Heart Rate Zones:
| Moderate activity | 50-60% |
While training in zone, your body is going to be getting into shape by burning a higher blend of fat calories than carbohydrate calories for its fuel. This is the zone where"long, slow distance" training comes into play. |
| Weight management |
60-70% |
Working at this level will strengthen your heart and allow it to work at its optimum level. From this point forward, your body begins to reap the positive effects of aerobic exercise. |
| Aerobic | 70-80% |
Training at this rate not only benefits your heart, but also your "respiratory" or breathing system. This will increase your endurance, enhance your aerobic power (the ability to transfer oxygen to and carbon dioxide away from the sport-specific muscles. The more oxygen you bring to your muscles, the more calories you'll burn. At this heart rate you'll begin to fill some of the discomforts of the exercise regimen. |
| Anaerobic threshold | 80-90% |
At this rate, you are training at the point where exercise crosses from aerobic into the anaerobic zone. This is the point where your muscles start requiring more oxygen than your cardio-respiratory system can provide and lactic acid starts to accumulate in the muscles, creating a burning sensation. The primary benefit of exercising at this level is to increase your body's ability to metabolize lactic acid. |
| Redline | 90-100% |
You should ONLY train at this level if you are extremely fit. You will have crossed over the anaerobic threshold, and will be operating in oxygen debt.. You are going to be training the metabolic pathways of your fast twitch muscles, not your endurance pathways or enzymes. |
Heart Rate Terms:
| HR | heart rate | This indicated the number of times that your heart beats per minute. Stimulus like stress and exercise can change your hear rate. |
| HRR | heart rate reserve | The total number of beats (specific heart rate range) between your resting heart rate and your maximum heart rate. |
| RHR | resting heart rate | This is your hear rate at complete rest. Usually taken when you first wake up, before lifting your head off the pillow. |
| THR | karvonene training heart rate | Percentage of hear rate at which to exercise. It uses your resting hear rate to determine your training levels. |
| EHR | exercise heart rate | The heart rate which is optimal for the beneficial effects of exercising. |
| Max HR | maximum heart rate | This is the maximum number of times you heart can contract in one minute. Gender and age are used to determine it. |
| RHR | recovery heart rate | This indicates the reduction in your hear rate right after you stop exercising. The higher your fitness level the faster the drop in your heart range. |
| AT HR | anaerobic threshold heart rate | This is the heart range at which you enter the physiological point where you are producing more lactate than you are able to synthesize. |
Age Adjusted Formula:
ALERT: The age adjusted formula has a +/- 10-15 beats per minute margin of error (for example: if your 70% is 150 bpm, your 70% range is 135-165. That's a 30 bpm margine of difference. Two out of 10 people will find that the Age Adjusted Max HR formula works for them. The others will need to make some adjustments. If you are interested in finding out your REAL Max HR then shcedule a Max HR treadmill test.
men: 220 - age = Max HR - men heart rate table
women: 226 - age = Max HR - women heart rate table
Borg Scale - Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
Karvonen Formula:
This formula requires that you know your resting heart rate. The best way to take this measure is early in the morning right before you lift your head off the pillow. If you have a heart rate monitor, you can sleep with the transmitter band on, or have it by your bed side so you can easily slip it on in the morning without moving to much. Take your resting heart rate for 4-5 mornings and then average the results. Use this number in the following formula.
THR = RHR + (HRR * % of intensity)