Do you want to get the most out of a 35-minute workout on the treadmill, or a variety of other cardiovascular exercises? You can maximize the benefits of cardiovascular activity if you exercise within your target heart rate (THR) area. In general, your THR is 60 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. You can estimate your THR by age, or calculate it effectively using the Karvonen or Zoladz methods. Whichever way you go, remember that THR is measured in beats per minute (bpm).
Step
Method 1 of 3: Calculating THR with the Karvonen Method
Step 1. Calculate your maximum heart rate
Subtract your age from 220. This is maximum heart rate (HRmax) You. For example, HRmax for a person aged 40 years is 220 - 40 = 180.
You can also estimate HRmax by multiplying your age by 0.7 and subtracting the result from 208. For example, if you are 40 years old, the value you get is 40 * 0, 7 = 28, so your HRmax is 208 - 28 = 180.
Step 2. Check your resting heart rate (RHR)
It's a good idea to do this as soon as you wake up and still in bed, so that your body is still fully rested and hasn't done anything else. To check for a pulse, place the tips of your index and middle fingers on the artery in the middle of the inside of your wrist.
- You can count heart rates for 60 seconds, or for 30 seconds and multiply by two, as long as the final count is beats per minute.
- Remember that the first pulse starts at zero.
- Calculate the average heart rate in the morning for three days to get average resting heart rate (RHR). To do this, add up the three counts and divide by three to get the RHR value. As an example, (62 + 65 + 63) / 3 = 63.
- You can also check the pulse of the neck veins. To do this, place your fingertips on the arteries that are next to the windpipe.
Step 3. Avoid things that can affect your resting heart rate (RHR)
Even if the first thing you do when you wake up is count your pulse, there are several things that can affect your RHR. You cannot completely control these things. Just remember that the more you can avoid these things, the more accurate your RHR calculation will be. These include:
- Hot weather
- Caffeine consumption
- Hormonal changes
- Stress
- Smoke
- Treatment
- RHR calculation after exercising on the same day
Step 4. Calculate the heart rate reserve
Subtract RHR from HRmax. The result is the value heart rate reserve (HRmaxReserve). For example, if HRmax is 180 and RHR is 63, calculate it this way, i.e. 180 - 63 = 117.
The HRmaxReserve value is the difference between the maximum heart rate and the resting heart rate
Step 5. Calculate the upper and lower limits of THR
For the upper limit, you can use 80 percent of HRmaxReserve by multiplying it by 0.8 and then adding RHR to the result. As an example, (117 * 0, 8) + 63 = 157.
For the lower limit, you can use 60 percent of HRmaxReserve by multiplying it by 0.6 and then adding RHR to the result. As an example, (117 * 0, 6) + 63 = 133.
Step 6. Add the upper and lower bounds of the THR and divide the sum by two
This will result in the average value of the target heart rate. As an example, (133 + 157) / 2 = 145.
You can also get a similar result by multiplying HRmaxReserve by 0.7 and then adding the result to the RHR. As an example, (117 * 0, 7) + 63 = 145.
Method 2 of 3: Estimating THR
Step 1. Subtract 30 beats per minute (bpm) from your maximum heart rate (HRmax)
To calculate HRmax, subtract your age from 220. For example, if your age is 30 years, you can calculate it, namely 220 - 30 = 190. For example, if your HRmax is 190, you can calculate thus, i.e. 190 - 30 = 160.
The Zoladz method is a method based on five adjustment zones associated with five training levels, namely zone 1 (10 bpm) which is the lowest zone, to zone 5 (50 bpm) which is the highest zone. The value of 30 bpm is the average value of the five zones, which is the third adjustment zone
Step 2. Calculate the target heart rate (THR) counting in the plus and minus 5 ranges
For example, if the result of the previous calculation is 160, then the THR value is between 155 and 165.
As you can see, this method is more of an approximation to calculating THR, because it doesn't include resting heart rate (RHR), and the result is a range of values, not a specific value. But it's a much faster way to get a THR estimate if you don't have time to calculate your RHR for three days
Step 3. Determine the estimated THR based on age
Although THR values differ for each person based on how fast their heart rate is, how often they exercise, and age, there is a statistical average THR value for each age group. To get an idea of whether your THR value is within normal limits, check if it is within the following ranges:
- 20 years old: 100-170 bpm
- 30 years old: 95-162 bpm
- 35 years old: 93-157 bpm
- 40 years old: 90-153 bpm
- 45 years old: 88-149 bpm
- 50 years old: 85-145 bpm
- Age 55 years: 83-140 bpm
- 60 years old: 80-136 bpm
- Age 65 years: 78-132 bpm
- 70 years old: 75-128 bpm
Method 3 of 3: Determining Exercise Intensity Using THR
Step 1. Check your heart rate during a workout session
To do this, you have to stop the exercise, don't rest before calculating your heart rate, and start training right away, giving you ten seconds of heart rate. Multiply the number of heart beats for those ten seconds by six, so you get your heart rate for 60 seconds, which is heart beats per minute.
- A more accurate way to do this is to use a heart monitor device to get a heart rate reading during a workout session.
- This value is not your THR value, but your heart rate during exercise.
Step 2. Determine the intensity of physical activity based on the THR value
You can determine whether the intensity of your physical activity is low, moderate, or high by measuring your exercise heart rate (bpm) against the THR value. If your heart rate is within the THR range or within the average THR, it means that you are exercising with moderate intensity (50 to 70 percent of HRmax). If the value is close to the upper limit, it means that you are doing the exercise with high intensity (70 to 85 percent of HRmax).
- If you've just started exercising, try to do it at a low to moderate intensity. You can increase it once your body gets used to exercising.
- Heart rate should also be within a lower range of THR when warming up or cooling down.
- When doing the exercise, make sure that your heart rate never exceeds your maximum heart rate.
Step 3. Ask your doctor for advice if you are physically weak or have health problems
You should ask your doctor for advice if you want to know how much physical activity you can do if you fall into the following categories:
- You have a health problem, such as an irregular heart rate or high blood pressure.
- You take medication regularly that can affect your heart rate.
- You are overweight.
- You haven't exercised in a long time, especially if you're over 40.
