It is important for overall health to know when you can train hard, and when you should give your body a bit of a break. One of the most effective ways to do this is by understanding your own individual heart rate patterns. By understanding some basic terms and concepts about heart rate, you will be able to exercise more effectively and reduce injury and over training.
Understanding your own heart rate, your maximum heart rate, your anaerobic thresholds, and your resting rate is pretty much fundamental for beginning any sort of serious exercise program. If you want a program that is tailored to you and not someone else, base it on your heart rate patterns.
The speed that your heart pumps blood around the body is measured in beats per minute (bpm). As more blood is required by muscles, etc., your heart will pump faster. Keep in mind that your heart rate will be higher when your body is also stressed, sick or working ineffectively, so high heart rate is not always a good thing.
The most variable aspect which also demonstrates your general cardiovascular fitness (compared to you, of course) is your resting heart rate. This is the rate that the heart beats at just to maintain all the normal systems without extra demands. The healthier and more effective your system is, the lower this rate will be as your heart will be pumping more blood with less effort.
Therefore, it is important to measure at the beginning of a program what your current resting heart rate is, which lets you know how fit you are now, and gives you a basis to see if you are improving later.
The best time to measure your resting heart rate is when you wake up, before getting out of bed. All you need is a watch that can count seconds. It is also possible to take it after any extended period of lying down, for example if you had been watching TV, as long as it wasn't too exciting.
There are two places you can easily find your pulse. First is the radial artery on your wrist just below your thumb. This is not as strong, but easy to find. Remember to only use your index and middle finger to feel for the artery, as your thumb has its own pulse and can confuse the counting. The other place is your carotid artery in your neck, which can be found on either side of your throat.
Now, time yourself and count how many times it pulses in ten seconds, starting by counting 'zero'. Then times this by 6 and you have your resting heart rate in beats per minutes. (You can also count for 30 seconds and times it by 2, if you feel this is more accurate, or count for the full 60 seconds, as with only a 10 second timeframe, miss-counting by one can have a much larger effect.)
The general ranges are: Below 60 = fit, 60-80 = average, 80-100 = high but still okay, and 101+ is not good and you should talk to your doctor.
As your resting heart rate does vary a bit, partly from miscounting, but also from sickness or waking up from a nightmare, it is best to record your rate every morning for about a week to try and average it out.
Further, if you are serious about a new exercise program, particularly if you are an athlete, it is highly recommended that you take your resting heart rate every single morning. The major reason for this is that your resting heart rate will generally go up about 10 bpm if your body is starting to fight an illness, and is a good indicator that you should cut down on your training until it returns to normal. This is an excellent way to avoid over-training.
Understanding your own heart rate, your maximum heart rate, your anaerobic thresholds, and your resting rate is pretty much fundamental for beginning any sort of serious exercise program. If you want a program that is tailored to you and not someone else, base it on your heart rate patterns.
The speed that your heart pumps blood around the body is measured in beats per minute (bpm). As more blood is required by muscles, etc., your heart will pump faster. Keep in mind that your heart rate will be higher when your body is also stressed, sick or working ineffectively, so high heart rate is not always a good thing.
The most variable aspect which also demonstrates your general cardiovascular fitness (compared to you, of course) is your resting heart rate. This is the rate that the heart beats at just to maintain all the normal systems without extra demands. The healthier and more effective your system is, the lower this rate will be as your heart will be pumping more blood with less effort.
Therefore, it is important to measure at the beginning of a program what your current resting heart rate is, which lets you know how fit you are now, and gives you a basis to see if you are improving later.
The best time to measure your resting heart rate is when you wake up, before getting out of bed. All you need is a watch that can count seconds. It is also possible to take it after any extended period of lying down, for example if you had been watching TV, as long as it wasn't too exciting.
There are two places you can easily find your pulse. First is the radial artery on your wrist just below your thumb. This is not as strong, but easy to find. Remember to only use your index and middle finger to feel for the artery, as your thumb has its own pulse and can confuse the counting. The other place is your carotid artery in your neck, which can be found on either side of your throat.
Now, time yourself and count how many times it pulses in ten seconds, starting by counting 'zero'. Then times this by 6 and you have your resting heart rate in beats per minutes. (You can also count for 30 seconds and times it by 2, if you feel this is more accurate, or count for the full 60 seconds, as with only a 10 second timeframe, miss-counting by one can have a much larger effect.)
The general ranges are: Below 60 = fit, 60-80 = average, 80-100 = high but still okay, and 101+ is not good and you should talk to your doctor.
As your resting heart rate does vary a bit, partly from miscounting, but also from sickness or waking up from a nightmare, it is best to record your rate every morning for about a week to try and average it out.
Further, if you are serious about a new exercise program, particularly if you are an athlete, it is highly recommended that you take your resting heart rate every single morning. The major reason for this is that your resting heart rate will generally go up about 10 bpm if your body is starting to fight an illness, and is a good indicator that you should cut down on your training until it returns to normal. This is an excellent way to avoid over-training.
About the Author:
Now that you know about resting heart rate, find out how to calculate your maximum heart rate. For more fitness advice and programs, see my blog at http://fitbuster.blogspot.com.au - Testing the best and worst of fitness programs and fads.
