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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

WORKOUT INTENSITY.. why it matters...

workout intensity is very important whatever is your goal... losing fat, building muscle, preserving health etc

i know some of you think that your workouts are really hard and exhaustive, but then when i dig a little deeper, i find out that it's really not what you think. 
it is true that a certain workout can be very difficult for some people, and very easy for some other people. this is because we are all at different fitness levels and because we all train differently.

no matter what your training is, the workout intensity must be kept under control. there are various scales out there that can help you determine the intensity you are working at, but they are not very reliable. one more reliable way is checking your heart rate. this is why i always recommend wearing a heart rate monitor.
as some of you already know, a god workout intensity would be btw 75 and 80% of max heart rate. that's true. but the problem is, that you are using the wrong formula.
max HR = 220-age
THR (target HR) = btw 75% x max HR and 80% x max HR

this formula doesn't take into consideration the resting heart rate which is very important. the heart rate at rest is different for men and women, and it's altered by your physical condition. it should be somewhere btw 60 and 80 beats per minute. for example, if you are tired and you overtrained or you are stressed-out, it's higher. if you are very fit, you'll have a lower RHR. athletes usually have it lower than normal.
the RHR (resting heart rate) is best measured first thing in the morning. i recommend measuring it for 3 days in a row and then find out a medium RHR.

so since each of us has a different RHR it is important to take it into consideration when calculating the THR. if i train with a friend who's my age, but she's not in very good fitness condition, she'll have a hard time keeping her THR in range.. which, btw, is the same for me. and for me it will be much easier. so she'd probably be overdoing it and i'd probably be slacking.

this is why i prefer to use this formula that considers the RHR.

max HR = 220 - age - RHR
THR = btw (60% x max HR + RHR) and (80% x max HR + RHR)

#training #workoutintensity #goheavyorgohome

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