Heartbeat When Running

In 2007, the American College of Sports Medicine teamed up with the American Heart Association to create exercise guidelines. They recommended that healthy adults accumulate 150 minutes per week of moderately-intense exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise. You can gauge intensity by doing the "talk test" or by heart rate. Many runners monitor their intensity by checking their heart rate and keeping it in a targeted zone.

Determining Maximum Heart Rate

Before determining your target heart rate zone for running, you first need to calculate your maximum heart rate. There are a several ways to calculate maximum heart rate; some are more accurate than others. The simplest method is to subtract your age from the number 220 to get your rate.

Determining Running Target Heart Rate

Generally speaking, the higher the heart rate, the more intense the activity and the more calories burned. However, for training purposes, exercising too hard could burn you out too quickly. Different types of running workouts will require different target heart rate zones to maximize the workout and train efficiently. Working out at 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate is good for beginners and easy recovery runs, whereas exercising at 80 to 85 percent of maximum heart rate is a good for longer speed work training sessions, such as mile intervals and "speed play" runs.

Using a Heart Rate Monitor

A heart rate monitor is an effective way of tracking your heart rate during exercise. There are different kinds of devices that can be worn such as meters and watches. Monitors help to check your cardiovascular fitness, prevent over- or under- training and set the pace in the workout. They are quite accurate and good for people who like to play around with numbers.

Medications and Heart Rate

There are several medications that can interfere with heart rate. Some medications, such as beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers, can depress your heat rate and make it difficult to get it up. Other medications can stimulate your heart rate and increase it out of the target heart rate zone. Asthma medications, anti-depressants and caffeine will increase heart rate. Check your medications for any side effects.