Target Heart Rate Concern

soxygirl

Hi all,

I have a question for those of you who use an HRM when exercising . . . How vital is it to stay within the target heart rate? My issue is that when I do low-impact exercising or walking I have trouble getting up to the low end of the target range, and when I do anything high impact I always exceed the high-end of my range . . . I want to be getting the most of my exercising and I'm concerned about this. Thoughts?

My recommended range is 150-164 and I'm using the Polar F6.

Thanks!

thumper44

I also have myself a F6 .

My opinion, from reading alot of the threads/messages on here.
Forget about the ranges.

In same amount of time.
Low impact exercising, they say can burn higher % of fat, but less calories.
High impact burns less % of fat, but more calories.

Try interval training. walking with bursts of jogging. Quick jogs(high impact) will raise your heartbeat up over your current range, and by walking will bring it down and average out a higher calorie burn or within your recommended range.

SLIMpossible

I second that!

hiddensecant

I use this to calculate my ranges; it's based on your resting heart rate and age rather than just age.
http://www.bodyforlife2.com/max_heart_rate.htm

I set my range from the low end of "easy" to the high end of "AT". But I try to hit both ends of the spectrum during my workouts since most of them are interval based.

And go for intervals rather than separating low and high impact workouts. It's far more efficient than either of the two.

Chenoachem

In same amount of time.
Low impact exercising, they say can burn higher % of fat, but less calories.
High impact burns less % of fat, but more calories.

Try interval training. walking with bursts of jogging. Quick jogs(high impact) will raise your heartbeat up over your current range, and by walking will bring it down and average out a higher calorie burn or within your recommended range.

Exactly. I have a Polar FT60 and it uses 3 ranges. In 55-65% of max HR is fat burning for weight loss, 65-75% of max HR is improving fitness and muscel gain, and 75-85% of Max HR is maximizing your fitness or increasing your VO2 max.

I don't always do each workout with all of them but my fitness program suggests amount of time in each zone per week of workouts. So right now my goal is 1hr in zone 1, 2 hours in zone 2, and 30min in zone 3 to work on improving my fitness.

Azdak

Hi all,

I have a question for those of you who use an HRM when exercising . . . How vital is it to stay within the target heart rate? My issue is that when I do low-impact exercising or walking I have trouble getting up to the low end of the target range, and when I do anything high impact I always exceed the high-end of my range . . . I want to be getting the most of my exercising and I'm concerned about this. Thoughts?

My recommended range is 150-164 and I'm using the Polar F6.

Thanks!

Depends on your goals. Any exercise burns calories, whether or not it increases your fitness. Targeted exercise does both.

An ideally balance program includes a mix of durations and intensities, designed to keep you improving.

Within the normal population, there is significant variation in maximum heart rate. Since all "target HR" formulae use max HR as a basis for calculation, determining your actual "target" heart rate (or rates) always involves some trial and error. You start off with the "book calculations" and then compare your HR readings during various activities to your perceived exertion to see if they match.

How do you feel when doing the different activities? When the HR is "below target" does it feel easy? When you are "above target" are you able to sustain that level for the entire class?

It sounds as though your "low impact" activities are just simply too easy to get you to a training level. At your age, anyone with a reasonable fitness level is going to find that walking does not raise your HR that much.

If you enjoy the walking and the low-impact class and are not that concerned with whether or not they improve your fitness, stay with them. If you feel you are still at a controlled level of exertion (somewhat hard or hard, but not straining) during the high impact aerobics, then I wouldn't worry about the higer HR. I suspect your max HR is higher than the calculated 188 for your age, and thus your real "target" heart rates are higher as well.