How High Should a Heart Rate Be During Exercise?

So if you’re going to put the money into a fitness watch, here’s a very practical implication is actually watch your heart rate while you’re exercising. If you are dropping out of the moderate intensity zone then, ladies, you’re not exercising. That’s non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Welcome to today’s live training and Q&A. Hope you guys are having an amazing Tuesday. Speaker 1: 0:26 We had off today, the kids had off, my husband took off, so we walked to a local coffee shop and got breakfast sandwiches. It felt good to get the fresh air, sunshine. We keep telling our kids walking is good. Some of them are okay with it, others not as much. I don’t know about your family, but sometimes walking can be a challenge. And then I remind my children that there are kids around the world biking 30 minutes to school or walking 30 minutes to school just to get there. So the fact that we’re walking to get breakfast sandwiches is no big deal, but it can be tough. So get out there, get your walk in, get some exercise. I’m trying to do better about that for my family, or else. It’s amazing Even how much we prioritize fitness, how sedentary we can be, my family included. Speaker 1: 1:21 Today we are chatting all about target heart rate, specifically answering the question. It is a frequently asked question in the health and fitness space. When we talk about target heart rate how high should a heart rate be during exercise? What we’re going to specifically target is how to unlock the full benefit of your workout by determining how high a heart rate should be during exercise and consequently, then how to target your heart rate zone. Maintaining an optimal heart rate during exercise can be crucial for maximizing that cardioprotective benefit and minimizing risk factors for disease. The American Heart Association recommends targeting a heart rate between 50 and 85% of your maximum heart rate during moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise. That being said, this target range can vary based on individual factors such as age, fitness level and underlying health conditions medicine that you take. We’re going to address some of these, but first let’s just talk about how we even calculate target heart rate. We’re going to get into why we care, so don’t worry if you’re already thinking like why should I care about this? We are going to talk about that, but first let’s just get in our minds what your target heart rate is. Speaker 1: 2:49 The first thing that you want to do before you get that range the target heart rate range is you want to calculate your maximum heart rate. What does maximum heart rate means? It means that the heart is a muscle and there is really only so high and hard that the heart can and should go. This also varies with, like I said, age, risk factors, medicines that you take, etc. But it is important to understand that the heart is a muscle. It is quite literally a large muscle that pumps. So that’s important to understand. But then, consequently, just like your muscle right now, in your legs, in your arms, anywhere, is only capable of withstanding so much due to how strong it is, the same is true of your heart. So the American Heart Association suggests using the formula 220 minus your age is your estimated maximum heart rate. So do that math right now 220 minus your age, whatever your age is. If you need a calculator there’s no here that’s your estimated maximum heart rate. So, for example, if you were 40, your estimated maximum heart rate would be 180 beats per minute. So once you have done that, then you can calculate your target heart rate range by multiplying it by the desired intensity level. Speaker 1: 4:25 So what we’re going to do for these purposes is we’re going to talk about vigorous intensity. So this is a higher heart rate. This is what we’re targeting during aerobic exercise, hiit workouts. Hiit’s a really, really popular one right now because we’ve kind of gotten away from the like, oh, just going for a jog or running on the treadmill. We see the benefits of HIIT, especially when we add weights, because now we’re doing muscle building, cardio. But what we are wanting to target is that we are stressing that cardiac muscle, because we’re going to talk about all the benefits of that with vigorous exercise. So, by definition, in order to optimize your health, per the American Heart Association, all the research that we have you want five days, 30 minutes a day of moderate to high intensity exercise. So that would be like moderate. What we’re specifically talking about right now is that high intensity, vigorous, the higher range, because of the benefits that you are going to see from a cardiac standpoint. And why we want to talk about this is that because we have shifted away a little bit from aerobics, and rightly, rightly so. Strength training should take an important role. Speaker 1: 5:49 But I am going to argue that you cannot eliminate aerobic, high intensity exercise because of the very unique cardio protective benefits that it offers. The difference is it doesn’t need to be all five days. In fact, it shouldn’t be all five days of your exercise. So vigorous intensity is 70 to 85% of your maximum heart rate. The American Heart Association has a graph that breaks all of this down If you just want the easy button to determine what your range is. So for those of us that are here, many of us are going to span this range. So 30 years is going to be 95 to 162, is going to be that moderate to vigorous. 