Walking is an excellent exercise that can elevate your heart rate to the levels you need to achieve better health and fitness. The University of Maryland Medical Center recommends that you exercise at 50 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate, and walking is a good way for people new to exercise to reach that target heart rate.
Limits
Your maximum heart rate, or MHR, can be estimated by subtracting your age from 220. So if you are 50 years old, your estimated MHR is 170 beats per minute. If you want to exercise at 50 percent of your MHR, your target heart rate will be 85 bpm and higher.
How Long
The American Heart Association and American College of Sports Medicine both note that people should engage in moderate intensity exercise, such as walking, at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week. But if you are walking to lose weight, you will want to walk longer---from 45 to 90 minutes a day.
Measuring
The easiest way to measure your heart rate while walking is with a heart-rate monitor. Heart-rate monitors are lightweight and convenient and allow you to make sure you are walking hard enough to stay in your target range. Most monitors use a chest electrode transmitter that detects electrical signals from the heart and sends them to a wrist receiver or to a computer panel on a treadmill.
Other Methods
If you don't want to buy a heart-rate monitor, another method is to take your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply that number by six. Another method recommended by the American Council on Exercise is the "talk test": If you are exercising but still able to carry on a conversation, you are walking hard enough to gain health and fitness benefits.
Heart Rate Zones
Exercise for the general public is generally divided into two different training zones based on heart rate. The National Institutes of Health maintains that moderate intensity exercise, such as walking, is between 60 to 70 percent of your MHR---a little higher than the range recommended by the University of Maryland Medical Center. Vigorous intensity exercise, such as walking fast up a long hill, is between 70 to 90 percent of your MHR.
Vigorous Walking
Many experts recommend that you build up to vigorous levels by exercising at moderate rates until you feel stronger. But as you become stronger, you can exercise at higher intensities at the same heart rate reached at moderate levels. Walkers can elevate their heart rates by walking faster or climbing hills.
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