Fitness; Heart Rates

Chances are you’ve come across this blog through a link and you’ve stayed to see if you can really get something out of this blog. Well, whether you are a bodybuilder or endurance trainer or even someone about to endeavor in their first time at the gym tomorrow, this post pertains to you. Its intentions are to help you understand your body more by understanding some of the biological aspects of it; it will give you insight into how to maximize improvements and achieve goals faster.

First of all, what is physical fitness? People probably have their own version of it; but I’m going to refer the NAVY SEAL’s definition, because, hey, what percentage of the general public knows more about optimal fitness and health wellness than the SEALs?

Physical Fitness: set of skills acquired through different physical activities. The complete skill set includes agility, balance, coordination, speed, power, and reaction time. Of course, there are health aspects too which includes cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, body composition, and flexibility.

Let’s get into heart rates in lieu of cardio-respiratory endurance. Your theoretical maximum heart rate (MHR) is equal to this:

                220 – (your age in years) = MHR

Note: this equation is a generalization. The exact MHR is different for everyone depending on our bodies.

Example: if you’re 22 years old, your maximum heart rate is 198 bpm (beats per minute).

TIP: an easy way to measure your heart rate if you don’t have any heart rate monitors is to gently use your fingers to feel either your radial artery at your wrist or your carotid artery on the side of your neck and count your pulse for a minute. If you are short on time, count for a fraction of a minute and then correct your BPM to the minute.

A good high intensity training heart rate value is anywhere from 70% – 90% of your maximum heart rate (between AEROBIC BASE and OPTIMAL CONDITIONING in the figure below). Referring back to our 22 year example, he or she will have to train at 139 – 178 bpm. As you can see, these values slowly decline with age, indicating higher performance potential for the youth.