30, 40 is like 90 to 153. Now, again, this is the moderate to vigorous. So if 180 is my max, we can go up to 180. So I’m 38. So I’m just rounding up to 40. 45 years 88 to 149, 179, 175 average maximum heart rate. Speaker 1: 7:08 There’s going to be a blog post coming out if you just want this graph. So you’re going to have access to that. Keep an eye on your email. I think it’s scheduled to post in two weeks, but you’ll have this information. But if you want to actually do the math, then what you are going to do is you are going to take your maximum heart rate. So if you’re 40 years old, that’s 180. And you are going to multiply it by 0.85. And then you’re going to multiply it by 0.70. And what that is going to give you is your range. Speaker 1: 7:54 So why does determining your target heart rate matter? And again, this is specifically talking about that higher intensity. Well, it makes the difference because we want to understand how to apply it to the ways that our body is fueling with energy. So it concerns the differing health benefits between non-exercise activity thermogenesis and exercise activity thermogenesis. And then, to break it down even further, under exercise activity thermogenesis we’re talking about moderate intensity exercise to high intensity exercise. And in case you’ve never realized what the definition of that is, it has everything to do with your heart rate. When someone says moderate intensity, that is directly correlated to how high your heart rate is during that workout. It doesn’t mean how hard it is, it’s how intense it is for your heart versus high intensity or vigorous. Speaker 1: 8:53 So a quick recap in case you have not heard this before or you missed this training the difference between NEAT and EAT. I cannot reiterate this enough. They’re the two main components of daily energy expenditure related to physical activity. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT is ultimately the steps that you take in a day, daily steps required for basic living. This could include fidgeting in a chair, spontaneous exercises like walking from your couch to your fridge. Right, those steps, those are daily movements needed to live. It accounts for a significant portion of your total daily energy expenditure of your total daily energy expenditure but exercise activity thermogenesis is the energy expended during planned, structured exercise. This could include running a class at the gym. It can include weight training, lifting so hitting your target heart rate for our purposes. Speaker 1: 9:54 Today, what we are talking about is I am specifically talking about the aerobic, high intensity exercise of exercise activity thermogenesis. I am not talking about lifting weights. You probably should not be hitting your maximum heart rate lifting weights because it might mean that you’re not giving yourself enough rest in between sets to properly maintain form and function. So I want to be really clear. I am not downplaying lifting weights. I am talking about the difference between the two types of exercising. So that you understand. We’re talking high energy aerobic hit workouts. There might be weights involved, but HIIT workouts. So hitting your target heart rate in this higher 70 to 85% of your maximum heart rate is specifically going to provide very unique benefits for your heart that are different than lifting, for example, or strength training. The aerobic exercise with that vigorous target heart rate range is the best workout to stress the heart muscle and offers numerous cardio protective benefits. Speaker 1: 12:20 Again, think of the muscle as a heart. Before I list these benefits, you need to picture. The heart is literally a muscle. I had the privilege of doing a rotation with a cardiac surgeon when I was at John Hopkins University for my first master’s in nursing. My first master’s is in adult geriatric critical care and I got to work with the first assist for this cardiac surgeon. So for several months I stood over open chests and got to see the heart multiple times beating and functioning in real time while cardiac surgery was happening. It’s a phenomenal thing to watch, but it is literally a muscle that just expands and contracts constantly without you having to do anything about it. It’s we’re fearfully and wonderfully made. It’s pretty impressive. Speaker 1: 13:11 But for the people who are less fit meaning your heart has had less stress via high intensity exercise it is not going to have the same ability to function for the level of stress, meaning somebody who is in great aerobic shape will possibly even have a larger heart because the muscle is bigger and it requires less effort for the heart to function. Does that make sense? Similarly to, if somebody has really good leg strength, it might be a lot easier for them to pick something up that is heavy. It’s less stress for them to pick up the same 50 