YOUR HEART RATE CAN TELL YOUR CONDITION
Are you getting more fit? Are you starting to overtrain? Your heart rate can tell you what condition your condition is in.
To take your heart rate, hold your first two fingers on one side of your neck just under your jaw, where you feel a rhythmic beating. That's the pulse of your carotid artery. You can use a stop watch or second hand to either count the beats for six seconds and multiply by ten (easiest) or count the beats for ten seconds and multiply by six (most accurate). The number you get is your heart rate of the moment. It's also called BPM, or Beats Per Minute.
When you first start training or training harder, whether it's aerobics or lifting weights (anaerobics), you should take your heart rate every few minutes and write it down, along with the date. At first, when your body isn't accustomed to exercise level, you'll breathe harder and you heart will beat faster. As you get more fit, you will notice a decrease in your heart rate during the same exercise routine. If your BPM doesn't decrease week by week, you're not training hard enough. But that's only one thing your heart rate can tell you.
Every athlete needs to know their resting heart rate. That's the BPM of your heart when it's not experiencing any exertion. The best time to take your resting heart rate is when you wake up. Place a stopwatch within easy reach, so you only have to reach out your hand to grab it without moving the rest of your body. Count your BPM every morning for six days. The number should not vary by more than one or two beats. (However, the count may vary more if you are starting a new exercise program, dieting, or are under stress, so try to take your resting rate when there are no changes going on in your life.)
An elite athlete may have a resting heart rate in the low 20's. Someone who has been slacking off on training or on being active may have a count all the way up in the high 70's. The less your heart has to work to pump its blood, the more efficient your cardiovascular system is, so a lower BPM is more healthy. Good conditioning will bring your resting heart rate down.
It will also tell you if you are on the verge of the dreaded overtraining syndrome. This is when you have been working out too hard and your body has not had the time or stamina to recover. It's the most common cause of an athletic slump or staleness, and it can take many months to recover from overtraining. One of the first symptoms is a rise in the resting heart rate. If your normal rate suddenly begins going up by three or more beats per minute, and continues rising, immediately back off from your activity and training level for at least two weeks.
The next thing to learn is your target heart rate. This is based on the maximum heart rate for your age. Most gyms have a chart showing the maximum heart rate by age, or it can be easily found in a library or online. Then you use a percentage of your maximum heart rate to accomplish your conditioning goals. That percentage is your target heart rate.
For example, to be merely in somewhat decent shape, keep your heart rate at 50 percent of maximum while exercising, easily obtained with brisk walking or cycling on flat terrain. To be in athletic condition, you may need to up that figure to 80 percent for up to ten minutes at a time. For elite athletes, hitting near maximum in short sprints or fast weight lifting will give an extra edge.
There is no definitive target heart rate for every athlete, because it's all a variable range. You have to put in the research, or have a coach do so, to find out which end of that range works best for you. But by learning your resting and target heart rates you will know what is happening to your body. That will allow you to constantly improve your conditioning, and make you a healthier, and much better, athlete. The winning is your byproduct.