Exercise Intensity - How Hard are You Exercising?
Dateline: 06/06/00
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EXERCISE INTENSITY - HOW HARD ARE YOU EXERCISING?
Do you know how to tell how hard you are exercising? The three common methods of determining how hard you are exercising are the heart rate, talk test and Borg's Perceived Rate of Exertion methods. Why would you care how hard you are exercising? Here are several reasons.
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Beginners and people with health conditions should make sure they are not exercising too hard. Exercise can hurt you and actually kill you if you do too much too soon.
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You can measure your progress by knowing how hard you are exercising. Here is an example. If you exercising on the treadmill at level four with an incline of two for the last two weeks at 150 bpm (beats per minute) and you do the same thing the next week but at 145 bpm, this means your heart doesn't have to work as hard to accomplish the same amount of work. You are becoming more cardiovascular fit.
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You can measure your fitness level by taking your heart rate after you finish exercising. The quicker your heart rate returns to normal, the fitter you are. AFAA recommends that you should be at 60% or less of your MRH (maximum heart rate) five minutes after exercise.
Heart Rate Method
You can find your heart rate at your wrist or at your neck. They are also known as taking your pulse at the radial (wrist) and carotid (neck) arteries. To take your pulse (heart rate) at your wrist, you should take the index and middle finger of your dominant hand and place them on your wrist right below your thumb with your hand palm up. To find your pulse (HR) at your neck, you should place your index and middle finger next to your "adam's apple". |
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With either of these methods you should press your fingers down gently and not too hard. There is some disagreement on how long you should take your pulse during exercise. Ideally, it should be one minute since your heart rate is measured as beats per minute. This is not practical when exercising, so there is a short cut. Experts mostly advise to either take your pulse for ten seconds and multiply it by six or to take your pulse for six seconds and multiply it by ten. I recommend taking your pulse for six seconds and multiplying it by ten. Ten seconds may give your heart rate too much time to change, lower, etc. while you take your pulse.
What should your heart rate be? It really depends on your fitness level and goals. Most experts suggest training between 55 and 85% of your MRH (maximum heart rate = 220 - age) To find your range, you can use the heart rate zone utility. If you find out that your heart rate should be between 120 and 150 beats per minute, you should take your pulse after five to possibly ten minutes. If your heart rate is below 120, you should increase your intensity (speed, difficulty, etc.). If your heart rate is above 150, you should decrease your intensity. Check your pulse periodically to make sure you are in your range.
Taking certain drugs, pregnancy and other health conditions can affect your heart rate. Make sure you check with your doctor. Some exercises don't allow you the ability to use both arms. Taking your pulse at your neck would be advised if you only have one arm free. You don't want to lose your balance. If you don't have your arms free or you can't seem to find your pulse, there are two other methods of estimating your intensity.
Talk Test Method
A simple way of making sure your intensity is not too great is how well you can talk. If you can carry on a normal conversation, you are most likely okay. If you are short of breath or have trouble talking, you should reduce your intensity.
Rating of Perceived Exertion
This is a way of determining your intensity by how you feel on a scale of one to ten with one being very light. The scale goes something like this:
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1 - very light
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2 - light
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3 - moderate
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4 - somewhat hard
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5 - heavy
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6 - heavy
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7 - very heavy
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8 - very heavy
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9 - very heavy
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10 - very, very heavy
When you exercise you would say "I feel like a 5" or a 2 or 8, etc. How should you feel on a scale of one to ten? This depends on your fitness level and goals once again. If you are just starting out, I would recommend starting out at a level of three. If you are a little more fit when starting out, you probably want to start out at a four to five. As always, you should consult your physician before starting an exercise program. Join the newsletter to stay tuned for an upcoming article on whether you should exercise at low intensities for long periods of time for fat burning or higher intensities for shorter periods to increase cardiovascular fitness. For more information on cardio, you can read the following articles.
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