pound weight as it might be for the person who has not built up their leg muscles. And then what happens? Well, they’re going to end up straining their back because they don’t have the support in the legs. Same thing with the heart. If you have not properly stressed the heart and are building that cardiac muscle, you are not going to have the same ability to function as easily as the person who has built it up. And here is the key you guys. This is why you cannot get rid of aerobics, and I defy anyone who says that you can. I’ve watched this heart muscle. When you understand what the function of the heart muscle does, you realize the importance of building it and strengthening it in this way. Speaker 1: 14:41 These cardioprotective benefits include improved cardiovascular function, enhancing the heart’s ability to pump blood more efficiently, reducing the workload on the heart, lowering resting heart rate and blood pressure. I could talk for hours about what that actually means and the amount of chronic disease that that prevents. If you can do that, that very thing alone, it’s going to improve cholesterol levels. So it’s going to raise aerobic exercise, specifically having these sustained periods of exercise where you are hitting. That higher heart rate will increase minimally minimally, mind you, it’s small, but it does show some increase of your HDL. That is the good cholesterol that helps protect your heart and your vasculature while lowering the bad cholesterol, reducing the risk of atherosclerosis, which ultimately contributes to heart disease and strokes. It will increase insulin sensitivity, so higher target heart rate exercise improves the body’s ability to use insulin effectively, lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes, which is a significant risk factor for multiple diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. Number four reduces inflammation. Aerobic exercise has anti-inflammatory effects, which can help prevent the development and progression of, again, atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular conditions. Speaker 1: 16:25 Now some people might be saying or thinking well, won’t other forms of exercise do the same thing? Yes, they can, and they do it in different ways. Everyone here knows I am a huge fan of strength training. We need to be lifting weights. However, they’re, especially in that cardiac function are benefits to the aerobic exercise that you are not going to maximize with strength training. They function differently and they help the body differently. So, yes, strength training other forms of exercise will help offer benefits in these same ways, but not to the same extent as this aerobic exercise, specifically when we talk about cardiovascular function. Speaker 1: 17:14 So what are a couple of factors affecting target heart rate, because some of these might apply to you. The American Heart Association’s target heart rate range is a general guideline and there are factors that can influence your optimal heart rate during exercise. Chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, lung disorders, may require adjustments to this target heart rate range. You do want to consult with your primary care provider if this is something that you really want to start watching, because it’s also going to help you maximize your exercise right. We want to move smarter, not harder. Medications, for example, if you do have heart issues, um, throwing out some words here, a lot of people aren’t going to recognize, but those of you that are on them will. Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers For those of you that might have um heart conditions or high blood pressure those might ring a bell that will change your baseline heart rate and so your target heart rate might be slightly lower because you are chemically inducing a lower heart rate, and so your target heart rate might be slightly lower because you are chemically inducing a lower heart rate at rest with these medicines. Fitness level this is really important to understand If you are at a lower cardiovascular fitness level and listen. Speaker 1: 18:36 I’m looking at some of you ladies who have gotten hardcore into strength training but have eliminated cardio from your workouts. You might be strong muscularly. You might be strong muscularly, but you might be very out of shape cardiovascularly. I have been here. I’m speaking from experience. This is why oftentimes when I start running again when it gets warm out because I’m not running in 30 degrees Not happening. I love running, not in 30 degrees, so I tend to run very little over the winter, but I’m still strength training and doing HIIT workouts et cetera, in my house. But then when I go out and run when it gets warm, ladies, I’m dying. Even though I am physically strong and I’m actually in good anaerobic shape, it is not the same as being in good cardiovascular shape or running shape. So for any of you who have experienced that, you have actually experienced exactly what I’m talking about here. That needs to be built back up. Speaker 1: 19:39 Now to be clear. You can still get those cardioprotective benefits from a HIIT workout. You can within your home, but you need to be intentional