Target Heart Rate Calculator

To maximize cardio fitness, you should ensure your heart rate falls in the desired target heart rate zone.  Zones help you stay on track and build your cardio fitness safely.  A simple, quick method is subtracting your age from 220 and then multiplying the estimated maximum heart rate by the appropriate intensity (65-90%), for example.

Tips for Heart Rate Progress:

Training Zone 1: Builds aerobic base and aids in recovery
Training Zone 2: Increases endurance and trains the anaerobicthreshold
Training Zone 3: Builds high-end work capacity

Zone 1: Maximum heart rate x 0.65-75%  (walking or jogging) If you are a beginner this is where we start. One can also improve the blood’s ability to deliver oxygen throughout the body to remove waste.  Also, as an advanced athlete, this is where you can also pick a recovery rate.

Zone 2: Maximum heart rate x 0.80-85% Body begins to produce higher levels of lactic acid as it approaches the anaerobic level.  Your body can no longer produce enough energy for the muscles with normal oxygen intake. This zone is where we can burn more calories from fat! I would also suggest this is where we could introduce interval training as a way to increase the workload on the cardiovascular system, thus allowing one to increase the anaerobic threshold.

Zone 3: Maximum heart rate x 0.86-90% (Sprinting) this zone is all out! It’s usually sustainable for short bursts of 10 –60 seconds.  Typically this is purely anaerobic and the prime source of energy is ATP/CP and muscle glycogen.

Taking your Pulse: Best, radial pulse check. Place index and middle finger lightly on the artery, thumb side of wrist.  Or, again, using index and middle finger, trace below the jaw line ( carotid pulse ), and apply light pressure to feel for pulse. Warning: placing too much pressure on the carotid artery reduces blood flow to the brain, which can cause dizziness or an inaccurate reading.

Measuring Heart Rate: You can measure Resting Heart Rate and Heart rate during exercise. It’s best to take this in the morning upon waking, before your workout.  During a workout, find your pulse, stop your workout count, your pulse for 6 seconds, x by 10.  Or simply take that number and ad a 0. 

Reference: NASM Third addition: cardiorespitory-training methodologies