Heredity, age, size and level of fitness make your heart rate uniquely your own. While not quite as distinctive as a fingerprint, it will vary to some degree from the norm. However, while taking into account individual variations, you can determine where you fit into standard ranges of heart rates at resting, aerobic and recovery modes to gauge your cardiovascular fitness. Your physical conditioning as indicated by your heart rate can be a tool for measuring progress in your fitness program.
Function
According to Dr. Edward Laskowski of the Mayo Clinic, "for healthy adults, a lower heart rate at rest generally implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness." The standard resting heart rate for people above the age of 18 is between 60 and 100 beats per minute (bpm). A well-conditioned athlete's resting heart rate may be as slow as 40 bpm.
Significance
Dr. Gabe Mirkin explains that your recovery heart rate is a good measure of your cardiovascular fitness. To test for recovery heart rate, a person exercises until breathing hard, then stops briefly to check take his pulse. He resumes the same pace for at least 60 seconds, then stops. After one minute, and he checks his pulse again and compares that heart rate to his exercising rate. According to Dr. Mirkin, "if your heart does not slow down at least twelve beats in the first minute, you are in poor shape." However, he says "if your heart rate slows down more than fifty beats in the first minute, you are in excellent shape."
Time Frame
Another subjective way to determine your physical condition by your heart rate is to keep an exercise journal. Each entry should note a resting heart rate before beginning the workout, an exercising heart rate 15 minutes into the workout, and a recovery heart rate one minute after ending the workout. If you are religious about your exercise regimen, you should see incremental decreases in the numbers as the weeks progress.
Considerations
In order to exercise within an aerobic range, in which your heart can keep up with your body's increased need for oxygen, calculate your heart rate target zone. A person subtracts her age from 220, then multiplies that number by 0.8 to determine the upper limit and by 0.6 to get the lower limit of the target range. For example, 220-50 (years of age) = 170. 170 x .8=136; 170 x .6=102. Therefore, the target range for a 50-year-old would be 102 to 136 bpm. As you become more fit, the same exercise routine will reflect a lower heart rate within the aerobic zone.
Warning
Keep in mind that some heart rates may indicate a cardiovascular problem. Tachycardia is a resting heart rate consistently above 100 beats per minute. Bradycardia describes a consistently low heart rate, below 60 bpm at rest. If you are also suffering from symptoms such as fainting or shortness of breath, seek medical evaluation
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