heart rate?
Maximum
heart rate is the highest number of heart
beats of a person in one minute. Maximum
heart rate is a useful tool in determining
training intensities.
How do you
determine maximum heart rate?
You can
calculate your maximum heart rate by:
1.
Having it measured in a maximal exercise
stress test.
2. Calculating it by
age-predicted maximum heart rate formulas.
Measured Maximum Heart Rate
1. The
most accurate way of determining your
individual maximum heart rate is to have it
clinically tested (by treadmill or bicycle
stress test) by a cardiologist or exercise
physiologist. You can also measure it in
field conditions supervised by an
experienced coach. If you are over the age
of 35, overweight, have been sedentary for
several years, or have a history of heart
disease in your family, clinical testing is
recommended.
Predicted Maximum Heart Rate
Each
individual has their own personal heart rate
zones, based on their maximum heart rate.
There are many factors, which can affect
your maximum heart rate, some include: age,
gender, stress, disease, fitness level and
genetic factors.
There
is a mathematical formula that allows you to
predict your maximum heart rate. The
age-adjusted formula can come in very handy
when you cannot take the
physician-supervised stress test.
Male: 210 - (1/2 your
age) - (.05 x your body weight) + 4
Female: 226 - (1/2 your age) - (.05 x your
body weight)
For example…
Male
Weight = 150
lbs.
Age=30
210-(15)-(7.5) + 4 =
191.5 Maximum Heart Rate
This
formula only applies to adults. The
generally accepted error in the
age-predicted formula is + 10-12 bpm, which
is due to different inherited
characteristics and exercise training. If
you want to exercise at your most individual
and effective levels, your maximum heart
rate should be measured.
What is heart rate reserve?
Heart
rate reserve (HRR) is the difference between
your maximum heart rate and your resting
heart rate. If your maximum heart rate is
196 beats per minute (bpm) and your resting
heart rate is 63 bpm, your heart rate
reserve is:
196 bpm - 63 bpm = 133
bpm
The
greater the difference, the larger your
heart rate reserve and the greater your
range of potential training heart rate
intensities. For HRR determination both the
maximum heart rate and the resting heart
rate should be measured. It is not suitable
to use the predicted values.
What is a safety heart rate?
This is
the heart rate that is prescribed for
beginning exercisers or used in cardiac
rehabilitation programs to avoid risks. This
is 60-70% of your maximum heart rate and
represents the highest intensity you can
place on your cardiovascular system and
still obtain a beneficial exercise effect.
What is an
electrocardiogram (ECG)?
Electrical
impulses registered from the heart in
graphical format.
What is
cardiovascular fitness, aerobic fitness?
It is the part of fitness that describes the
body's ability to sustain low-intensity
exercise for long periods of time.
What is anaerobic threshold?
As
exercise intensity increases the body's
ability to meet these demands using oxygen
is ineffective. To continue to meet the
demands of increasing exercise intensity,
the body changes metabolic pathways to a
less efficient anaerobic pathway. The point
at which the body changes pathways is
referred to as the anaerobic threshold.
What is the aerobic
training area?
It includes the three
lowest training zones:
- Light Intensity
- Light to Moderate
Intensity
- Moderate
Intensity
What is target zone?
Usually four
different target zones are presented. Each
target zone has its lower and upper target
heart rate limits. The most common target HR
zones are: light, light to moderate,
moderate and heavy.
Light Intensity
This zone represents
55-65% of HRmax. Exercising in this zone is
recommended for enhanced well-being and
stress reduction.
(ex. Overall daily
activities belong to this zone).
Light to Moderate
Intensity
This
represents 65-75% of HRmax. Exercising in
this zone is recommended for health
improvement and weight management.
Moderate Intensity
This
represents 75-85% of HRmax. Exercising in
this zone is effective in particular for
improving cardiovascular fitness and for
people exercising more regularly.
Heavy Intensity
This represents 85-100%
of HRmax. Training in this zone is effective
in particular for athletes in increasing
maximum performance capacity. Exercise in
this zone only after you are comfortable
exercising in the Moderate Intensity Zone
for extended periods of time (30-40
minutes).
Reference: Above
Information Provided By Freestyle. |
