Getting the most out of your workout requires that you achieve the heart rate that will give you maximum benefit. This measurement is dependent on a number of factors including age, gender and level of fitness. This is known as the target heart rate and is a percentage of the maximum heart rate that you can achieve when you work out at your highest intensity.
Calculating Maximum Heart Rate
Finding out your maximum heart rate has been reduced to a simple mathematical calculation. This commonly used method subtracts your age in years from 220. This number is generally accepted and used to calculate your target workout heart rate. The target heart rate is 50 to 85 percent of whatever your maximum heart rate turns out to be. A 25 year old will have a maximum heart rate of 195 beats per minute and a target heart rate of 98 to 166 beats per minute. A 60 year old, on the other hand, will have a maximum heart rate of 160 beats per minute and a target heart rate of 80 to 136 beats per minute. As you exercise more, you will become fitter and better able to work out closer to the upper end of your target heart rate.
A Different Equation
The standard calculation of maximum heart rate is based on the knowledge that maximum heart rate decreases with age. A study published in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" in May 2007 reviewed the results of a 25-year health assessment and fitness study that took place between 1978 and 2003. This evaluation led to the development of a different formula for determining maximum heart rate. The new equation is 207 minus 0.7 times your age. This means that a 60 year old will have a maximum heart rate of 165 beats per minute as opposed to the 160 predicted by the previous formula, and a 25 year old will have a maximum heart rate of 189.5 instead of 195 beats per minute. Regardless of which formula you use, if you start at the lower end of your target rate and work your way to the higher level, you will increase in fitness and benefit from your workout.
Gender May Make a Difference
"Circulation" reported a study in July 2010 that looked at heart rate responses in women over time. The participants originally submitted to exercise stress testing in 1992 and a prediction of age related maximum heart rate was made. The average maximum heart rate among this group was found based on the calculation of 206 minus 0.88 times age. The researchers concluded that the normally accepted prediction of maximum heart rate is overestimated in the case of women.
Fat Burning Heart Rate
Most people who work out are concerned about burning fat. A report published in "The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research" in October 2009 provided a standard for predicting the heart rate at which you will have maximal fat oxidation. This is the point where you are burning most fat calories and will occur between 60.2 and 80 percent of your maximal heart rate. Once you have calculated your maximal heart rate, start exercising in your target range to get fit and burn fat.
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