In my cross training article I talked about your basic heart rate, also known as your minimum heart rate. This article is about your basic fitness heart rate and how to determine it.
Skip the fancy and expensive heart rate monitors. Or, at least start with the basics and move up when you understand why you need a digital readout to tell you how you feel. There is a simple, free way to determine your base (also called minimum) heart rate to establish a number for basic fitness. When you finish this simple process you have a number that helps you know how to exercise at maintenance level or above. It sounds simple and it is simple. The only equipment you need is a watch with a second hand or digital read-out.
Your base fitness level is, in fact, calculated from your age with a simple formula. We’ll use a 50 year old for easy calculations. Here’s the breakdown of the formula.
1. Take your age and subtract it from 220. In our 50 year old example we now have a number of 170.
2. Take that number and multiply it by 60%. .60 X 170 = 102
The 50 year old person has a heart rate maintenance level requirement of 102. In other words, a 50 year old must exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes with a heart rate of 102 to maintain his/her fitness level.
Clearly we don’t start off exercising at our maintenance level heart rate so, it is suggested that an additional 5 minutes be added at the beginning and 5 minutes at the end of a workout to round out the basic workout.
Secondly, the more fit you are, the harder it is to get to the 60% level because your heart is more efficient. Therefore, you might want to take your pulse 5 minutes into your workout and check it. Count your pulse for 15 seconds and multiply by 4. Is it above 60%? This is good. Is it below 60%? This is fine, too but means you need to work harder to keep your heart strong like it is.
At 60% you are just maintaining your level of fitness, nothing more. If you actually want to make your heart stronger you must work a bit harder, like 65 – 80%. Take our 50 year old example and multiply it by 65% for 111, 70% for 119, etc. The 80% level for a 50 year old means exercising for a minimum of 20 minutes with your heart beating 136 times for each of those minutes. It’s possible but it does feel like you’re pushing yourself. I encourage you to give it a try – after you know that your doctor also believes it’s OK.
Thanks for your time.
Bio:
Stephanie Atwood is coach of a women’s walking and running team in the Bay Area. A teacher and trainer at heart, she is currently certified as a personal trainer with AAAI/ISM and consults on sports nutrition. Stephanie’s undergraduate degree was in “experiential education” and her M.A.in cross cultural business communications. Atwood is completing a book on women’s fitness. Presently, Ms. Atwood is a Master’s Runner and runs or walks almost every day. “When we’re moving, we’re getting fit. It doesn’t matter how fast we’re doing it!”
Ms. Atwood is author of the weekly fitness E-zine The Weekly Pep Talk at [http://www.TheWeeklyPepTalk.com] and hosts the blog http://www.altbgo.blogspot.com This article, and many more are available for free reproduction if author is credited and links to the websites are kept intact. Thank you!
