Which one describes you BEST?
1) I never do a workout/training session without my Heart Rate Monitor on.
2) I purchased a Heart Rate Monitor and I wear it every time I workout but I really only use it to look at the Calories Burned (and then get really upset when it says the last hour I only burned 280 calories).
3) I don’t need a Heart Rate Monitor. I know my body and my heart rate no matter what I am doing, running, walking, playing basketball, drinking my Starbucks, etc.
4) I like to SMASH every workout I do and if “I’m not dying, I’m not trying” and I don’t want a Heart Rate Monitor to tell me to back off. I’m the boss over me, no one tells me what to do.
5) A Heart Rate WHAT?? No, no honey..I have a new Coach purse I need to buy. Invest how much money into a watch? No, no, no…
Why you need to become a believer, if not one already!
To get an optimum workout, it is important to pace your exercise. You want your heart rate at the proper intensity level for the proper amount of time. If you allow your heart rate to always go to its limit, screaming mercy, your workout can become counterproductive. If you always take it easy on yourself and keep it low, then no substantial health benefits are coming your way. (Now I said ALWAYS, I don’t mean if you are in Base Training, that’s a whole other Blog 🙂 )
One of the MOST EFFECTIVE METHODS for fitness training is through MONITORING and CONTROLLING your heart rate and lets be honest, using an HRM is kinda fun and makes the time fly by because you are focused on “specific targets” and not just blindly going to where ever the heart wants to take you.
Now there is a math equation out there that most coaches and fitness gurus use. For example, the old faithful 220 minus your age equals your Maximum HR 100%. This method is a good baseline but honestly, I haven’t met too many people who that equation actually works on. Which by the way, you will NEVER, EVER, EVER touch your true 100% Maximum Heart Rate, you can come close, maybe 92% but then I would make sure someone is around to give you CPR or at least give you a standing ovation because you deserve it…going to that limit HURTS and it HURTS REAL BAD.
The way I QUICKLY have my clients GUESSTIMATE their Maximum Heart Rate is by having them go on a treadmill, after warming up, have them get themselves working hard enough to where they are no longer liking me and want to kill me standing there. They are breathing heavy, they are definitely in no mood to talk, they are giving me those puppy dog eyes begging me to make it stop…and VOILA! I GUESSTIMATE whatever HR they got up to is their 85% Maximum HR, note I said 85% not their 100%. Now we need to do the math to figure out what their 100% would be, so I divide that number into 0.85. So it would look like this:
Mary’s heart rate got up to 172 bpms and she was getting ugly and screaming for me to make it stop…so I knew she was where I wanted her in this test 🙂
I take 172 divide it by 0.85 which then gives me 202 as her MAXIMUM HEART RATE. If Mary then wants to know what her zones are or percentages of her Maximum HR, we then take 202 and multiply it by the zone she is looking for. For example, if Mary’s Maximum Heart Rate is 202, her numbers would look like this:
65% of Maximum HR = 202 x 0.65 = 131 bpm
80% of Maximum HR = 202 x 0.80 = 162 bpm
Now that Mary has her “numbers” she is now ready to train with a purpose, train with a goal.
If you have a Heart Rate Monitor, please be sure to check out the newly released Heart Rate Games Treadmill Workout. You will actually find that “stink-eye, breathless, make it stop” number in the workout after your warmup and then play Heart Rate Games the rest of the workout. You will see how much discipline, control and FUN a specific Heart Rate workout can be. Your heart rate range after your warmup will be 70 to 85% of your Maximum Heart Rate so this workout is definitely a goodie. And remember, you are in control of the workout, YOU have to make the Heart Rate go to the numbers I am coaching, so this workout can never become stale because it will look different every time you do it. You are gonna LOVE this one and be screaming for more. Go to the SHOP page, WORKOUT ROUTINES and choose Heart Rate Games. Be sure to check out the “411” blog under Tips and Tricks if you are looking for STEP by STEP downloading instructions.
This is just my first blog of very many to come on the Benefits of Heart Rate Training (next one, we go over each TRAINING ZONE and the benefits of each)…so please be sure to Subscribe to my blogs so you don’t miss out!
Have an awesome workout!