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How do you measure the intensity of your workout? If you’re like most of us, you have nothing to go off except simply how hard you are breathing! The question is – what’s the difference between a good workout and a great workout? How do you know that you’re pushing hard enough to really achieve the results that you so desperately desire? Today I’m sharing the secret with you and also introducing you to an all-new product that will literally change the way you workout forever! Keep reading for more!
So how do you know exactly how hard you’re working during your workout? The answer lies in monitoring your heart rate! Think of it like this – during your workout your cardiovascular system is placed under increased stress. As the muscles in your body and your lungs work harder, they require more oxygen and nutrients. Oxygen and nutrients are delivered to your lungs and muscles via the hemoglobin in your blood (hemoglobin is basically a taxi for oxygen – it picks up oxygen in the lungs and drops it off at the tissue where it’s needed). In order to meet the increased demand for oxygen that happens when you start to workout your heart pumps faster in order to deliver more oxygen quicker. This is the reason why our heart rate increases when we exercise.
However, it’s important to note that as we work harder and harder our heart won’t just pump faster and faster exponentially. As miraculous a muscle as our heart is, even it has it’s limitations. Our maximum heart rate (HRmax) is a measure of your heart’s maximum beating capacity during an activity. While the only way to be completely certain what your HRmax is is through clinical testing, scientists have devised a way you can figure out your approximate HRmax mathematically. Find your HRmax with the following simple formula:
220 – (your age in years) = HRmax
I’m 33; from this equation my HRmax is 187 (220 – 33 = 187). It’s important to note that there is a standard deviation of about 12 heart beats on this number – meaning that up to 66% of the 33-year-old population is going to fall in the 199-175 HRmax range. While it’s not completely accurate, it’s priced right (free!) and gives you a great estimate of what you HRmax should be.
So now the real question that you’re all dying to know – how do we apply this knowledge to enhance our workouts? As mentioned previously, monitoring your heart rate is a great way to monitor how hard your body is working. Let me introduce you to the idea of “Heart Rate Zones”. Scientists and exercise physiologists have studied what happens in your body with increasing intensity of exercising. They found that some patterns exist as far as how your body handles these increasing workloads which correspond to how hard your heart is working. They came up with 5 “Heart Rate Zones” as determined by the percentage of your HRmax that your heart is beating. Check out this table from www.Polar.com to learn more:
You can see that there are 5 heart rate zones – very light, light, moderate, hard, and maximum. The zones are determined by what percentage of your HRmax your heart is beating. For the sake of this example – on the table I calculated my personal heart rate zones based on my predicted HRmax of 187.
Very light: 94 – 112 beats per minute (bpm)
Light: 112 – 140 bpm
Moderate: 140 – 151 bpm
Hard: 151 – 168 bpm
Maximum: 168 – 187 bpm
So why do we care? Knowing your heart rate and which zone you’re working out in can be a valuable tool in helping you to enhance your results. Imagine I’m running at what I think is a pretty good intensity. I check my heart rate and, lo and behold, it’s at 130 beats per minute (bpm). According to these training zones, I now know I’m actually working out at a pretty light intensity; I know my body is actually capable of pushing a lot harder. This can be a powerful motivator as I step up my pace and start working harder. After a few minutes I check my HR again and, sure enough, it’s increased to 151 beats per minute. I know for a fact that my body is working harder, my heart is becoming more efficient, my lungs are delivering oxygen more effectively, my muscles are working harder, and the return on my workout investment has increased significantly.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought I was crushing a workout, but after checking my heart rate I realized that I was actually holding back and not pushing my body as hard as I though I was. Seeing actual proof of how hard you are working can be incredibly motivating and amazingly rewarding once you hit your goals.
So what’s the best way to monitor your heart rate while working out? In its simplest form, finding an artery (either radio at your wrist or carotid at your neck) and counting the number of beats in 60 seconds is the old-school way to go. The part that I don’t like about this is that it usually requires to stop whatever activity you are doing in order to take your heart rate. While it certainly works, there are definitely more effective ways…
I am totally stoked to introduce you guys to a fitness device that has literally changed my workouts forever! Check out the brand-new M400 from Polar!
I am completely floored by the capabilities of this watch! When used in conjunction with the free “Flow” app from Polar, this watch literally provides you with every bit of information you could possibly want about your workout. Here are a few of my favorite features:
- Constant heart rate monitoring: when used with a heart rate chest strap, the M400 provides you constant, continuous, and real-time information about your heart rate. You can literally watch your heart rate climb as you increase your exercise intensity.
- Real time heart rate zones: after you’ve put in your height, weight, age, and gender, the M400 tells you in real time which heart rate zone you’re working out in (see picture 3 below). Only hitting a zone 2? You know you need to step things up a bit to really make that workout count!
- Everything you need in a GPS watch: track not only your distance and pace, but your route, elevation changes, and projected times (picture 2 above).
- Customizable sports profiles: not into running? Download one of the dozens of other “sport profiles” on this watch! Some of my favorites include weight lifting, mountain biking, and even dancing, skiing, rowing, ice skating, soccer, football, basketball, cricket, badminton, swimming, hiking, wake boarding, and Pilates. Basically – if you can think it up Polar has included a sports profile for you on this watch!
- It has a pedometer: Seriously! This is one of the only GPS watches out there that has heart rate monitoring AND a pedometer! The pedometer measures not only steps you take throughout the day, but also records your “active minutes” – time spent in actual activity – not just going to and from the drinking fountain.
- Syncs flawlessly with the Polar Flow App on your device or the website: when you sync your watch with the app, worlds of possibility open up to you. Get real time and visual feedback regarding your activity, intensity, heart rate and heart zones, and much, much more!
So obviously the next logical question you’re asking is HOW DO I GET ONE?! Well – you know I’ve always got you covered…
I have teamed up with Polar to offer you
ANY ACTIVITY MONITOR AND ANY HEART RATE STRAP 20% OFF!
That’s right – 20% off any amazing Polar product AND NO QUANTITY LIMIT!
Need a watch and HR strap? 20% off. Need 3 of each for presents for the holidays? 20% off.
This is an amazing deal that is only being offered to Tone-and-Tighten.com readers because you’re so awesome!
Here are the deets:
1. Head over to www.polar.com to do your shopping
2. At checkout enter the promo code POLARFITBLOG (case sensitive)
3. That’s it! Enjoy 20% off any product in any quantity… but hurry – this offer expires the last day of this year (Dec 31)!!
This truly is an incredible deal on an amazing product from a fantastic sponsor. I’m grateful to Polar for helping me to bring you guys such a phenomenal deal!
If you have any questions or comments, please let me know! You can either leave a comment below or email me at ToneandTightenFitness{at}gmail.com
Make it happen,
Jared
This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of Polar.