After a few questions on the ways we can assess our level of intensity when participating in cardiovascular training (heart rate, RPE and distance over time), clarification was needed.
Heart rate as a measure
Everyone has a heart rate range (described as a percentage) that best describes their workout intensity. To calculate this, you need your resting heart rate and your age. Initially you need to assess your maximum recommended heart rate. To do this, use the formulae 208 – (age x 0.7). An example of this is my own.
208 – (49 x 0.7) = 174 BPM (beats per minute rounded). This is my heart rate max (HRM).
To then calculate my heart rate range in BPM, I subtract my resting heart rate (RHR) from 174.
174 – 51 (RHR) = 123 BPM heart rate range. This is the amount of variation of my heart rate that I can have between my RHR and my HRM.
To calculate the intensity, we then need to convert the HRR to a percentage. This is reached by dividing 123 by 100. That means (rounded) 1% of our HRR is 1.23.
To calculate your intensity as a percentage, you will multiply the percentage by three 1% HRR. If I wanted to work at 75% of my HRR, I would calculate it as follows:
(75 x 1.23) + 51 (RHR) 92.25 + 51 = 143 (rounded).
A good link to show you the zones you want to work in is https://www.polar.com/blog/running-heart-rate-zones-basics/
next week we cover RPE (rate of perceived exertion) and measures over time.