The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 30 minutes of cardio, five days a week for health benefits, and 60 to 90 minutes to promote weight loss. When you set out to reach these goals, you are often instructed to work out at a moderate to high intensity. By determining your exercising heart rate, you will know exactly how intense you are working. This takes quick math skills and a couple tools.
Step 1
Determine your maximum heart rate. Take your age and subtract it from 220. Use 40 years old for an easy reference in this example. Your maximum heart rate is 180 beats per minute based on this age.
Step 2
Start your workout with a warm-up. Walk briskly, pedal a bike, glide on an elliptical machine, step on a stair climber or do whatever activity you want for five minutes and gradually increase your intensity to slowly elevate your heart rate.
Step 3
Exercise at your desired intensity and determine your exercising heart rate. Turn your palm up and place the index and middle fingers of your other hand on your radial pulse. This is located on the thumb-side of your forearm just under your wrist.
Feel for your pulse and once you find it, look at your watch or look at a nearby clock and count the beats for 30 seconds. Double this number and you now have your exercising heart rate. 30 seconds × 2 equals 60 seconds, or 1 minute.
Use 75 as an example. Your exercising heart rate is 150 beats per minute.
Count the beats for 10 seconds and multiply times six for a quicker variation. 10 seconds × 6 equals 60 seconds, or 1 minute. If you are doing an exercise that involves your arms, stop momentarily to check your pulse.
Step 4
Figure your percent of maximum heart rate. Your target heart is 50 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, according to the American Heart Association. Use the examples from steps 1 and 3. Here, 180 is the maximum heart rate from step 1.
Multiply 180 times .50 and .85, respectively, to get your target heart rate zone. This comes out to 90 to 153 beats per minute.
A heart rate of 150 beats per minute, which for this example is the exercising heart rate from step 3, is in the higher end. Aim for the lower end of this heart rate zone when you are first starting out and gradually increase it as you improve your aerobic capacity.
A maximum heart rate of 180 beats per minute and an exercising heart rate of 150 beats per minute are only examples. These numbers will vary depending on your age and current fitness levels.
Things You'll Need
- Digital watch
- Clock
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