Being Active - Article #2

I apologize if I seemed a bit nervous in today’s video. It’s because I was. It’s only our second video, so give me a bit of time to relax and I promise the quality will improve.

I mentioned that we’d talk about your “Target Heart Rate”. For those interested, here’s an equation to calculate your target heart rate:

Heart Rate Max: HR_max = 220 – age)

Example for someone with a HR_max of 180 (age 40, estimating HR_max as 220 − age):

Karvonen method

The Karvonen method factors in Resting Heart Rate (HR_rest) to calculate Target Heart Rate (THR):

THR = ((HR_max − HR_rest) × %Intensity) + HR_rest

Example for someone with a HR_max of 180 and a HR_rest of 70:

50% intensity: ((180 − 70) × 0.50) + 70 = 125 bpm

85% intensity: ((180 − 70) × 0.85) + 70 = 163 bpm

So what is the importance of all this? Well it’s important to understand the fuel that is used depending on what heart rate range you’re operating in.

Exercising below an estimated 65% intensity (or 65% of your Max Heart Rate) your body is more efficient at utilizing FAT as fuel. Above this range, carbohydrate (sugar) becomes the primary source of energy, and involves more cardiovascular activity (training you HEART).

If this seems too complicated, even wearing a heart-rate monitor would be an interesting experiment to see how hard you’re working during certain activities.

If that doesn’t interest you, then try this:

During your activity, think “on a scale of 1 to 10, how hard am I working?”

Then maybe you could make a specific goal for a certain activity to be staying above a 7 (out of 10) for the entire exercise session.

Acknowledging that your heart is a powerful and magical tool is one thing. Knowing how to use that tool is a separate challenge on its own. I hope you enjoy the challenge of strengthening your heart!