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Training Your Heart

Your heart is a muscle that can be trained just like your
biceps or any other muscle in your body. It gets stronger with regular
cardiovascular exercise. Examples of cardiovascular activities are
jogging, swimming, dancing, cycling, hiking, and skiing. Let's look at
how the heart responds to training.
When your heart is strong, it
doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood. This means your heart will
pump more blood per beat and per minute than when compared to an
untrained heart. Furthermore, your resting heart rate and blood
pressure will decrease.
There is a recommended range for your
heart rate when exercising. To determine yours, first get a
calculator. Start by subtracting your age from 220 (220-age.) This
will give you your estimated maximum heart rate (MHR). Then, multiply
your MHR by 60% or 0.6. This number represents the bottom of your
range. Then, multiply your MHR by 90% or 0.9. This is the top of your
heart rate range.
For example, a 35-year old woman's target heart
rate is 111-166bpm based on the following calculation.
220-35 =
185(MHR)
185 x 60% = 111
185 x 90% = 166
Exercising
at the higher end of the range represents higher intensity exercise. To
monitor your heart rate, you can purchase a heart rate monitor. There
are numerous models in many price ranges depending on the amount of
functions you choose. Look for a model that has a chest strap. Polar
is a top brand.
Also, you can check your pulse on the thumb-side
of your wrist. Pulse checks are usually counted for 15 seconds. Then,
you multiply that number by 4.
Regular cardiovascular training
will help prevent heart disease, diabetes, elevated cholesterol,
obesity, and many types of cancer. The American College of Sports
Medicine recommends getting cardiovascular exercise on most days of the
week. So, get moving!
Comments
Mixfitness,
As a heart patient, the one stat I follow closely is my resting heart rate. If I ignore my body, my resting heart rate is 94! It should be 64 for me to feel good and yes, I feel rotten when it is at 94. All this talk about the silly scale when our heart is ignore. Excellent hub!
Thank you for writing this it's very useful!
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