Understanding Why You Heartrate Train? ... click here to continue...
If you presently use a heart rate monitor you can incorporate this
into your training
ZONE 1 OR 50% -60% Effort: This is the safest, most comfortable zone,
reached by walking briskly or running easy. Here you strengthen your
heart and improve muscle mass while you reduce body fat, cholesterol,
blood pressure. You get healthier in this zone, but not more fit
-- that is, it won't increase your endurance or strength but it will
increase your health.
If you're out of shape, have heart problems, or simply want to safeguard
your heart without working too hard, spend most of your training
time here. It's also the zone for warming up and cooling down before
and after more vigorous zones.
ZONE 2 OR 60-70% EFFORT/INTENSITY: It's easily reached by jogging
slowly. While still a relatively low level of effort, this zone starts
training your body to increase the rate of fat release from the cells
to the muscles for fuel. Some people call this the "fat burning
zone" because up to 85 % of the total calories burned in this
zone are fat calories which is equally as important.
Fit and unfit people burn fat differently. The more fit you are,
the more effectively you use fat to maintain a healthy weight. On
the other hand, perhaps you've been exercising vigorously, but not
losing the weight you expected to. Could be you've been working too
hard and need to drop back to this zone and exercise longer. To burn
more total calories you'll need to exercise for more time in this
zone. So don’t be discouraged if you need to backoff and start
over, you will benefit from this program, if you stick to it.
ZONE 3 OR 70-80% EFFORT/INTENSITY: In this zone -- reached by running
easily as an example -- you improve your functional capacity. The
number and size of your blood vessels actually increase, you step
up your lung capacity and respiratory rate, and your heart increases
in size and strength so you can exercise longer before becoming fatigued.
You're still metabolizing fats and carbohydrates at about a 50-50
rate which means both are burning at the same ratio.
ADVANCE TRAINING PROGRAM and PERSONAL COACHING ADVISED
ZONE 4 OR 80-90% EFFORT/INTENSITY: This zone is reached by going
hard -- running faster. Here you get faster and fitter, increasing
your heart rate as you cross from aerobic to anaerobic training.
At this point, your heart cannot pump enough blood and oxygen to
supply the exercising muscles fully so they respond by continuing
to contract anaerobically.
This is where you "feel the burn." You can stay in this
zone for a limited amount of time, usually not more than an hour.
That's because the muscle just cannot sustain working anaerobically
(this means without sufficient oxygen) without fatiguing. The working
muscles protect themselves from overwork by not being able to maintain
the intensity level.
ZONE 5 OR 90-100% EFFORT/INTENSITY: This is the equivalent of running
all out and is used mostly as an "interval" training regiment
-- exertion done only in short to intermediate length bursts. Even
world-class athletes can stay in this zone for only a few minutes
at a time. It's not a zone most people will select for exercise since
working out here hurts and there is an increased potential for injury.