Train to your body's healthy heart rate zone for best results.
One of the most important numbers to learn for safe and effective cardio training is your maximum heart rate, also called the MHR. The Karvonen formula is used to determine a base level max heart rate without sophisticated and expensive testing. This measurement becomes a ceiling and base line for determining effective cardio routines.
Instructions
1. Purchase a heart rate monitor with a chest strap. Running, bicycling and sports stores typically stock the devices.
2. Take your pulse when you first wake up in the morning. Do not get up, and do not go to the bathroom. Stay as still as possible and take your resting heart rate. Place your ring and forefinger on the wrist and count your pulse for one minute to get the resting rate should you not have a heart rate monitor (HRM).
3. Go to the Karvonen calculator (see Resources). Enter your age and your resting heart rate. Scroll down to see your max heart rate (MRH). Scroll further to find a scale of percentages indicating where you heart rate needs to be for cardio workouts.
4. Strap the heart rate monitor chest harness around your chest and fasten the HRM to the wrist during workouts. Use the Karvonen scale to calculate safe and effective heart rates for your workout. For example, if you are 42 with a resting heart rate of 48, your MHR is 178. If you have a workout that says to work out at 65 percent of your MHR, monitor the HRM to make sure your heart rate does not go over 133 beats per minute.
Tags: heart rate, heart rate, heart rate monitor, rate monitor, resting heart, resting heart rate