| By :
Roger Brown
There is no better way to protect your health than to get used to using a pulse watch. Your heart rate can be the best overall indicator of your state of health. Many in the medical community say that the best heart rate is between 60-100 beats per minute. However, that's not going to be the perfect heart rate for everyone. What I mean by that is older people and much younger people, like babies, for example, have a lot higher heart rate but are perfectly normal. As well, highly conditioned athletes have much lower heart rates. Lance Armstrong's for example is somewhere between 30 and 32 bpm. So, what's so important about knowing your heart rate numbers? First of all, it can be a good overall indicator of your health. If your heart is having to work extra hard to distribute oxygen throughout your body it can be an indicator of underlying health problem. Furthermore, knowing your pulse rate will give you a good indication of whether you're working out in the zone that you need to be in or not. Here's also something to think about - there are several cardiovascular related problems that can be uncovered by taking notice of your heart rate: There are two conditions that indicate when the heart is out of whack. Tachycardia means your heart rate is too fast. It can be an indicator of serious health problems and can trigger strokes and other cardiovascular events like cardiac arrest. Bradycardia on the other hand, is the other end of the spectrum. It means that your heart is beating too slowly. Although this is not in and of itself a problem, it can mean that you will need a pacemaker eventually because there won't be enough oxygen distributed throughout your body. That is of course the primary job of the heart. When you're working out at the gym using a pulse watch, you can enhance the safety and efficiency of your exercise session. However, just being aware of what your heart rate is at the moment is typically not all you need to know though. You also need to take the time to understand what your maximum heart rate should be. A good general indicator of that poor man is to take number 222 and subtract your age from - that will be your maximum heart rate. For women, subtract age from number 206. Once you know what your maximum heart rate should be, you should exercise at approximately 60 to 85% of that number. That puts you in the proper state to lose body fat and increase your overall cardiovascular endurance. What are things that could influence your heart rate? * How much or how often you work out * How you are positioned when your pulse rate is taken (you should be in a relaxed position) * The size of your frame and your weight * Any medicines you may be on In conclusion, to get the most out of a workout you need to seriously consider investing in a pulse watch. But that's not enough. You've got to also take the time to understand what factors in your life may be influencing the heart rate you should expect to achieve when under the stress of workout.
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articleforbacklinks.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