about it. It’s really easy to let your heart rate drop too low when you’re on, when you’re on your break and you’re on your phone. Right, you see it all the time at the gym People sit there forever on their phone in between sets so, like, your heart rate just got so low. Anyways, that’s a different, different training. Just put your phones away, guys, when you’re working out. Just put them away. Speaker 1: 20:06 But the point is this if you’re at a lower fitness level, going on a walk might actually get you to that target heart rate zone. Does this make sense? What I’m saying, like, if you are not in cardiovascular shape and you know that, you might get away with going for a walk and hitting that target heart rate zone, and how do you know? That’s where the heart rate monitor watches come in. That’s where the fitness watches come in. People are paying crazy amounts of money for these fitness watches that they don’t even use. They don’t even know what all it does. So if you’re going to put the money into a fitness watch, here’s a very practical implication is actually watch your heart rate while you’re exercising. Speaker 1: 20:47 If you are dropping out of the moderate intensity zone, then, ladies, you’re not exercising. That’s non-exercise activity, thermogenesis. If you’re not even in the moderate, which many are not, you go on a bike ride and you don’t put it on a higher gear and you’re taking a leisurely 10 mile bike ride. You can go on a 10 mile bike ride and not be exercising. If you don’t hit that moderate intensity, you’re not actually exercising. Now it’s still activity. You’re outside I applaud that. It’s better than sitting and watching Netflix but understand how you’re moving your body, how it’s benefiting you. So we’re talking about a higher intensity. If you’re at a higher fitness level, then you are already in much better cardiovascular shape. It might actually take more exercise to hit that higher heart rate zone. Speaker 1: 21:35 Age is another big one. As individuals age, that maximum heart rate decreases and the American Heart Association chart does reflect that. You’re going to want to adjust that range accordingly, especially if you’re on. So you know you’re going to want to adjust that range accordingly, especially if you’re on beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and certain medicines. If you do have heart disease, by the way, your you know your cardiologist is going to be the person to have these conversations with, who are going to be able to speak to target heart rates and what that looks like for your heart. So you’ve done the math. You’ve written down your maximum heart rate. You’ve written down that 70 to 85% target heart rate zone for high intensity. What do you do with these numbers and how often are you trying to hit these? And how often are you trying to hit these? You want to exercise within this range approximately two days a week. Speaker 1: 22:35 If I could give you the most ideal exercise schedule, this is what we do at Early Morning Habit. Some of you might not have thought about that, but this is what we do, and this is true for a lot of exercise programs. They might not be able to say why they do it what we do, and this is true for a lot of exercise programs. They might not be able to say why they do it, um, but this is actually the ideal. The ideal balance is two days a week of cardio exercise, high intensity or hit. Speaker 1: 23:04 But the way to actually monitor if you are benefiting from this is by wearing that watch when you are actively in your HIIT set and your exercise. You should be in that 70 to 85% range. If you’re not, then, girl, you need to push it a little harder. So HIIT, by definition, is interval training, so that does not mean that you necessarily need to maintain that for your entire 20 to 30 minute workout, because you do want to take rest periods in order to be able to jump back into that high intensity. Right, it can be hard to sustain that for 30 minutes, but you want to be careful to not put too much time between your intervals, which I see a lot of people do, because they get distracted, especially if they’re not in a structured workout program and doing it on their own. It’s easy to get distracted. Or two, they’re not actually maximizing the intensity when they are doing the interval. Does that make sense? So this is the benefit to having that watch is you can actually track when you are exercising. Are you hitting that target heart rate? Are you working that cardiac muscle hard enough to get the benefit from it from a disease risk standpoint, promoting optimal health and cardiovascular health? So, 70 to 85%. Hopefully you wrote that target heart rate number down. Speaker 1: 24:32 If you have a fitness watch, next time you do a HIIT workout or a cardio workout, look at your heart rate and see are you hitting it? If you’re not, you need to bump up the intensity. The jumping jacks need to be faster. The squat jumps need to be faster or more, or maybe you need to actually get lower in your squat jump. Maybe you need to jump higher, right, like you got to boost it up a little bit if you’re not in that hurry, and what you will find then is, as you become more cardiovascularly fit, that