Track your heart rate to improve your performance and determine if you are over-training. Heart rate is the total number of contractions or beats your heart undergoes in one minute. Tachycardia is a fast heart rate, greater than 100 beats per minute. Tachycardia is common during and after exercise. Bradycardia is a slow heart rate, less than 60 beats per minute. Bradycardia is common in conditioned athletes and during sleep. The average heart rate for a sedentary person is about 70 beats per minute. The average heart rate for an endurance athlete is about 50 beats per minute.
Step 1
Set up your tracking form. Track your heart rate on daily, weekly or month to month at several points throughout the day. Number your first column 1 through 31 for days of the current month. The headings for your first row should include heart rate before getting out of bed, exercise heart rate and a heart rate while sitting down.
Step 2
Keep a digital or minute-hand watch on your nightstand. Check your radial pulse before you get out of bed. Hold the watch with your right hand so you can easily check the time. Wrap the fingers of your left hand under your right wrist. Use your middle and ring finger to feel for the pulse on your wrist, just below the base of the thumb side of your palm. Start your count at zero at the beginning of a minute. Count your pulse for an entire 60 seconds. Record this number as your heart rate before getting out of bed.
Step 3
Wear a heart rate monitor during a specific exercise session. Pick one or two styles of aerobic training to monitor your exercise heart rate. For instance, you can monitor your heart rate for a three mile run or for a sprint and walk session. Make a mental note of your heart rate during the steady-state portion of your endurance run. The steady-state period is usually at the middle of your workout when your heart rate stays the same. Record your steady-state heart rate when you are done with your run. If you are doing a sprint and walk session on a treadmill, make a mental note of your heart rate during your fastest sprint interval. Record this maximal heart rate and the speed at which you were sprinting. The heading for your tracking form would be your heart rate at 8 miles an hour if that was your fastest sprint.
Step 4
Check your seated resting heart rate in the middle of the day, at the same time of day. Ensure you consistently monitor your heart rate either two hours before or two hours after an exercise session. Make a note on your form if it is your pre- or your post-exercise resting heart rate.
Tips and Warnings
- If you are running on a treadmill, the treadmill display might actually pick up your heart rate from the band around your chest so you can easily see your heart rate. Or, you could also secure the watch portion of your heart rate monitor to the handle bars in front of you and easily see the display.
- An increase in your heart rate before getting out of bed could be a sign of over-training if you have been doing plenty of exercise. Over-training may lead to upper respiratory tract infections and musculo-skeletal injuries. If you are over-training, take a few days off and decrease the amount of exercise you are doing.
Things You'll Need
- Paper
- Pencil
- Digital watch
- Heart rate monitor
References
- “Anatomy & Physiology”; Gary Thibodeau, Ph.D. and Kevin Patton, Ph.D.; 2007
- “Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance”; William McArdle, Frank Katch and Victor Katch; 2007
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