If Not Now, When?

THIS ISSUE: The Importance of Target Heart Rate for the Mature Exerciser

Table of Contents:

1) Editor's Note
2) Food for Thought
3) Feature Article: The Importance of Target Heart Rate for the Mature Exerciser
4) Teleclasses
5) Question & Answer
6) Our Services

Editor's Note

Hi,

The weather has really been heating up lately. There were 12 days in a row where we hit 110+. Now that's hot! We drove up to Prescott yesterday to get out of the heat. It rained a little up there and the temperature was almost 40 degrees cooler! If your having a hot summer, don't forget to drink sufficient amounts of water to keep you properly hydrated.

My wife and I took our semiannual trip back to Chicago to visit family and friends in early June. That was great! Last week I drove up to Las Vegas and linked up with an old friend for a 2 day visit. I have my trip to Denver coming up next week for my national aikido seminar and tournament. I'm sure that will be a lot of fun. That should take care of my traveling for a while.

Over the past few months I have been reviewing all of my previous newsletters. I actually started sending out this newsletter 3 years ago this month. I realized that several of the topics I've written about over those years are worth repeating. Last month I repeated my article on the main things seniors need to know to start an intelligent exercise program. This month I'm bringing out the article I wrote about your maximum and target heart rates. I hope you find the information useful.

You may or may not know that you can access all of my back issues by following the link at the bottom of the newsletter. I am assuming that even those of you who are aware that you can review previous articles probably don't. Therefore, the republishing of some articles to help remind you of important points.

Reminder - I still have a few spots open in my on line fitness coaching group.  Just go to  my coaching site to check things out.

Good luck, keep exercising, and remember – "If not now, when?".

Best Wishes,

Tom Manfredi


Send any comments you may have to tom@fitness-after-50.com

My site fitness-after-50.com

Food for Thought

Feature Article - The Importance of Target Heart Rate for the Mature Exerciser

Anyone who has ever become involved in exercise, especially aerobic exercise, has probably heard the term "target heart rate" or "target heart range" or THR. This is a very important concept for anyone who is involved in an exercise program or someone who wants to start a program. Unfortunately, some exercise professionals gloss over this concept and don’t let people know just how important it is. My wife belongs to a Jazzercise group and she tells me that the instructors hardly bring up the need for monitoring your THR during an exercise session (my wife wears a heart rate monitor to keep checks on her THR all the time, so I guess I’ve had a positive influence on her in that respect). I sure am glad that I’m not the insurance company handling the liability insurance for this group. You see, not monitoring your THR can actually be dangerous. And, not only can it be dangerous for mature people, but it can also be dangerous for younger people too.

So, let’s look at the concept of THR and why it is so important. Under normal circumstances, the human heart can only beat so many beats per minute. If it goes above or below these certain parameters, it usually means that something is wrong, and that’s one of the reasons we need to know what it is. For the average person, a simple rule of thumb to determine your maximum heart rate (MHR) is to subtract your age from 220 (women can use 210). Example: a 60 year old male can calculate his MHR by taking 220 – 60 = 160, so his MHR is 160. A 60 year old female would take 210 – 60 = 150, so her MHR is 150. Keep in mind that this is just a rule of thumb. If you want to find out what your exact MHR is, you will need to have a doctor put you through an aerobic exercise test to exhaustion (a “max test”), which isn’t usually worth while for most of us. When I was in graduate school they would put me through a “max test” about once every other week to give the other students a chance to see how all the equipment worked and what they needed to do to run everything properly. They used me because I was a well conditioned triathlete and a little stupid too. Believe me, those tests are tough, and you don’t want to go through one unless you absolutely have to.

The reason you need to know your MHR is that it is used to determine your THR for different exercise goals. What do we mean when we say “different exercise goals”? Some people are going to exercise just to stay or get healthy. Others will want to exercise to lose weight. And, still others may be exercising to increase their aerobic or anaerobic capabilities for a certain sport (swimming, sprinting, marathons, etc.). Whatever these goals are, the THR to achieve them is going to be different. If someone just wants to use aerobic exercise to help become or stay healthy, a good THR for them might be 65% – 80% of their MHR. Using our 60 year old male whose MHR is 160, his THR for staying healthy would be 160 x 65% = 104, 160 x 80% = 128, so his range would be 104 – 128 heart beats per minute (this is measured by taking your pulse). If he wants to lose weight, he might use a THR of 60% - 70% of his MHR because this level will burn more fat. And, don’t forget, monitoring your heart rate isn’t only to achieve your exercise goals. It is important that you keep track of your heart rate so that if anything unusual starts to happen while you’re exercising you will be able to stop.

A really convenient way to keep track of your target heart rate is with a heart rate monitor. These can cost anywhere from about $60 up to $250 and more depending on how many bells and whistles you want. You can also just take your pulse at your wrist or neck (how to do that is food for another article), several times during an exercise session to make sure you stay within your range.

Knowing your THR and MHR is very important, both for safety and for appropriate exercise goal setting. Learn what they are, and monitor them regularly.

(c)2005 - 2008 Thomas D. Manfredi, MS

Teleclasses

I will be announcing upcoming teleclasses in this section in the future.

If you have a topic that you would be interested in hearing about in a teleclass, send an e-mail to teleclasses@fitness-after-50.com

Questions and Answers

Answer - Unless you are an endurance athlete who regularly exercises for 2 hours or more at a time, you should skip the glorified candy bars and sugary drinks. For hydration, water is your best source. After an exercise session you can eat a lite snack with some lean protein and carbohydrates to help your body replenish lost nutrients.


To get more information on various fitness and health issues, please go to my site – www.fitness-after-50.com


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If you have a fitness or nutrition question you would like me to consider answering here in the newsletter, just send your question, along with your first name and city, in an e-mail to quesandansw@fitness-after-50.com

Obviously, I can't answer every question submitted. I will choose one question each month to answer here.

About Our Services

On line fitness coach Tom Manfredi is the creator of the site "fitness-after-50". This site is designed with the mature adult in mind. There is a lot of information available on the site for anyone looking to start or restart a sensible exercise program. Learn more by going to www.fitness-after-50.com


Tom also offers on line fitness coaching for people interested in getting expert guidance with their fitness plans. Check out Tom's coaching services and get a F.R.E.E. fitness analysis too.

Benefits of Fitness Coaching On Line:

I am now offering on line fitness coaching to my readers. Below are some of the reasons you may want to check in with me about having me be your coach. I will only be accepting a limited number of people to coach so that I can give each of them the attention they deserve.