Check your heart rate!

02 Mar Check your heart rate!

CHECK YOUR HEART RATE!

Have you ever been in a small group training and wondered why the person next you keeps checking their watch? Well chances are they’re not just checking the time; more likely they’re checking their heart rate.

Heart rate monitors can be a great tool to help you estimate your calorie expenditure during workouts. They provide you with an estimate of your heart rate and often allow you to plug in factors such as age and weight to get your calories burned. The first thing to understand is the difference in hear rate numbers.

First up is maximum heart rate which is your body’s max energy output. This would be a number that’s not sustainable for more than a few seconds. The easiest way to calculate this is subtract your age from 220. (i.e. A 20 year old person would have a MHR of 200) Remember that Maximum heart rate is not a trainable attribute. Which means as you become more fit your maximum heart rate does not change. Instead the more fit you become the more work you can do at your maximum heart rate.

Next is your target heart rate. This number is where you want to be in your workouts to maximize fat burning efficiency. This number is generally 70-85% of your max heart rate.

If you don’t have a heart rate monitor don’t panic we can still calculate your heart rate simply stop exercising and check your pulse for 15 seconds then multiply the beats you counted by 4 to get current heart rate.
Booooom! Enjoy!

Derrick