you will return to your baseline heart rate sooner. That is a sign of better cardiovascular function or heart muscle health. Consequently, your heart rate at rest will be lower. Your heart rate at rest will be lower. There’s also a ton of benefits to this as well, because, again at rest, we want the heart to what Be at rest as well. Because, again at rest, we want the heart to what Be at rest. So for those of you that are pushing 80 to 90 at a resting heart rate, I’m going to suggest that maybe you need to take a look at your exercise programming. Are you getting enough cardio in? Because at rest the heart rate should be between like 60 to 80. Those who are in great shape, their resting heart rate can be 40. Speaker 1: 25:54 Really, really active kids like my son the summer he was hospitalized for pneumonia and it was very scary, but then at night he was in the ICU and on the monitor and his heart rate would dip to the low forties, high 30s. And the first time it happened this whole team came in and they were like looking at him, everything was totally fine. And the physician made the point that I had already thought myself is the inactive kid? Yes, absolutely. He does not. Sit still. So that’s why his heart rate when he sleeps, drops so low and his blood is still perfusing. What that means is it is so low and his blood is still perfusing. What that means is it is pumping accurately and well to all the extremities. So for some of us, mine does not go that low. Mine does go pretty low. Even at rest and sleeping, our heart rate can drop pretty low, and that’s actually a good thing, assuming the blood is getting to where it needs to go. Speaker 1: 26:52 So tracking your heart rate is a great way to maximize the benefits of aerobic exercise, high intensity exercise for the heart rate definition and ensure you’re training at the optimal intensity based on your individual needs. Like I said, you want to be aiming for these higher heart rate zones twice a week through exercise such as HIIT running, speed walking, walking if you’re at a lower fitness level, biking. You can be adding weights to these HIIT trainings. I’m not saying there’s no weights, but here is a tip they should probably be lower. They should probably be lower because it is really hard to get that heart rate really high when you’re lifting heavy because you should not be moving as fast. Does this make sense? When you are lifting heavy weights, you want it to be slow and controlled. Or you’re going to pull something and you are going to have suboptimal form low and controlled, or you’re going to pull something and you are going to have suboptimal form. Speaker 1: 27:51 So when you are doing a HIIT workout and your instructor says, pick up the weights, be very mindful that the goal of that is not to significantly hypertrophy peripheral muscle for a HIIT workout. It is actually the cardiac muscle that you are targeting during HIIT workouts. So when you pick up the weight, you actually want it to be a little bit lighter. Yes, you can add that extra stress for the peripheral muscles, but it is with the intent to stress the cardiac muscle. Does that make sense? What questions do you have about that? I’m trying to think if I missed anything to make that any clearer. But any questions that come to mind, let me pray us out here for our week. Speaker 1: 28:45 Lord, I thank you so much for these ladies and I thank you for the opportunity to be able to get together over something like Zoom and the technology that we have to be with other women around the world, even through something like this platform. Grateful for the women that are here, I pray your hand over our hearts, over our homes. I do ask specifically for protection for those of us here who are at a lower fitness level, who are maybe stepping back into it after a long time away or who have never really been in the fitness game. And these women are here for the first time, stepping out in faith, trying to take control of their health, and I honor those women. I see those women and I pray protection over them and healing if there are any injuries, but also protection from injury, and I thank you for their boldness and willingness to try new things. Speaker 1: 29:49 And for the many women here who are trying new things, trying to establish an early morning routine and maybe it has been a struggle. It certainly was for me for a long time I ask that you would give them strength, endurance, that when their alarm clock goes off in the morning and they want to do anything other than get out of bed, or they get out of bed and they’re distracted by the to-do list or the worries for the day, I just pray that you would give them a stubborn, relentless determination to be still Knowing that that active rest in stillness with you, filling their truth, filling their mind with your truth, from your word, and starting their day in stillness with you, is quite literally the best possible thing that they could do for their body and soul and will ultimately improve their productivity and the rest of the day will fall in line and in place so much better. So I just help us, lord. Help us to fight for that stillness, for our earthly joy and for your eternal glory. We love you, amen.