Weight Training: Heart Rate Training: The Fast Way to Reach Your Weight Loss Goals -

Heart Rate Training: The Fast Way to Reach Your Weight Loss Goals

Weight Training:

To get the most out of a fitness program and reach your goals sooner, you should know that keeping up with your heart rate is vital. Yet, you can take it to another level. Instead of just monitoring what your heart rate is during a workout, you can use these numbers continually throughout your workout and do heart rate training. Heart rate training is when you keep up with your heart rate so you can take your body into different heart rate zones during your workout. Heart rate training is becoming the preferred method of exercise for many people because exercise goals are met sooner and more efficiently.

To start heart rate training you must know what your maximum heart rate is as it will be the number that you use to determine your heart rate zones. However, before you get started learning what your maximum heart rate is, you should realistically judge which fitness category you fall within:

Poor Shape: You have been sedentary and you haven't exercised in the past eight weeks or longer. Fair Shape: You are fairly active and walk more than a mile, or do some type of aerobic activity, at least three times a week. Good Shape: You exercise almost daily and/or you run five or more miles weekly.

Once you have chosen your level of fitness, the following test can help you learn the vicinity of your maximum heart rate.

One Mile Walking Test: Go to a local track, or use a treadmill to walk at an even and steady pace for one mile. Take your heart rate during the last leg of your mile. If you are in poor shape, add 40. If you are in fair shape, add 50. If you are in good shape, add 60.

After you have done your adding, this number will be your maximum heart rate target zone and you can start planning out your heart rate training routine based off of it. Heart rate training is easiest when you use exercise equipment, such as a treadmill, that is equipped with a heart rate monitor. The monitor will act as your trainer letting you know what heart rate zone you are throughout your workout. Using monitors saves time and lets you stay focused on your workout-instead of trying to do the monitoring manually and doing the calculations in your head. All you have to do is look at the heart rate monitor and you will know when to intensify your workout, back it down, or continue your pace, depending on your routine.

Various Heart Rate Training Zones

A heart rate training routine should last between 20-30 minutes, and you should cycle in and out of the different heart rate zones throughout the workout.

Healthy Heart Zone: You feel comfortable and your heart rate is at 50%-60% of your maximum heart rate.

Fitness Zone: In this zone your heart rate is 60%-70% of your maximum heart rate and you may have trouble talking, unless it is in short sentences.

Aerobic Zone: You are really stepping it up and talking is limited to short phrases only. Your heart rate is at 70%-80% of your maximum heart rate.

Anaerobic Zone: In this zone your heart rate is 80%-90% of your maximum heart rate and you should only be able to gasp out a word here and there because you will be breathing heavily.

Red Line Zone: You will only be able to stay within this zone for a few minutes, and you probably won't be able to speak at all. If you do, it will be a gasped word or two that may be hard to understand. Your heart rate is on target for your maximum heart rate goal.

As you can see, heart rate training allows you to use every moment of your workout time more efficiently. Using a treadmill, or other machine, that is equipped with a heart rate monitor will help you know exactly what your heart is doing at all times. Using these machines will take the guesswork taken out of heart rate training so you can be certain that you are one workout closer to reaching your goals.