Heart rates

[FitatFifty]

Should I be taking notice of heart rates. I have just started going to the gym, should I be looking for an optimal heart rate when exercising. Or for my level does it not matter.
I noticed today it was one of the few times I got into ‘peak’ heart rates (cross trainer!).

If you e just started I wouldn’t pay much attention. As you get fitter HR can be used as a way of targeting your training to different intensities. Right now just try and build a habit and go as hard as you like.

Yep, every heart rate zone does something a bit different in the body, but if you’re just looking at improving fitness you’ll likely spend time in all the zones depending on workouts. Further down the line you might decide you want to work on endurance or anaerobic fitness or something else and that’s when heart rate zones are useful, but for general fitness just get that heart pumping!

I don’t take too much notice of my heart rate but I don’t actually push myself too hard either.

I go for the pleasure of exercise and I do work up a sweat but I can’t see any point in using my heart rate too much as a barometer.

As it happens, my heart rate has actually improved massively as has my strength, balance and mobility.

Absolutely, you should be looking at HR!!

It’s a brilliant measure of your improved fitness as you go along and what’s more you shouldn’t push it too high as you start out otherwise you will absolutely exhaust yourself.

By way of illustration when I was approximately 35, I would train to a target 160 - 165 BPM range when running or on any kind of cardio machine. As I got fitter, I had to run harder to reach that level. If I was under the weather, I would very quickly exceed that level, or dehydrated even. And by cardio training three times per week at that heart rate target I lost a decent amount of weight.

It’s actually dangerous to flog yourself at for example 190 BPM for sustained periods

My resting heart rate was about 65 to start with and then dropped to about 58 with increased fitness and I would return to my resting heart rate very quickly. Again also a good sign of fitness.

Age, current fitness, weight etc all play a part in ideal and target heart rate so you should look up or get some guidance on what to train towards. Apparently, Apple watches are good at tracking heart rate. I use a Polar chest heart rate monitor.

I am trying to get my resting heart rate down, not happened yet!
I wondered if there was an optimal for weight loss etc. alwsys seems to be about 150 on treadmill

cardio is not really the best way to lose weight as your body adapts as you get fitter. You need to add in some strength and resistance training to build muscle.

And be in a calorie deficit. sadly!

Current science suggests that it’s your everyday movement that contributes most to your daily calorific needs/expendure. Hence the advice to add in at least 10,000 steps a day - I aim for 15,000.