You must understand your target heart rate which is bringing your rate to a certain level in order to get a good aerobic workout. If not, it will be difficult to lose weight or get in shape!
Your general physical condition is measured by your heart rate. When you visit the doctor, they find your resting heart rate and blood pressure. When your heart rate is low, it’s a good sign that your heart is pumping blood efficiently through your body. If your heart rate is high at rest, your heart is working too hard!
When you exercise aerobically, not only can you lose weight and get in great shape, but you can make your heart and lungs stronger.
Understand Target Heart Rate Zones
The perfect zone to get a good aerobic workout is when your heart rate is 60 to 80 percent of its maximum level. If you go below this level it’s not considered an aerobic workout. If you go too high, it’s an anaerobic workout which is a high intensity zone.
Here is a brief explanation of the different training zones:
- Healthy Heart Zone – 50 to 60% of maximum heart rate. Warm up.
- Fitness Zone – 60 to 70% of maximum heart rate. Fat burning.
- Aerobic Zone – 70 to 80% of maximum heart rate. Endurance training.
- Anaerobic Zone – 80 to 90% of maximum heart rate. Performance training.
- Red Line – 90 to 100% of maximum heart rate. Maximum effort.
By understanding your target heart rate zone you will know if you are pushing yourself too hard or not hard enough to get the best results with fitness programs like P90X, Insanity, or TurboFire.
Using the Karvonen Formula
Using your maximum and resting heart rate combined with your preferred training intensity, the Karvonen formula is a good one to use for calculating your target heart rate. Here’s how it works:
For this example, we use a 35 year old with a resting heart of 62. The preferred intensity level is aerobic zone, 70 to 80 percent.
Minimum – Training Heart Rate:
220 – 35 (Age) = 185
185 – 62 (Rest. HR) = 123
123 x .70 (Min. Intensity) + 62 (Rest. HR) = 148 Beats per minute
Maximum – Training Heart Rate:
220 – 35 (Age) = 185
185 – 62 (Rest. HR) = 123
123 x .80 (Max. Intensity) + 62 (Rest. HR) = 160 Beats per minute
Training heart rate zone: 148 to 160 beats per minute.
You can also invest in a heart rate monitor to easily track your stats throughout your workout.
