Heart rate info and exercise

Ang8178

OK so I've had a hard time knowing where my heart rate should be to get the most out of my workouts. I just found some info on this site that has helped me out soooo much. Just wanted to share it with other's who may not know all the lingo or in's and out's of exercise talk. It has really helped me understand where I need to be when it comes to my cardio workouts

http://exercise.about.com/od/cardioworkouts/ss/findtargetheart.htm

Iceprincessk25

Well there's that old 220-your age and then multiply that by .6 and .8 to get your 60-80% of your max heart rate workout zone.

juliewright

whoops

tripyrenees

You could always do a HR test at your local gym. You will run on a treadmill or a ride a stationary bike and the instructor will up the power (resistance) over a period of time in say 2 min steps. When you can't hold on for any longer the test stops and the instructor can analyze the results and at the point your effort is not linear i.e does not follow the increase in resistance consistently, is the point of your Lactate Threshold - i.e the point when you can't talk much when you are exercising and your muscles will start to hurt a little.

The 220 - age sort of works and is a good indicator if you have nothing else - I am nearly 43 (42.5 lol) so my 220 - 43 would be 177 but my actual Max HR is 187. My Lactate Threshold is around 169.

On my cardio workouts which are the majority of my exercising I will be steady around 145 to 155. The main aim is to feel like your working - i.e not slightly more effort than sitting on the couch but actually sweating heavily and breathing heavily for the period of the exercise - and when you stop you feel like you have done something.