Anyone who has ever become involved in exercise, especially aerobic exercise, has probably heard the term "target heart rate" or "target heart range" or THR. This is a very important concept for anyone who is involved in an exercise program or someone who wants to start a program. Unfortunately, some exercise professionals gloss over this concept and don’t let people know just how important it is. My wife belongs to a Jazzercise group and she tells me that the instructors hardly bring up the need for monitoring your THR during an exercise session (my wife wears a heart rate monitor to keep checks on her THR all the time, so I guess I’ve had a positive influence on her in that respect). I sure am glad that I’m not the insurance company handling the liability insurance for this group. You see, not monitoring your THR can actually be dangerous. And, not only can it be dangerous for mature people, but it can also be dangerous for younger people too.

So, let’s look at the concept of THR and why it is so important. Under normal circumstances, the human heart can only beat so many beats per minute. If it goes above or below these certain parameters, it usually means that something is wrong, and that’s one of the reasons we need to know what it is. For the average person, a simple rule of thumb to determine your maximum heart rate (MHR) is to subtract your age from 220 (women can use 210). Example: a 60 year old male can calculate his MHR by taking 220 – 60 = 160, so his MHR is 160. A 60 year old female would take 210 – 60 = 150, so her MHR is 150. Keep in mind that this is just a rule of thumb. If you want to find out what your exact MHR is, you will need to have a doctor put you through an aerobic exercise test to exhaustion (a “max test”), which isn’t usually worth while for most of us. When I was in graduate school they would put me through a “max test” about once every other week to give the other students a chance to see how all the equipment worked and what they needed to do to run everything properly. They used me because I was a well conditioned triathlete and a little stupid too. Believe me, those tests are tough,

The reason you need to know your MHR is that it is used to determine your THR for different exercise goals. What do we mean when we say “different exercise goals”? Some people are going to exercise just to stay or get healthy. Others will want to exercise to lose weight. And, still others may be exercising to increase their aerobic or anaerobic capabilities for a certain sport (swimming, sprinting, marathons, etc.). Whatever these goals are, the THR to achieve them is going to be different. If someone just wants to use aerobic exercise to help become or stay healthy, a good THR for them might be 65% – 80% of their MHR. Using our 60 year old male whose MHR is 160, his THR for staying healthy would be 160 x 65% = 104, 160 x 80% = 128, so his range would be 104 – 128 heart beats per minute (this is measured by taking your pulse). If he wants to lose weight, he might use a THR of 60% - 70% of his MHR because this level will burn more fat. And, don’t forget, monitoring your heart rate isn’t only to achieve your exercise goals. It is important that you keep track of your heart rate so that if anything unusual starts to happen while you’re exercising you will be able to stop.

A really convenient way to keep track of your target heart rate is with a heart rate monitor. These can cost anywhere from about $60 up to $250 and more depending on how many bells and whistles you want. You can also just take your pulse at your wrist or neck (how to do that is food for another article), several times during an exercise session to make sure you stay within your range.

Knowing your THR and MHR is very important, both for safety and for appropriate exercise goal setting. Learn what they are, and monitor them regularly.

Thomas D. Manfredi

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Online fitness coach Tom Manfredi is the creator of the site "fitness-after-50". He has a master's degree in exercise physiology and over 20 years of practical exercise experience.

This site is designed with the mature adult in mind. There is a lot of information available on the site for anyone looking to start or restart a sensible exercise program. Learn more by going to fitness-after-50.com

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