Heart Rate Monitoring - Information Page

THE BENEFITS OF MONITORING HEART RATE

Who benefits from using a heart rate monitor?


Heart rate monitors are for anyone exercising with a goal in mind. Such as those individuals:

• Interested in losing weight
• Striving for better conditioning
• Rehabbing from an injury
• Training to compete

Heart rate monitors are for everyone! An HRM will help people exercise effectively, stay motivated and get results.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that heart rate be monitored during all exercise to determine the appropriate amount of exertion for each individual. A heart rate monitor is a powerful tool for making exercise activities more effective and time efficient, safer, equally important and much more fun. A heart rate monitor is not just for structured exercise and can help turn any activity into a workout.

Cycling	X-Country Skiing	Walking
Running	In-line Skating	Cardiac Rehab
Swimming	Snow Skoeing	Hiking
Mountain Biking	Kayaking	Treadmill
Spinning	Canoeing	Kick Boxing
Health club classes	Elliptical	Climbing

Otherwise any activity that you move your body!

Heart Rate Monitors and Motivation

Statistics show that over seventy percent of the people who start an exercise program will quit within the first six months - and many within the first few weeks. What makes it so hard for individuals to stick with an exercise program? Why do they give up so quickly? One of the primary factors affecting adherence to exercise is a loss of motivation. Most people start an exercise program with a specific goal or need in mind that becomes the driving force or motivation behind their desire to exercise. However, many individuals run into common obstacles that cause them to lose sight of these goals and begin to lose their motivation to keep going. Fortunately, a heart rate monitor can provide the solution to many of the obstacles that stand in the way of success in an exercise program.

Keeps You in Your Zone

If you want to reach your exercise goals, it's important to stay in your target heart rate zone during workouts. A heart rate monitor is your constant reminder of the intensity and quality of each workout session. Nothing keeps you in your zone more accurately than a Polar Heart Rate Monitor.

A Heart Rate Monitor Shows Your Progress

It takes four to six weeks of consistent exercise before you begin to see any external changes to your body. Although you can't see them, internal improvements begin to take place immediately. Your heart rate is efficiency rating for your entire body. As your fitness level improves, your heart rate improves along with it. A heart rate monitor gives you a physiological window into your body's response to the daily improvements in your physical health.

A Heart Rate Monitor Eliminates Frustration

If your heart rate is too low during exercise your body reaps little or no benefits. This means you're not likely to see the results you want, like weight loss or increased endurance. If your heart rate is too high during exercise you may tire too quickly and become frustrated, or even run the risk of injury. In either case, you're likely to quit exercising because you're not getting the results you want or because it's simply too difficult. A heart rate monitor keeps you exercising by showing you results that you otherwise would not see.

Keeps you Safe

Exercising too hard can put you at risk for injury. A heart rate monitor reminds you of the safe and effective heart rate intensity in which you should exercise and warns you when you leave that safety zone.

Gives You Accurate Feedback

Polar Heart Rate Monitors are 99% EKG accurate so you know exactly what your level of exercise intensity is during workouts. Pulsemeters have a high margin for error and manual pulse measurements during exercise can result in errors as high as plus or minus 15 beats per minute - with the risk of potential error increasing as heart rate increases.


UNDERSTANDING EXERCISE INTENSITY AND TARGET ZONES

Exercise Intensity and Polar HRMs

To understand exercise intensity and how a Polar Heart Rate Monitor helps achieve fitness goals, be familiar with Polar's Three Keys to Success:

1. Working out at the correct exercise intensity is the only way to achieve your fitness goals.
   Too hard = injury, muscle soreness = can't finish workout
   Too easy = no improvement or results = will not reach fitness goals.
2. Heart rate is the only accurate measurement of exercise intensity.
3. Polar HRM's are the easiest and most accurate way to measure continuous heart rate.

The continuous display of heart rate is what makes your workout effective. This is because your heart rate is guiding you during your whole workout, just like a coach. As the speedometer in your car tells you how fast your car is going, your heart rate tells you how fast and hard you are going.

What is Exercise Intensity?

