Important information to know about your heart rate By: Kelsey VanVolkenburg PT, DPT
Have you ever looked down at your smartwatch to check your heart rate or grab onto the handles of the treadmill while exercising to check your heart rate? Do you ever think about what the number on your smartwatch or the treadmill actually means? Knowing your appropriate heart rate at rest and during exercise is very important for your overall health and to achieve optimal results while working out. What exactly does heart rate mean? Your heart rate is simply the amount of times your heart beats per minute. This varies from resting heart rate, maximal heart rate and your target heart rate during exercise. There are more variables beyond these, but these are most important for the layperson.
Resting heart rate is the number times your heart beats at rest and the normal range is 60-100 beats per minute. Some athletes however can have a resting heart rate as low as 40. Why is it an athlete can have a lower resting heart rate? Well, your heart rate is determined by how effectively your heart is pumping blood to the rest of the body. The left ventricle of the heart is very important during this process, it pumps oxygen-rich blood through the body. With athletes, most have a higher cardiovascular endurance and have a stronger left ventricle. With a stronger left ventricle, the heart can pump out a higher volume of blood per beat, meaning a lower amount of beats needed per minute. Maximal heart rate is the average maximal amount that your heart should beat per minute and this is calculated by subtracting your age from 220. So, an individual that is 41 years old will have a maximal heart rate of 179 beats per minute.
If you do not have a smartwatch or access to a treadmill to determine your heart rate, there is an easy method to calculate this number by yourself. All you have to do is use your index finger and middle finger and place them on the thumb side of your wrist to feel for your pulse. Count your pulse for a total of 30 seconds and multiply the number of beats by 2. You can also count for 15 seconds and multiply the number by 4 however it is not as accurate.
So we now know about resting heart rate, which is the low end of what your heart rate should be and we know about maximal heart rate. What about all of the numbers in between the lowest and the highest? When developing a work out program to either work on weight loss or your cardiovascular health, meeting a certain heart rate during the work out is very important. This is called your target heart rate zone. With a moderate intensity exercise, your target heart rate zone would be between 65-75% of your maximal heart rate. With a vigorous intensity exercise, your target heart rate would be from 76-95% of your maximal heart rate. So using the 41 year old individual with the maximal heart rate of 179 beats per minute, their moderate intensity heart rate zone would be between 116-134 beats per minute and at a vigorous intensity heart rate zone would be between 365-170 beats per minute. For example, the maximal heart rate was earlier determined by subtracting age from 220, so 220-41 is 179. Then calculate the target heart rate zone, such as 75%, by multiplying the maximal heart rate, 179, by 0.75 and this equals out to be 134 beats per minute.
Why is this all important? Cardiovascular health is very important in maintaining a good, healthy lifestyle to avoid complications such as high blood pressure or risk of a cardiovascular event like a heart attack. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise or a combination of the two, every week. This may be different for all individuals depending on comorbidities or other health complications, so please contact your health provider before starting a new program for more questions regarding any specific limitations you may have. If you feel like your heart rate is abnormal or you are having symptoms of a racing heart in combination with other serious symptoms such as sweating, chest pain or inability to breath, please call 9-1-1 for immediate medical attention. Also, for more detailed information regarding exercise recommendations regarding target heart rates and exercise for decreasing risk of cardiovascular issues, access the American College of Sports Medicine’s website at www.acsm.org.
Resources:
What Your Heart Rate Means to Your Health | ATI (atipt.com)
Target Heart Rates Chart | American Heart Association
Understanding Your Target Heart Rate | Johns Hopkins Medicine