7/23/2019 Monitoring physical activity intensity

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Did you know...

The average adult resting heart rate is between 60-100 beats per minute? Athletes and very fit

people can have a resting heart rates between 40-60 bpm (mine was 51 bpm this morning).

Slowing your heart rate down with exercise and stress reduction makes your heart have to work

less, leading to substantial health benefits. A higher resting heart rate can lead to high bloodpressure, atherosclerosis, and increased cardiovascular disease. Non-exercise low heart rate

(bradycardia) can be a sign of problems with your heart's electrical system.

The best time to check your resting heart rate is first thing in the morning before you get out of

bed. To check your pulse at your wrist, place two fingers between the bone and the tendon

over your radial artery which is located on the thumb side of your wrist. When you feel your

pulse, count the number of beats in 15 seconds. Multiply this number by 4 to calculate your beats

a minute.

Now that you know your resting heart rate, how does it play in to your exercise routine? One of

the best ways to achieve a lower resting heart rate is through constant aerobic (cardio) exercising

(any exercise that keeps your body moving for at least 10 minutes of low to high intensity exercise

- think running, swimming, etc.).

TARGET HEART RATEOne way of monitoring physical activity intensity is to determine whether a person's heart rate is

within the target heart rate zone during physical activity.

Although this varies with people because varying degrees of fitness and health levels, an easy way

to calculate this is to subtract your age from 220. Using me as an example, the formula would look

like this:

220 - 60 = 160

160 bpm would be my maximum heart rate

***For my trainer friends, I know theKarvonen Method may give a more accurate reading, but for

this post, this method will work just fine.

You should try to keep your workout heart rate between 50% to 85% of your maximum heart rate

to get the most of your aerobic workout. Again, using me as an example, my target heart rates

should be between 80-112 bpm (50-70% range-moderate intensity) to 112-136 bpm (70-85%

range-high intensity).

Side note: most heart rate monitors on gym machines are pretty accurate. The calories burned

could be off by as much as +/-40%. The distance ran could also be off due to poorly maintained

machines.

RATE OF PERCEIVED EXERTION (RPE) (from the Cleveland Clinic)Another method of monitoring aerobic physical activity intensity is using the Rate of Perceived

Exertion (RPE). The RPE scale is used to measure the intensity of your exercise. The RPE scale runs

from 0 10. The numbers below relate to phrases used to rate how easy or difficult you find an

activity. For example, 0 (nothing at all) would be how you feel when sitting in a chair; 10 (very,

very heavy) is how you feel at the end of an exercise stress test or after a very difficult activity.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calculator_target.asphttp://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calculator_target.asp

7/23/2019 Monitoring physical activity intensity

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0 Nothing at all

0.5 Just noticeable

1 Very light

2 Light

3 Moderate

4 Somewhat heavy

5 Heavy

6

7 Very heavy

8

9

10 Very, very heavy

In most cases, you should exercise at a level that feels 3 (moderate) to 4 (somewhat heavy). When

using this rating scale, remember to include feelings of shortness of breath, as well as how tired

you feel in your legs and overall.

THE "TALK" TESTThe last method of monitoring aerobic physical activity intensity is known as the "Talk" test. The

"talk test" is a simple, subjective way of estimating aerobic physical activity intensity. In general, if

you're doing moderate-intensity activity you can talk, but not sing, during the activity. If you're

doing vigorous-intensity activity, you will not be able to say more than a few words without

pausing for a breath.

Brought to you as a courtesy of Derrick Harge

Certified Peer Fitness Trainer-American Council on ExerciseFitness Coaching Specialist Senior Fitness Specialist