Exercise intensity is simply a measurement of how hard you are working at a given time during exercise. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the world's leading medical and scientific authority on sports medicine and fitness, recommends that every individual involved in an exercise program should know how hard their body is working during exercise. Your heart provides key information for determining how intensely you are working during exercise. Your heart rate (how many times your heart beats per minute) is really an efficiency rating for your entire body. The number of times your heart beats during each minute of exercise is a measurement of the intensity of the exercise. If your heart rate is low, exercise intensity is low; if your heart rate is high, your exercise intensity is high.

Why Should Exercisers Monitor Exercise Intensity?

Your heart is the most important muscle in your body and, like all muscles, must be exercised regularly to remain strong and efficient. According to fitness experts, exercise is more effective when you work out in a specific heart rate range or zone. (This is referred to as your Target Heart Rate Zone (TZ)). This zone can vary greatly depending on your age, fitness level and various other factors. If your heart rate is too low during exercise your body reaps little or no benefits. This means you're not likely to see the results you want, like weight loss or increased endurance. If your heart rate is too high during exercise you may tire too quickly and become frustrated, or even run the risk of injury. In this case, you're likely to quit exercising because it's simply too difficult.

Example:
Debby and Thomas are at the same cardiovascular fitness level and plan to run five miles. Debby decides to jog and Thomas decides to sprint. Whose exercise intensity level will allow them to maintain their speed for the entire five miles? The answer is Debby. Thomas will be too tired to sprint the entire five miles - he cannot maintain an exercise intensity that high.

Monitoring exercise intensity helps you stay at a level of exercise that allows you to accomplish your goals. In fact, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that, in order to get the most benefits from your cardiovascular exercise, you should work within your Target Heart Rate Zone for at least 20 to 60 minutes per workout, 3 to 5 times per week, at an intensity of 60% to 80% of your maximum heart rate. Knowing your exercise intensity (heart rate) will allow you to work at the right level of exercise to accomplish this.

What is Maximum Heart Rate?

Maximum heart rate (MHR) is the maximum attainable heart rate your body can reach before total exhaustion. True maximum heart rate is measured during a fatigue or "stress" test. This test must be done in a clinical setting and is not practical or accessible for most people. Fortunately, your maximum heart rate can be estimated with a high degree of accuracy using the following simple formula:

Estimated Maximum Heart Rate = 220 - Your Age

If Johnny is 30 years old, what is his estimated maximum heart rate?

Johnny's Estimated Maximum Heart Rate = 220 - 30

Johnny's Estimated Maximum Heart Rate = 190

190 beats per minute are the estimated maximum number of times Johnny's heart can beat before his body would fatigue or "max out". This number is extremely helpful because it tells us the absolute highest exercise intensity Johnny can handle before his body wears out. The ACSM says that during exercise, Johnny should keep his heart rate below his maximum so that he will not become exhausted and have to quit. In fact, the ACSM gives Johnny a specific percentage range of his maximum heart rate to exercise in known as his Target Heart Rate Zone (TZ).

How Do I Determine My Target Heart Rate Zone?

Your Target Heart Rate Zone represents the minimum and maximum number of times your heart should beat in one minute of exercise. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that all individuals should work within a Target Heart Rate Zone of 60% to 80% of their Maximum Heart Rate. This means that your heart rate during exercise should not fall below 60% or rise above 80% of your maximum heart rate. Let's look at Johnny from our earlier example.

Johnny is 30 years old, so his estimated maximum heart rate is 220 - 30 or 190 beats per minutes (bpm). The ACSM says that Johnny should exercise between 60% and 80% of 190 beats per minute to stay in his Target Heart Rate Zone. Let's determine Johnny's Target Heart Rate Zone:

Johnny's Estimated Maximum HeartRate =	190 bpm
190 bpm (mhr) x .60 (60%) =	114 bpm
190 bpm (mhr) x .80 (80%) =	152 bpm
Johnny's Target Heart Rate Zone =	114 - 152 bpm

114 - 152 beats per minute is the range or Zone Johnny will want to keep his heart rate in during exercise in order to achieve his goals. If Johnny is a beginning exerciser, he'll want to stay at the low end of his Target Heart Rate Zone. If Johnny is a more advanced exerciser, he may want to work at the higher end of his TZ to challenge himself more.

