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Summary
On episode 129 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan breaks down exertion and heart rate: how hard you should really be working, and how to know it whether or not you own a heart rate monitor.
He walks through the standard 220 minus your age formula, the training zones it produces, and why that formula is just a population average, not a personal readout. He also shares his own quirk: as he's gotten fitter, his resting heart rate dropped but his exercise heart rate did not.
For anyone without a heart rate monitor, he offers a simple 1 to 10 feel scale instead, and explains how he uses heart rate to guide high intensity interval training, pushing up toward max effort, then backing off to recover before pushing again.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- There are two ways to measure exertion: heart rate and feel. A heart rate monitor or wearable gives you hard numbers, while a simple 1 to 10 feel scale works when you don't have or want to wear a device.
- The basic formula is 220 minus your age. That number represents 100 percent of your estimated max heart rate, and training zones are calculated as percentages of it.
- The zones break down roughly as: 50 to 60 percent is your benefit floor, 60 to 70 percent is fat burn, 70 to 80 percent is aerobic, 80 to 90 percent is anaerobic, and 90 to 100 percent is max effort. Each zone serves a different training purpose, from basic daily movement to short, hard intervals.
- The formula is a population average, not a personal reading. Allan notes his own experience: as he's gotten fitter, his resting heart rate dropped, but his exercise heart rate did not, so everyone needs to learn how their own body responds rather than trust the chart blindly.
- The feel scale runs 1 to 10 and mirrors the same zones. Basic activity feels like a 3, fat burn like a 4, aerobic like a 6, anaerobic like an 8, and max effort like a 10, giving you a monitor free way to gauge effort.
- Heart rate is a practical guide for high intensity interval training. Push up toward roughly 90 percent of max, let it fall back down into the aerobic range to recover, then push again, and stop the session once recovery stops happening.
- HIIT is effective but metabolically taxing, so it shouldn't be done daily. Beginners should start with about once a week, working up to two or three sessions weekly once they're in better condition.
- Cardio training is not primarily about burning extra calories so you can eat more. Allan argues the real goals are cardiovascular health and endurance so you can keep up with the activities and people you love, not a license to offset a poor diet.
- Always get medical clearance before pushing into higher intensity training. Talk to your doctor about your specific plans, especially before working in the anaerobic and max zones.
“Your body was made to move.”
Coach Allan Misner