In this topic - information on:
Exercise Intensity - measured by Exercise Heart Rate (EHR)
How the right EHR is calculated and the benefits
Ways to achieve the right EHR average
How Smart watches can help
Exercise Intensity and Calorie burn (energy out)
Exercising at the correct intensity (effort) for you is where optimal benefits are gained and the time you spend results in maximum benefits.
Exercising at the right intensity does not mean it will be 'hard', it means it will provide the benefits you want to achieve, within your comfort zone 👍
Not all physical activities produce a 'training effect'. Meaning not all physical activities improve health, wellbeing or fitness.
Health, Wellness and Fitness improvement only occurs when the FITT formula is applied, with the Exercise Heart Rate response being a fundamental variable.
Exercise Intensity is measured by monitoring your Exercise Heart Rate
This is made easy by smart watches and devices, or you can simply count your pulse for 6 seconds and add a zero to compute the beats per minute e.g., 15 beats in 6 seconds = 150 beats per minute.
The Exercise Heart Rate levels, in which to exercise are calculated as a percentage of your predicted maximum heart rate.
A globally used formula for calculating this is:
220 minus your age = your maximum heart rate (MaxHR). Example 220 – 45 (years) = 175
Aiming to exercise at 70% of the MaxHR is calculated, for this 45-year-old, as 175 X 0.75 = 132 (rounded) i.e., 13 beats in 6 seconds
Exercising at the right EHR provides many benefits.
At the right EHR you maximise the benefits for the time spent include:
Weight management & Reduced body fat
Optimal blood pressure
Increase in HDL (good cholesterol)
Lower heart rate for given intensity of exercise activity (less fatigue)
Help normalise your blood sugar levels in diabetes management
Strengthens your heart and circulatory system
Help mental health and wellbeing by boosting endorphins and serotonin in the brain
Increased energy for life, activity, and exercise
Your Exercise Heart Rate Average
To attain maximum benefit from exercise your Exercise Heart Rate average is most important.
The average heart rate considers both your exercise and rest periods.
Exercise Heart Rate Average is best attained by using ‘interval training’.
This is where the activity and duration of the exercise are performed with an exercise and rest ratio that will maintain that average.
A quick word about the differing benefits between ‘steady state’ sessions and ‘interval training sessions’
Steady State Exercise: is when aerobic exercise is done over a prolonged period of time at the same intensity i.e., EHR.
Think a constant or near constant effort run, walk, swim, bike ride or any other activity using the large muscle groups.
When done repeatedly over time, steady state exercising will not produce increased fitness levels or energy consumption versus interval training, over the same duration of exercise.
Therefore, it is not the best way to spend your exercise time if you are looking to:
Increase your fitness
Decrease body fat
Interval sessions on the other hand are progressive and pose varying levels of challenge to the body, to which the body will more readily adapt, producing higher levels of fitness and producing them faster.
All competitive sports people looking for best performance exercise this way for their foundational fitness.
Therefore, it is the most effective and efficient way spend your exercise time if you are looking to:
Increase your fitness
Decrease body fat
And all the other benefits or exercising at the right HRR as listed above.
All the FitWell sessions use the principles of Interval Training
Interval Session - The graph is an example recorded by a Garmin Swim2 watch, used in an interval swim session.
The session was 2 sets of 20 reps of a 50 metre swim, pushing off the wall every 1m 20 seconds.
Each swim was a approximately 1 min of exercise, so the swimmer had a 20 second rest each rep.
At the end of the first set of 20 x 50m the swimmer had a 2-minute rest, before commencing the 2nd set of 20.
See the 'mini' heart rate recovery following each rep.
See the drop in the Exercise Heart Rate, at the halfway point of the exercise period, which is when the 2-minute rest was taken.
Smart Watches
As mentioned above measuring your exercise heart rate is made easy by smart watches and other types of wearable devices.
The brands include Samsung, Apple, Garmin, Huawei, Fitbit, Suunto, Polar
Some brands are more sensitive to in-water operation so check that if you are going to get one
Getting instant feedback on your Exercise Heart Rate is a great investment in your health and wellbeing.
As mentioned above it is important to attain your target Exercise Heart Rate Average for the duration of the exercise. The smart watches also provide this information.
Popular wearable devices, the likes of Samsung, Apple, Garmin watches (and associated apps) use these terms to describe these energy systems:
Low Intensity or Zone 1
Weight Control (WC.) or Zone 2 or Easy
Aerobic or Zone 3
Anaerobic or Zone 4
Maximum or Zone 5
To be clear, all activity at or beyond the 60% Max HR zone provides Health Related, Wellness and Fitness benefits as described above.
Intensity Table
This table provides a guide to the relative exercise Heart Rate Zones used by wearable devices as listed above.
Age | % ofHRMax | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 |
Intensity | | | | | | | | |
Low | 60% | 120 | 114 | 108 | 102 | 96 | 90 | 84 |
WC. | 70% | 140 | 133 | 126 | 119 | 112 | 105 | 98 |
Aerobic | 80% | 160 | 152 | 144 | 136 | 128 | 120 | 112 |
Anaerobic | 87% | 174 | 165 | 157 | 148 | 140 | 130 | 122 |
Maximum | 100% | 200 | 190 | 180 | 170 | 160 | 150 | 140 |
Energy Out – Calorie ‘burn’
The characterisation of the intensity level 'Weight Control' (WC. in the table) by some Smart Watch software refers to the fuel used to produce energy.
All these levels of exercise ‘burn’ calories, via the body’s energy replacement processes noted in the topic Your energy Production and Calorie Burn, therefore they are all good for weight loss and management.
However, the intensity of the exercise provides a wide variation of energy use, at the same duration.
For example, a 45-year-old female, weighing 60 kgs and a height of 168 cm will burn in the same 30-minute exercise session:
210 calories at 60% of MaxHR of 105 average
280 calories at 80% of MaxHR of 140 average
33% more energy use than the 60% of MaxHR value
Put another way, to burn 300 calories at 60% of MaxHR requires a 43minute activity session, in place of 30 minutes at 80% of MaxHR value.
Exercising at 80% of MaxHR value when first starting out in not recommended, but its something to keep in mind as your fitness progresses
Smart watches and other wearable devices also provide information on the level of energy use i.e., calorie burn.
More information is provided on energy use, in the topic Weight Management.
Recommended Reading: Your Energy Production and Calorie Burn
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