I am a senior in pretty good health. My business has me spending long hours at my desk and keyboard. I would like to maintain my present condition and loose about 10 pounds. I have both a tredmill and a Nordic Trak that get used during the winter. During the warmer months I manage to get outdoors and walk garden and so on.
I have recently aquired a heart monitor. The literature that came with it stresses the importance of maintaining the correct heart rate while exercising but does not give a clue how to determine the correct heart rate. I have browsed the net but have not been able to come up with anything definitive. Can anyone direct me to the information I need?

Thanks

Hi, I got this off of www.walkingforweight-loss.com
Hope it helps!!

Susan

Figuring out Your Perfect Fat Burning Heart Rate!

There are several methods used to figure out the heart rate range to exercise in. The most common method is to subtract your age from the number 220. That will give you what is supposed to be your maximum heart rate. To lose weight, you are supposed to exercise at 60-75% of that rate.

Example:If you are 45 years old:220-45=175 maximum heart rate 60% = 105 and 75% =131.25 This 45 year old should keep their heart rate between 105 and 131 when walking according to this formula.

I prefer to use the 180 formula that was developed by Dr. Phillip Maffetone. Dr. Maffetone did a tremendous amount of research on this subject and has coached hundreds of people get healthy, fit and trim with his "slow burn" methods.

He believes passionately in exercising at a heart rate level that teaches your body to work aerobically and use fat as it's primary source of fuel. Since we want to burn fat, this is the most efficient level for us to lose weight. And the great thing about this level of intensity is that it makes walking enjoyable and leaves you feeling refreshed and not wiped out!

The 180 formula is designed to give you your ideal aerobic heart rate using your heart rate monitor. This method is more scientific because it considers physiological rather than just chronological age.

1. First take the number 180 and subtract it from your age.

2.Modify the above number by selecting one of the folowing categories:

a. If you have, or are recovering from, a major illness (heart disease, any operation, any hospital stay, etc.) or if you are on any regular medication,..subtract 10

b. If you have not exercised before, or if you have been exercising but have been injured or are regressing in your efforts (not showing much improvement), or if you often get colds or flu, or have allergies,..subtract 5

c. If you have been exercising for up to two years at least four times a week without any injury, and if you have not had colds or flu more than once or twice a year..subtract 0

d. If you have been exercising for more than two years without any injury, have been making progress, and are a competitive athlete,..add 5


For example, if you were that same 45 year old that hasn't exercised for a while:

180-45=135 then subtract 5 = 130

This is called your maximum aerobic exercise heart rate. This is where you want to be because this is the rate that your body will be building and mantaining its aerobic capacity and burning fat! Exercising above this level will add an anaerobic comonent to the workout, which will cause your body to burn sugar, not fat.

Thank you Susan

This was just what I was looking for.

Fred

You are quite welcome, Fred!

Susan

what is the 65% target heart rate if my max is 202 and my resting is 56?

There are two ways to calculate your target heart rate.

The first is to take 220 – age times the intensity.

If your max heart rate is 202 (I’m assuming you are 18 years old) then 202 X .65 would equal 131 beats per minute.

The second method takes into account your resting heart rate. The formula is as follows:

Max Heart Rate (220 – age)
- resting heart rate
x intensity level (.65)
+ resting heart rate

For you…

202 – 56 = 146
146 x .65 = 95
95 + 56 = 151
Target heart rate = 151 beats per minute

Ive found that a good heart rate monitor is the very best training tool.

It will tell you if your working too hard, not hard enough, when you need to speed it up or slow it down and take some rest. Heres some info...

Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --- 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate: The easiest zone and probably the best zone for people just starting a fitness program. It can also be used as a warm up for more serious walkers. This zone has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. 85% of calories burned in this zone are fats!

Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --- 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate: This zone provides the same benefits as the healthy heart zone, but is more intense and burns more total calories. The percent of fat calories is still 85%.

Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --- 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate: The aerobic zone will improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system AND increase the size and strength of your heart. This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. More calories are burned with 50% from fat.

Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --- 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate: Benefits of this zone include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better. This is a high intensity zone burning more calories, 15 % from fat.

Red Line (Maximum Effort) --- 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate: Although this zone burns the highest number of calories, it is very intense. Most people can only stay in this zone for short periods. You should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so.

does anyone have suggestions for a heart rate monitor? Right now I'm walking/jogging, but in the moment, i haven't stopped to really check what my heart rate is to see if i'm in the correct zone... if there was a cheap monitor out there that worked well, it could help alot... any ideas?

Cant go wrong with a Polar, they make nice stuff and have been in the HR game for a long time.

http://www.polarusa.com/consumer/

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...s=hpc&v=glance

If you buy online though find a shop with a good return policy and no restocking fee just in case anything doesnt work out.

Im kind of confused about target heart rates and fat loss and was wondering if someone could clarify for me.

Here is the issue: I work out for 40 min on the eliptical machine when I go to the gym. I keep a pretty fast speed (around 10 km/h) and I dont feel overly fatigued from it or anything. BUT, my heartrate is pretty high (around 180).

As a 22yr old female, Im assuming this is in the 80-90% of max heart rate range. Is this really bad? Should I slow down? I know I am ultimately burning more calories at this intensity, but would I see more results if I slowed down and worked out for longer?

I need advice, help!

That does seem like a lot!!! I'm no expert or anything. Are you breathing correctly when you're exercising??? I know that breathing has a lot to do with it... But don't take my word on it, maybe someone else will come around and help.

target heart rates and a little like BMI

in other words i look at it as a load of bollocks, it doesnt take enough things into consideration

you know yourself whether you are finding the exercise hard or not, if you are not finding it hard then you are wasting your time, each workout should push your body a little bit more so there can always be progression

now people like to spend ages on a machine at a nice steady pace, which yes does burn calories but does not get you fit, which we should all be striving to be

losing fat is great, but building a healthy heart and lungs is even better

spend 20-30 mins+ at a nice steady pace but to finish your workout go with a nice hard workout and really push yourself, get that heart rate well up there, rest a little and go again work in short sets training anaerobically

you will see and certainly see and feel much much more progress

So instead of going 40 min at 10km/h, I could go for 20-30 min at a "fat burning" slower speed and then speed up at the end for as long as I can? And then to make progress should I just keep adding time to each section of the workout each week?

Thanks for the advice!

i wouldnt add time, id simply speed up over the same period of time

each time u workout if the machine measures distance for example try and go further within the same time limit

I have been doing higher intensity cardio work, and I have a question about what I'm trying to accomplish.

When I jog my heart rate goes up to around 160-170. Now, what exactly am I accomplishing? I mean, if I continue jogging for months, will my heart rate only go up to 140-150 when I jog - or will I be able to better handle the 160-170 for longer?

Let me try to put it a different way.

Current:
Jog/walk interval 15 minutes, HR 160-170

Future expectations?
A) Jog/walk interval 15 minutes, HR 140-150?
or
B) Jog/walk interval 30 minutes, HR 160-170?
or
C) Run 15 minutes, HR 160-170?

I don't mean to be asking what my personal goals should be, but rather what I should expect to see happening. Should I expect my heart rate to be lower at the same exertion level, or should it be as high as before but less tiring?