How to Determine your Target Heart Rate

It is very simple to find one’s target heart rate. People who do aerobic exercise monitor themselves for their heart rate range to assess the intensity of the workout on their bodies. By exercising hard enough, one’s heart rate will be elevated to a certain level. Conducting such heart rate monitoring is essential during any aerobic exercise program because it is necessary to know one’s maximum heart rate. This is why everyone who exercises should know how to gauge resting heart rate, working heart rate and recovery heart rate. Additionally, one should know how to compare it to a scale to establish whether one has achieved the target heart rate to aerobic health.

One begins checking one’s heart rate range by measuring resting heart rate. This is the number of times one’s heart beats every minute while resting. The optimum time to measure one’s resting heart rate is in the morning, just after awaking. The average resting heart rate for women is between 74 and 84 beats per minute, while ranges from 72-78 for men.

To measure one’s heart rate, one should place a hand on the pulse of the wrist to find out the radial heart rate. One uses the fingers and not the thumb for this. To check the carotid pulse one must place a finger on the side of the neck’s Adam’s apple to find the pulse. The way to take the pulse there is by counting the beats for 10 seconds. The resultant number is multiplied by 6 to obtain the beats per minute.

To establish one’s working heart rate, one should measure one’s pulse after vigorous exercise of at least 5 minutes’ duration. One measures the pulse during the act of marching or moving. After taking the pulse for 6 seconds, one adds zero. Alternatively, one can take it for 10 seconds and multiply by 6.

Another essential component of a good heart rate monitor is the recovery heart rate. This is the rate at which the heart returns to normal after a session of strenuous exercise. Finding one’s recovery heart rate is important for establishing the heart’s overall health. The higher the degree of cardiovascular fitness, the quicker will be the heart’s recovery rate after exercise. One must take one’s pulse a minute after cessation of exercise, and again after two minutes and then five minutes.

Exercising within the correct heart rate range is important to obtain the maximum cardiovascular benefits, and to stay within safe limits. The optimal heart rate range is called the target or training heart rate. It is the heart rate one should attain during vigorous exercise. Generally, fitness trainers recommend exercising between 55 % and 85 % of one’s maximum heart rate for the best possible benefits.

One can find one’s target heart rate very easily. One subtracts one’s age from 220 and multiplies the resultant number by .55. Then one multiplies the same number by .85. In an aerobic exercise regimen, one should try to attain one’s target heart rate (60-80% of the maximum the heart can beat) at least three to five times a week for 20-60 minutes after warm-ups. This is the best way of maximizing the health benefits of cardiovascular activity

It is important to know that certain medications can affect heart rate either way. It is always to consult a doctor about monitoring exercise intensity if one is on any kind of medication that affects heart rate.