A baby zebra can spot its mother from a herd of over 300 zebras. A human baby can distinguish its mothers’ heartbeat from another and our fingerprints link us to our identity. Similarly, as a zebra’s stripes are unique, a mothers’ heartbeat is unique and our fingerprints are unique, so is our heartbeat. The way our heart responds to exercise is also unique. Some of us cannot get our heart to beat at our age-related maximum, others can push their hearts well over that figure. Although the equation for finding your maximal heart (220 subtract your age) is a good starting point, it is best to get to know your heart a little more in depth, especially if you would like to start training for an event of any sort.
Resting Heart rate and its importance
Mapping your early morning heartrate is a good indication of your overall health. Knowing this measurement is important, as you can adjust your training accordingly. Where do you start? Firstly, start to get to know your early morning heart rate; take your heart rate for a full minute every morning at the same time and jot it down. Once you have 7 days of your recordings find the average heartrate and make a mental note of it. Get into the habit of taking your early morning heart rate every morning and comparing it to your average. This is a good measure of your health and training effects.
If your heartrate has increased in anyway, it’s a sign to back down. The general rule is, if one of your readings is 5-7 beats above your average heartrate you should decrease the training for that day by 10%. However, with an increase and a feeling of sluggishness/tiredness, it may be time to consider a day’s break as the body may be fighting a bug. Get a good rest day in with all the right foods. Conversely, if your heartrate has decreased below your average, you may be getting fitter, and your program may need to adjust accordingly so that you can continue to improve your fitness.
How do you work out your maximal heart rate
There are several ways you can work out your maximal heart rate. Unfortunately, many of these methods are done while sedentary through an equation. If you are embarking on an exercise program it is best to do a threshold test which is more specific to your exercise program, i.e. don’t do a cycling threshold test if you are going to start running. From your threshold test you will gain some invaluable knowledge as to how to start your training regime and what heart rate zones best suit you as an individual. A threshold test can be reused during training to see your improvements and so that you can adjust your program accordingly.