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You have heard people talk about measuring your resting and target heart rate zone when it comes to exercise. In this article I'll show you how to measure both and the reasons why it is important to know what your target heart rate zone is before you start exercising.
Your resting heart beat should be measured when you first wake up in the morning. It is best to measure your heart beat before you get out of bed, so have a watch, stopwatch or a clock handy next to your bed. To find your pulse, you have two options, the radial artery which is located under your wrist on the thumb side. The second option is to use the carotid artery in your neck, located under your jaw. You need to use the correct fingers to take your pulse as your thumb has a light pulse and could cause some confusion when you take your pulse. You should use your index finger and your middle finger.
You need to count how many beats occur within 60 seconds. You can either count for the full 60 seconds or count for 30 seconds and times the amount by two. Some people only count for 15 seconds and then multiple the result by four, but I don't think that it gives you an accurate enough beat count. Great, now you know your resting heart rate.
The target rate gives you a low and high end value for your working heart rate range. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that this zone should be between 55 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate when working out. So, lets have a look at how to work these figures out then. Have a look at the formula below. Please note that although the formula is quite accurate, for some people it could deviate quite a bit.
Maximum heart rate = 220 minus your age.
For example, your age is 27. 220 - 27 = 193 will be your maximum rate. Now in order to find your target heart rate zone, you need to multiply your maximum rate with the low and high zone percentages. Remember that the low and high zone percentages were 55 and 90 per cent.
193 x .55 = 106 will be your low end target rate.
193 x .90 = 173 will be your high end target rate.
To make sure that you are getting a good workout you will want to make sure that your heart beat stays above the low end target rate. At the same time, you do not want to increase your heart beat over the high end target rate. You don't want to run your heart over its maximum heart rate as this will put unnecessary strain on your heart and you will be pushing your body to its limit. Also, staying within the target range will help you burn the maximum amount of calories during your activity.
I hope that you have found this article interesting and helps you reach your calorie reduction targets within your workout.
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