Personal Fitness - Heart Rate Training - It's in the Zone

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by Fitness First Germany

The rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scale, talk test and other subjective tools for measuring aerobic exercise intensity can only do so much. For the most accurate assessments, a monitor is the way to go. Let's see why.

From 55%, up to approximately 70%-75% of your maximum exercise heart rate, your body utilizes fat as the primary fuel. That is your body's aerobic (with oxygen) zone. After 70%-75% your body begins to function anaerobically (without oxygen) and utilizes glucose in the form of glycogen.

If you are just beginning to build a fitness base or have some preexisting medical condition which requires you to be cautious; or even if you're just tired and don't want to miss a workout, effective fat burning means maintaining your intensity levels in your body's aerobic range.

You Can't Always Go By Feel

Your heart rate is affected by your:

1. current stress level,

2. how much sleep you've had,

3. what you've been eating and

4. how well you've recovered from your last workout.

Certain medications can produce artificially low or high readings as well. We usually gauge how hard we're working by how hard we're breathing.

With one or any combination of 4 factors affecting your pulse (assuming you're not on meds) it's still possible to be out of breath with a lower heart rate or hardly out of breath with an elevated one.

The simplest way to determine your target heart rate zones is with the age predicted formula. You can usually find a chart with this formula near the cardio machines at most gyms.

Do the Math

Starting with the average heart rate of a newborn baby (220 bpm) the research indicates that we lose approximately one beat off that number for every year we age. So the age predicted maximum for a 40 year old would be 220-40=180 bpm.

Multiplying 180 by .60 and .85 will give you a pulse range of 60% to 85% of maximum or 108 bpm to 153 bpm. Using an inexpensive monitor our 40 year old could keep her pulse in this zone with pin point accuracy no matter what factors were affecting her heart rate that day.

Bottom Line? Heart rate training for aerobics will assure you of attaining the intended training effect every time. Using a monitor is also a great way to measure intensity during interval training as well.

Bonus Tip: Varying the intensity and emphasis of your workouts will keep you motivated and moving toward your fitness goals. Help yourself by going to http://freemysfitinfo.com/about to claim your free instant access to the Karvonen Formula chart for heart rate training.