Using Heart Rate to Track
Results

By Sally
Edwards

Date Released : 20 Jun
2007

Starting a fitness program is one thing. Sticking with it is
something else. How often have you gone gung-ho into a regular
workout routine only to have your enthusiasm zapped because you
don’t feel like you are making any progress?

This kind of discouragement can quickly make you abandon your
efforts. And once you’ve been on and off the fitness track a few
times, finding the courage to start over again can be daunting.

Our society thrives on instant gratification. If we take the time
to do something, we expect immediate results. However, fitness
doesn’t work that way. It can take several months or more to see the
results you crave.

This doesn’t mean your health is not improving along the way, of
course. In fact, commit to a fitness routine, and you’ll begin to
condition your body practically from the beginning, even if you
don’t “see” its impact as clearly or as quickly as you might like.

One way to get an “inside peek” at the healthy changes occurring
within your body is to monitor your heart rate before, during and
after your workouts, as well as on rest days. That way you will have
tangible proof that you are continuing to make
steady progress.

Listen to Your Heart

There are different ways to monitor your heart rate during
exercise and throughout the day. Heart rate can be taken via
pulse — carotid (throat) or radial (wrist) — for a six, 10
or 15 second count, but this is subject to a high degree of error,
especially as the intensity of activity increases. To guarantee an
accurate count, we recommend using a heart rate monitor. It can play
the role of a companion, cheerleader and personal trainer.

The first step is to set up a regular fitness routine that gets
your blood pumping, whether it’s walking, running or participating
in sports like basketball, tennis or rollerblading. If you are just
starting out or returning to activity after a long absence, you will
want to begin with just 15 minutes of low intensity activity, three
days a week. Increase your time by 10 percent each week until you
are comfortable with 60 minutes of activity on most days.

As you play or exercise, there are various ways you can measure
your heart rate to see how your body is reacting and your fitness is
improving. Here are a few suggestions.

Resting Heart Rate (RHR)

Get into a habit of taking your RHR when you first wake up in the
morning. Active adults average an RHR between 60 and 80 beats per
minute. Sedentary individuals can have a resting rate that exceeds
100 beats per minute. Top endurance athletes have reported a RHR of
25 to 40 beats per minute. A low RHR does not necessarily mean
greater fitness, but it is relative to your physiology. Individuals
just beginning a fitness program will often see a significant drop
within the first few weeks.

Ambient Heart Rate

Take your heart rate when you are sitting and relaxed. This is
called your ambient heart rate. Your ambient rate will usually be
five to 10 beats higher than your RHR. As you become fitter,
provided other variables are consistent, your ambient heart rate
will decline, demonstrating that your cardiovascular system is
becoming more efficient. If you’re just beginning an exercise
program or increasing your training load, you will usually see a
drop in your ambient rate within a few weeks.

Talking Heart Rate

Plot out a short 10 to 15 minute course in your neighborhood.
Strap on your heart rate monitor and determine what heart rate you
can maintain (walking or jogging) while carrying on a conversation
with yourself, your dog or a friend. Your “talking heart rate” will
gradually increase as your endurance improves. To accurately compare
your results, try to keep the variables such as time of day, food
intake, sleep and type of activity fairly consistent. It can be
quite motivating to go from being comfortable talking and moving at
a heart rate of 135 beats per minute to being comfortable talking
and moving at a rate of 142 beats per minute. It’s also encouraging
to see that what was once a 15 minute course now only takes 13
minutes.

Consistent Pace Assessment

For this, you will need a device that also measures your pace or
speed. Some options include a personal electronic gadget (e.g., a
speed and distance feature or an accelerometer), a speedometer on a
bicycle or a mechanism built into a treadmill or other stationary
cardio machine. Select the type of exercise and pace you can
maintain comfortably for an extended period (i.e., 30 minutes or
more). Perform the activity for 10 minutes at the selected pace and
note your average heart rate. Over time (the course of a few weeks
or so), you’ll find that you are able to maintain the same pace at
an incrementally lower heart rate.

One Minute Active Recovery Heart Rate

During your regular workout, gradually increase the intensity
level until your breathing is labored and talking becomes difficult.
Maintain this intensity for two to three minutes. Then note your
heart rate. Reduce the intensity to an extremely slow pace until
there is no muscle tension and then record your heart rate after one
minute. The more the count drops, the greater your fitness. The
average one minute recovery rate for adults is 20 to 35 beats per
minute. A drop of 45 beats in one minute is an indication of
excellent cardio fitness. (Note: If you observe a one minute
recovery heart rate of 13 beats or less in a minute, consult your
doctor.) Get to know your one minute recovery heart rate in a
variety of situations. For instance, it is normal for a recovery
heart rate to be greater at the 15 minute mark of a workout (e.g.,
30 beat drop) compared with after 50 minutes of a hard workout
(e.g., 25 beat drop) when fatigue may have set in.

Caloric Count

Many heart rate monitors and a lot of exercise equipment include
a caloric count expenditure estimate that can be recalled during or
after a workout. Use this information to measure your workload
(i.e., how much stress you placed on your body). As you become
fitter, you will be able to increase your weekly training load. For
example, you may begin at a weekly workload of 800 calories and,
over the course of a few months, progress to a workload caloric
expenditure of 1,500 to 2,000 per week. (Top athletes, in
comparison, expend an average of 5,000 to 6,000 calories per week
during intense physical training.) Be sure to progress gradually
with no more than a 10 percent increase weekly. Note that this
caloric count doesn’t indicate how many calories you have actually
expended but rather represents an average. For example, if you just
finished a workout and your heart rate monitor indicated that you
had a workload of 470 calories, your actual number of calories
burned could be anywhere from 330 to 800 calories. Still, you can be
confident that a workout of 470 calories has placed twice as much
stress on the body as a workout of 235.

Moving Target

When comparing your heart rate data from day to day or week to
week, be aware that the rate is affected by many variables such as
medications, stress, sleep, physical movement, temperature,
dehydration, time of day, altitude, humidity, illness and food
intake.

Also, don’t despair if you observe that your numbers seem to be
moving in the wrong direction. Take some time to reflect and try to
figure out why. Perhaps you have been operating on only four hours
of sleep, your job is particularly stressful or new medications are
affecting your heart rate.

Whatever the case, by measuring and monitoring your fitness
progress on a regular basis, you will be better able to recognize
your small successes and stay the course for a long and rewarding
journey.

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