Target Heart Rate

How do you know what target heart rate to aim for?

Actually, there is no magic number. There is a wide range of acceptable numbers, commonly called your heart rate zone.

Your heart rate can tell you a lot about your body. It can tell you what shape you are in, how much you have improved, and whether or not you have recovered from your last workout.

Your heart rate zone is a range of numbers, that is between 50% and 85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is the maximum number of times your heart should be in a minute without dangerously over exerting yourself.

When your body switches from using oxygen as its primary source of energy to using stored sugar is referred to as your anaerobic threshold. When you're in poor physical shape, your body isn't very efficient at taking in oxygen, and you hit your anaerobic threshold while exercising at relatively low levels of exercise. As you become more fit your able to go farther and faster, yet still supply oxygen to your muscles.

There are different methods to determine your maximum heart rate. The method used most frequently for determining maximum heart rate is for men to subtract their age from 220 and for women to subtract their age from 226.

This method is only an estimate and your maximum heart rate may be a few beats higher or lower. Also, this formula is used for activities such as walking or running. To estimate your maximum heart rate for bicycling, subtract about five beats from the final result. To estimate your maximum heart rate for swimming, subtract about 10 beats.

So, for example, using this formula to determine a target heart rate zone for a 30-year-old man, here is the math.

220 - 30 = 190. This is his estimated maximum heart rate.

190 x .50 = 95. This is the low end of his heart rate zone.

190 x .85 = 161. This is the high end of his heart rate zone.