In summary, to define your target heart rate zone:

• The level that your heart rate needs to get to = lower limit
• The level that your heart rate should not exceed = upper limit.
• Keeping your heart rate between the lower and upper limits = staying within your TARGET ZONE.

The formula to find your target zone:

• 220 minus your age = maximum heart rate (MHR)
• MHR X 60% = lower target zone limit
• MHR X 80% = upper target zone limit

The Importance of Target Heart Rate Zone (TZ) in the workout.

Staying within your TZ is critical to meeting your exercise goals. However, the question becomes, " What is the correct TZ?" Before that question can be answered, you must know what your exercise goal is. This is because the most effective TZ is matched with your exercise goal. If your goal is to:

• Maintain or lose weight, your TZ is 60% - 70% of maximum HR
• Reach cardiovascular fitness, your TZ is 70% - 80% of maximum HR
• Increase athletic performance, your TZ is 80% + of maximum HR

Let's look at Johnny from our earlier example. Johnny is 30 years old, so his target zone is 114-152. If Johnny works out:
Too hard = injury, burnout, muscle soreness, excess fatigue = can't finish workout
Too easy = no improvement or results = will not reach fitness goals.


HEART RATE IS THE KEY

Exercising at an effective exercise intensity level will help you make the most out of your exercise time. How do you know you’re exercising at an effective intensity level? Heart Rate. It’s that simple. Heart rate is the best indicator of your exercise intensity. The Polar Heart Rate Monitor is the most accurate and reliable way to measure heart rate while exercising. The heart rate monitor is like a personal trainer guiding you to exercise at a safe and effective intensity level. By keeping you on track, you utilize your exercise time more efficiently which helps you reach your goals in minimum time. Whether exercising to lose weight, get fit or improve your athletic performance, the Polar Heart Rate Monitor will help you get there!

Exercise should not be based on the distance traveled on a treadmill, the amount of time involved or the physical work load. It should be controlled by the degree of physical effort as measured by physiological signs. By using a heart rate monitor or the Polar Heart Rate feature built into some of the fitness equipment at your gym, the line between healthy exercise for aerobic fitness and risky, stressful exercise is less likely to be crossed. Below the 65 percent minimum intensity level you will not see much improvement in aerobic capacity. If you exercise above the 85 percent level, you will build up large amounts of lactic acid and be forced to slow down or stop. Exercising at these high levels will also make you more susceptible to injury if you’re not a highly conditioned athlete. Heart rate informs you of the many changes that are taking place in your body. It tells you how hard you are exercising, your state of emotions or physical condition, and how fast you are using energy. It pulls these physiological variables together, weighs them and comes up with a signal that reports your overall condition, i.e. heart rate.

Target Zones: The key to success.

Whatever type of exercise you like, your workout will be more effective if you maintain a pre-determined heart rate that is within your Target Heart Rate Zone (THRZ). Check your heart rate from time to time and adjust the intensity of your exercise as needed to ensure that you are within your personal THRZ.

Another advantage of a heart rate monitor is that it allows you to change your type of exercise and get the same quality workout by focusing on your heart rate. The key is to stay within the zone for what you want to achieve. Remember:

To maintain or lose weight, your Target Zone is 60% - 70% of maximum HR

To reach cardiovascular fitness, your Target Zone is 70% - 80% of maximum HR

To increase athletic performance, your Target Zone is 80% + of maximum HR


Exercise Recommendations

Always consult a physician before starting an exercise program. Begin each workout slowly and give your body a chance to warm up for at least 5 minutes so that your heart rate is below your selected Target Zone. Gradually increase the intensity (heart rate) of your exercise until you are in your Target Zone. Remain in your Target Zone for the desired time. After that, gradually reduce the intensity of your exercise and let your heart rate fall below the Target Zone for a 5 minute cooldown period.

This information provided courtesy of Polar Electro Inc. Clever Training is an authorized online Polar Reseller.