I love formulas - especially ones that I can use to my advantage. I hope you had fun with my last post and plugged in the numbers to get some personalized facts about yourself.
First, lets get some definitions out of the way.
Maximal Heart Rate - The highest heart-rate a person can attain.
Karvonen formula - The mathmatical formula that uses maximum heart-rate reserve to determine target heart rate.
Target heart rate - The number of heartbeats per minute that indicate appropriate exercise intensity levels for an individual ; also called training heart rate.
Resting heart rate - The number of heart beats per minute when the body is completely at rest; usually counted first thing in the morning before any activity.
Okay lets get to a formula that you may use everyday at the gym for your cardio routine and probably never knew the science behind it. That formula is called the Maximum Heart Rate formula and I will also address the more accurate version of this formula (the one you SHOULD be using instead) called the Karvonen formula.
When you use a cardio piece of equipment such as an elliptical, treadmill, bike, or a row machine it will usually ask you to to input your weight and age. The equipment asks this so it can calculate what you maximum heart rate should be.
The simplified formula the equipment uses is: Training heart rate = 220 - age.
Using me as an example:
I am 40 years old
I weight 160 pounds
My resting heart rate is 80(bad I know - I really need more cardio training).
Training heart rate = 220 - 40 or target heart rate = 180. So when I train on the machines I listed above I should not go over this maximum.
But lets try a more accurate formula to calculate my heart rate maximum (the Karvonen formula).
Training Heart rate = maximum heart rate - resting heart rate * desired intensity (40% to 85%) + resting heart rate.
So, for me, this is the formula:
Training Heart Rate = ((180 - 80) * 0.85)) + 80 or (100 * 0.85) + 80 or 165. As you can see this number is much more diffferent then the formula above and it is more indictive of what my true potential is with reduced risk to my heart.
It is the Karvonen formula that you should use at the gym. Because it is more attuned to what your body can handle without undue risk. Did you know 80,000 people a year die per year at gyms during exercise. Even though the benefits of exercise clearly out weight the risk of exercising - you should be smart in your approach.
I hope you are learning from these formulas. They really are vital to your exercise routine success. As a Personal Trainer these formulas are a daily task to assess and tune our clients workouts to maximize their success and do it in a safe manner.
As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. My rates are $75.00 per hour for in-person training and $25.00 per hour for email personal training. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.
Regards,
Eddie Camaroto CPT
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2 comments:
Hello, Based on your comment "The simplified formula the equipment uses is: Training heart rate = 220 - age" at what point should my 'training heart rate' reach my calculated 173? I am lucky if I reach 145 most days. Thank you
Rose, thank you for your comment. It appears you forgot to add two more calculations. Not your fault I neglected to include that in the post (http://personal-trainer-nj.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-love-formulas-especially-ones-that-i.html). When you use the simplified formula of 220 - age you also need to add what intensity you wish to train at. For most fit individuals that would be 60% to 85%. So using your maximum heart rate of 173 you would do the following calculations:
173 * .60 or 104 for the low end range
173 * .85 or 147 for the high end range
The number of 173 signifies that you should never exceed this number or you present a high risk to your cardiovascular system should you have a heart condition or for that matter a yet to be revealed issue.
So the 145 beats per minute you reach on most days is GREAT! You are doing a great job of exercising your heart at the high range. Don't change a thing. :) I would suggest that you use the Karvonen formuala though for your calculations since it is much more accurate at determining what your heart and body can handle.
If you know your resting heart rate you can utilize the Karvonen formula. If you want me to calculate the Karvonen formula for you and tell you the range just send me your resting heart rate. I would more then happy to calculate it for you.
Regards,
Eddie Camaroto CPT
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