Your Target Heart Rate

Everyone has a goal in mind when starting an exercise program, whether it’s to lose weight, burn fat, increase cardiovascular health and endurance, release stress, lower blood pressure or just plain feel good. But in order to reach those goals – in order for your workout to be effective – the most important factor to be aware of is your heart rate.

Your heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute. But there are three types of heart rate that you need to look at when beginning an exercise program:

1. Resting heart rate (RHR): the beats per minute when you aren’t exerting yourself (which varies per person) but averages out to about 70 BPM (beats per minute) for men & 75 BPM for women
2. Maximum heart rate (MHR): the rate at which the heart beats at 100% exertion
3. Target heart rate (THR): the desired range of heart rate during exercise that enables your heart & lungs to receive the most benefit from a workout.

Pacing yourself during exercise provides the greatest results for your efforts. To burn fat and improve cardiovascular endurance, you have to maintain a sustained workout in the “zone” – that means working at your THR level for a minimum of 30 minutes.  Working below your THR won’t give you those fat burning and cardiovascular benefits and working above your THR will make it difficult to sustain your workout.

Heart Rate Chart

The following chart (from the American Heart Association) indicates the estimated THR for different ages. Find the age category closest to yours and then read across to find your target heart rate.

You can also calculate your target heart rate by subtracting your age from 220 to determine your maximum heart rate and then multiply that number by 70 percent.  For example, if you’re 50, your maximum heart rate would be 170 multiplied by 70 percent for a THR of 119 (220 – 50 = 170; 170 x .70 =119).

Heart Rate Zone

There are three ways to check your heart rate during a workout to make sure you’re working in your zone.

• Find your pulse (either on the side of the neck or on the wrist) and count the number of beats for 6 seconds and multiply by 10. You’ll need a clock or watch with a second hand for this.
• Take the talk test … if you can carry on a normal conversation, you aren’t working hard enough; if you can’t talk at all, you’re working too hard.
• Invest in a heart rate watch, a convenient gadget that straps onto your wrist (some require a chest belt, while others don’t). Press a button or the watch face to get a heart reading.  You can get really fancy ones that come with all kinds of things, like calories-burned calculators, pedometers, timers, stopwatches, and more.

If you’re just beginning your program, start out easy (maybe 50-60 percent of your MHR, to test the waters). If that feels good, move up to 70%. Once you’re comfortable with your program, you can push that number higher and may find that you can go as high as 85 percent of your MHR. But keep in mind that it isn’t necessary to work that hard to stay in shape. And, as always, check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

Practice Yoga for a Pain-Free Run

Runners will tell you there’s nothing that compares to the satisfaction you get from running … the sound of your feet hitting the pavement and the regular rhythm of your breathing can send you into a zone that leaves you feeling relaxed, clear-headed and just plain good.

While running provides a great workout for the heart and lungs, the act of running moves the body through a very limited range of motion. Most runners have developed subtle, but potentially harmful, imbalances in the way their feet hit the ground and the way they maintain alignment throughout their stride, which leaves them susceptible to injury.

Adding a yoga practice into your routine can enhance your running experience. Yoga balances the body, improves breathing methods and brings an awareness to your body that can make running more meditative and help prevent injury.

• Balance. Yoga asanas (poses) correct imbalances resulting from high impact training by stretching and strengthening muscles, aligning joints, and improving bone density. A stronger, more flexible body is less susceptible to injury.
• Breath. Intrinsic to yoga is the combination of movement with breath. While running requires breathing out of simple necessity, yoga involves a much more focused awareness of breath and how it affects the body. The deep breathing that is a part of a yoga practice increases lung capacity, which enhances both energy and stamina for a runner as it relaxes the body.
• Mindfulness. The connection between mind, body and breath that is acheived through yoga practice helps runners find a more meditative state while running and a heightened awareness of their bodies. By tuning into the body, a runner is more heedful of alignment and balance which helps prevent injury.

If you’ve never tried yoga and would like to add it to your running routine, sign up for some beginner’s classes at your local yoga studio to learn proper alignment and breathing techniques.  Some studios even offer classes that are designed specifically for runners.  There are also oodles of yoga for runners’ books and dvds to choose from in bookstores and libraries.