When you're out for your morning run or enjoying other forms of cardio, gauging your workout performance by how you feel opens the door for subjectivity. Instead of depending on your levels of exhaustion or muscle strain to tell you if you're working out hard enough, use your target heart rate. At this ideal rate -- which varies depending on your age and physical fitness level --, your body experiences the maximum benefits of your cardio.
Maximum Heart Rate
The maximum heart rate is the rate you should not surpass while doing cardio. Anything below this -- but above your minimum heart rate -- ranks as ideal. To figure this out, subtract your age from 220. Then, multiply this by 75 percent. For example, if you're 32-years-old, your maximum heart rate works out to 141.
Minimum Heart Rate
The minimum heart rate works as the bottom threshold of your ideal rate. Your ideal heart rate lies anywhere between your minimum heart rate and your maximum heart rate. To calculate this, subtract your age from 220 and multiply the result by 50 percent. For example, if you're 32-years-old, your minimum heart rate rings in at 94.
Adjusting for Physical Activity
Once you've been exercising continuously for six months, you may find that your stamina and strength have improved while doing cardio. After six months, try increasing your maximum heart rate from 75 percent to 85 percent. Keep in mind that these numbers work well for all forms of cardio except for swimming. Swimmers should subtract 12 from their maximum heart rate because working out in the water naturally slows your heart rate.
Including the Resting Heart Rate
Simply using your age to calculate your ideal cardio heart rate works well for most people. However, people who exercise continuously every few days and are, thereby, much more conditioned than the average person can fine tune their target heart rate by including their resting heart rate.
To get an accurate resting heart rate, measure how many heartbeats you experience in a minute when you first wake up, before you sit up and move around. Then, in the above maximum and minimum calculations, subtract it from the 220 you start with. For example, if you're 32-years-old with a resting heart rate of 65, your equation for your minimum heart rate would look like this: (220 - 32 - 65) x 0.50.
References
- MayoClinic.com; Exercise Intensity: Why It Matters; Mayo Clinic Staff; March 2011
- Go Ask Alice! Minimum and Maximum Heart Rate for Aerobic Exercise; Columbia University's Health Services; March 1996
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Exercise: Recommended Exercise Methods; Harvey Simon; May 2009
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