Heart Rate 1

Monitoring heart rate is a tool that allows a person to quantify what is going on with their health and conditioning by monitoring how the heart is performing.  Monitoring does not directly give you insight into whether or not you have cardiovascular disease.

 

In the simplest sense monitoring your heart rate will help you achieve some fundamental goals.

1)      You will become more in tune with your body.

2)      You will be able to set and achieve performance goals.

3)      You will be able to quantify changes in your conditioning.

4)      You will accountable for reaching or not reaching your goals.

 

The average athlete does not think about monitoring heart rate.  These people just go out and train and judge their conditioning subjectively.  If their lap times improve then they figure their getting stronger. If their lap times get worse then they figure their out of shape.  If they are more tired than usual they figure they need to work harder.

 

 

The most common way heart rate is used today is by monitoring a "target zone".   A target zone is a heart rate range that determines your exercise intensity level.  There are various target zones that are suggested for an individual to follow that correspond with specific exercise goals.  The following chart outlines the common target zones used today.

 

Goal	Benefit	Intensity Level (% Maximum heart rate)
Light Exercise	General Fitness	50%-60%
Manage Weight	Burn fat/Lose Weight	60%-70%
Aerobic Training	Stamina/Endurance	70%-80%
Optimal Conditioning	Maximize Stamina/Endurance	80%-90%
Elite Conditioning	Peak Performance	90%-100%

 

To get started, you must first determine your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR), the highest number of times your heart can contract in one minute.  The most accurate way to do this is to be clinically tested by a cardiologist or exercise physiologist, using the "benchmark" treadmill stress test.  If you can't afford this the next best way to determine MHR is to use the Predicted Max HR method (PMHR).  For men PMHR is determined by using the age adjusted formula: 220 - your age = PMHR.  For Women the formula is: 226 - your age = PMHR.  This method gives you a ballpark number to use and generally has an accepted tolerance of + or - 10 bpm.

 

The second thing you want to do is determine your Resting Heart Rate (RHR) and Morning Resting Heart Rate (MHR).  The MHR is your actual RHR and is best taken the moment you wake up and before you get out of bed.  RHR can be taken through the day when you are at rest but will usually be a little higher than the MHR.  Resting HR is an indicator of your overall conditioning. The stronger the heart, the more blood it can pump.  The more blood it pumps, the less times it has to beat per minute.  A normal RHR is considered to be between 68 & 78 bpm.   Well-conditioned athletes like to keep their RHR in the mid 40's to low 50's.

 

Once you know your physiological range you can begin keeping track of your HR data whenever you work out.  Two easy things to keep track of are Average HR and Recovery HR.  Average HR is determined by taking your HR a number of times through out your exercise period.  This will give you an idea of your overall intensity for that session.  Your Recovery HR is your HR two minutes after an exercise session.   This tells you your recovery capacity and is a great gauge of your overall endurance.

 

Let's do an example on how you can utilize this information:  Two guys go and play racquetball for an hour.  At the end they are both exhausted and sit down for about fifteen minutes to relax.  Player A says, "I'm tired of feeling so tired after these games, I need to get in better shape".  Player B says, "Ya, so do I".  Player A goes home and watches TV.

 

Player B goes home and writes down these statistics:  Played racquetball for 1 hour.  At the end of the game I felt pretty exhausted.  Needed a good fifteen minutes to rest afterwards.  During that hour I monitored my HR five times at 140, 150, 155, 135, 140 bpm.   Two minutes after I finished exercising my HR was 108 bpm. 

Summary:

35 year old male. PMHR is 185 bpm. RHR is 70. 

Average HR: 144.  Recovery HR 108. 

Intensity level for that hour was 77%, a better than average aerobic work session.

 

Player A has no clue on what to do to improve except he knows he needs to work out more. 

 

Player B on the other hand has lots of info that he can make a plan with.   First of all he knows that in order to improve he needs to work out in at least an aerobic intensity level with a target HR range of 130-148 bpm.  Second he knows that to monitor improvement he needs to average 144 bpm so that he can make a comparable recovery assessment. Third, by monitoring his Recovery & Resting HR's he will be able to determine his rate of improvement and make changes to his routine if necessary.

 

Who do you think will do a better job of improving their conditioning the quickest?

 

Once you know your Max HR you can begin analyzing just how intense your cardio vascular work outs actually are.  Once you know your Recovery HR you can begin monitoring your fitness level and gauge any improvement or regression.  This info allows you to control and adjust your workouts so you can achieve your fitness goals.  Plus, when you track this data it helps keep you inspired and motivated.

 

See you out at the track!

Dr. Mark utilizes the highest quality supplements and products available. For more information:

drmark@proactivehealthcare.net   or  408-294-4074

 

Copywrite 2007 Dr. Mark Lucas, D.C.