Heart
Rate and Exercise Questions... Answered
Also see Oct 2002 Exercise Tip (Archives) about the Rate of
Perceived Exertion and Heart Rate
Calculating
Heart Rates
220-Age = _______ Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)
Use this number and multiply it by 0.7 for 70%______
Use the Max Heart Rate number and multiply
by 0.85 for 85%_____
The goal range for working out is to fall between this range.
I recommend a Polar Heart Rate Monitor for the best readings.
They're about $50 at the sports supply stores.
Why 70%?
At 70% you know you’re increasing the strength of your heart
as a muscle and building up the collateral "back up"
systems.
If there is an artery leading to the heart that is getting
plugged, the back up system will be another (or many) smaller
artery(s) next to it that can feed to the heart too. This
has been seen with a lot of farmers. They may have a heart
attack at 80 years old and then autopsies show that they had
blocked arteries for decades but had huge collateral back
up systems from all the physical work so their hearts still
kept working.
Also, at 70% heart rate the glucose uptake by the muscles
is increased 10-fold which is GREAT for diabetics or people
with insulin resistance. This means the insulin takes the
glucose to the muscles and NOT to fat and it is removed from
the blood vessel where high levels can cause damage.
Why 85%?
At 85% you'll definitely be working hard.
The benefits of this is you become a better fat burner at
rest.
So interval training may help this. Increasing your speed,
intensity, incline on treadmills, run/jog a bit versus walking...etc.
All of this is interval training.
