MayoClinic.com recommends that the average adult get at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week and strength training twice a week. Brisk walking is an excellent form of aerobic exercise that most people can do safely. For walking to be effective, you need to exercise hard enough to get your heart rate up but not push your body too hard.
Normal Range
The heart rate range that is appropriate when walking varies according to individual age and gender. Thus, a normal heart rate range while walking will be different for you than for another person. Normal ranges are stated as target heart rate ranges or zones, which are expressed as percentages of your maximum heart rate, or MHR. To find your MHR, subtract your age from 226 if you are a woman. Men should use 220.
Target Heart Rate
MayoClinic.com divides exercise heart rates into light, moderate and vigorous exercise. Walking that raises your heart rate to between 40 and 50 percent of your MHR is light exercise and is appropriate if you are a beginner or for warming up in preparation for more intense exercise. A moderate heart rate is normal for most people while walking and is somewhere between 50 and 70 percent of MHR. Moderate intensity walking is good for basic physical fitness and weight loss. Once you are in fairly good shape, you might want to do some of your walking at a faster pace and raise your heart rate to between 70 and 85 percent of MHR. Exercise in this range helps improve your stamina and level of aerobic fitness.
Calculating Ranges
Figuring your normal heart rate range is a three-step process. Let's say you are male and 30 years old. Your MHR is therefore 220 minus 30, or 190 heartbeats per minute. The low end of your normal heart rate range is 50 percent of your MHR or 95 beats per minute. The high end of the range is 70 percent of your MHR, or 133 beats per minute. Thus, the normal or moderate range in this example is 95 to 133 beats per minute.
Monitoring Heart Rate
Once you know your normal heart rate range while walking, you will want to measure your heart rate when you exercise to be sure you are in the normal range. The most accurate method is to use a heart rate monitor. If that's not convenient, count your heartbeats for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 to find your heart rate. Once you are used to the way your body responds to exercise, there's a couple of ways to judge your exercise intensity without actual measurement. One is by your perceived exertion. This simply means that if you feel like you are exercising hard enough, you are likely to be pretty much in the heart rate range you feel you're in. Finally, use the "talk test." If you can talk as you exercise, you are not exercising too hard. The talk test won't really tell you if you are not exercising hard enough, however.
