Q: Do you stop working out when you have reached the number of calories you wanted to burn?
Q: Do you measure results in the way your body looks, but not how much your heart rate has improved?
If you have answered yes to any or all of these questions, this article is definitely for you!
My Experiment
Yesterday, I did an experiment. I walked for a mile at a slow pace, never letting my heart rate go above 100. Then I ran a mile at a faster pace, keeping my heart rate between 160-167 (between 82-85% of my max). Here are the results:
Distance Time Calories Burned
1 mile 19:42 109
1 mile 9:35 113
So, as you can see, I burned more calories in less than half the time while my heart rate was where it should be! You can be sure I felt like I worked a lot harder and my heart actually got a workout during my run as well. I could have ran the mile faster, but my heart rate would have been over 85% of its max, which would have led to over-training.
Recommended Heart Rate for Cardiovascular Training
To find out your Maximum Heart Rate take 220 - Your Age.
Multiply this number by the percentage of which level you want to train at.
Here is a chart that shows what level you should work at depending on your goals:
Light Exercise Maintain Healthy Heart/Get Fit 50%-60%
Weight Management Lose Weight/Burn Fat 60%-70%
Aerobic Base Building Increase Stamina Aerobic Endurance 70%-80%
Optimal Conditioning Maintain Excellent Fitness Condition 80%-85%
My Example: 220-24 = 196 196 x 0.85 =167
I would keep my heart rate at 167 to train at the Optimal Conditioning Level
Under-training Risks
There are many risk factors to having an unhealthy heart, but luckily you have some control over it to a certain extent. The most common risk factors for heart disease are:
-Being overweight or obese
-Being sedentary
-Smoking
-Stress
-Family history of heart problems
-Hypertension
-High cholesterol
-Eating a high fat diet
-Depression
The top 2 risk factors are what you can eliminate by exercising. Just by moving your body, you can lower your risks for heart tenfold.
You have experienced in the past how much even just a little exercise has an effect on the body. Your heart rate immediately speeds up as your body demands more oxygen. Your breathing rate increases to accommodate your body's needs for more oxygen, and you start to sweat to cool your body.
Exercise can actually change how your heart functions. By exercising regularly you can:
-Make the heart more efficient. By exercising on a regular basis, your heart learns how to work harder with less effort, which makes activities become easier.
-Lower your Resting Heart Rate (RHR). When your heart is in good shape, it will beat at fewer times per minute while you are at rest. The more you exercise, the lower this number will become. (Athletes have a RHR of 40-50 bpm)
-Strengthen your heart. Just like the rest of the muscles in your body become stronger from weight training, regular cardio can make the heart muscle stronger, which means it can pump more blood with each beat. Your body will then receive oxygen quicker and more efficiently.
-Helps you recover faster. The more in shape your heart is, the less time it takes to return to its baseline rate. The time it takes to recover can be tracked to measure fitness levels improving.
-Lowers risks. The stronger your heart, the lower the risks of heart attack, diabetes, stroke, and high cholesterol are.
-Increases good cholesterol, and decreases bad cholesterol. This means there will be less plaque built up in the arteries, so blood can flow freely to and from the heart.
Optimal Training for Your Fitness Level
For the average person, training heart rate should be between 70-85%. To measure your heart rate, find a second timer and count the number of heart beats you can feel in 15 seconds. Multiply this number by 4 and you have your heart rate. For an easier way where you don't have to distract yourself from your workout, there are many heart rate monitors available in the market. For a recommendation for which type is best for you, email encompasstraining@gmail.com.
When you are training at this level, Soon you will find that you can increase your time and intensity without increasing your heart rate. This is when your heart is getting in shape along with all of the other muscles you are strengthn training!
Going over 85%
It is possible to go over 85% of your maximum heart rate if you don't have any risks for a heart attack, or coronary heart disease. Though it is possible, it is not a good idea, because you are more likely to have sore joints, muscles, and also raise your risk for a musculo-skeletal injury.
When you exercise at this level, you are also at risk for over-training. When your body is over-trained, the systems in it get weaker instead of stronger. This leads to decreased performance and fatigue. Your risks for injuries also increases greatly, which will cause more damage than good in the long run.
For Additional Information
Contact me if you would like to go more in depth about:
-Resting heart rate
-Recovery heart rate
-Heart rate reserve
-Which level is right for you
-Your current fitness level
-When it is okay to go over 85% max
-How to get your heart in the best shape of it's life!
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