The Real "Burn-Out"

Each of us now knows the importance of fitness in our lives. You need not be an athlete or a sportsperson but yet need to be Fit! We all even know the importance of a cardio vascular exercise. Given the kind of stressful lives we live today it is very essential to make our hearts strong. Read enough on it.

But how do we find out if our workout is really working for us, working on the body, the heart and the FAT!

I hear a lot of people asking me actually complaining to me about their body just not showing any results in spite of doing a particular cardio exercise everyday. Yes one reason to it can be “Plateau” but before that it can also be something as simple as not giving your 100% to the activity. I am told by the same people that they walk everyday but are not seeing any difference. Walking is good but what is more important is the pace/speed at which you walk. Now this a lot of people don’t get. They just climb on to the treadmill and walk at their leisure speed or put on their sneakers, go to the park and walk while chatting with a friend. The FAT at this rate is never going to burn; the HEART at this rate will never become strong. Sadly a lot of us are not told this and so unaware of the fact we continue doing the activity at the same (comfortable) intensity all the time.

So how do we know at what pace one should walk or perform any aerobic activity? Here, I introduce to you the concept of “The Target Heart Rate” (THR).

Target Heart rate is nothing but a desired range of heart rate to be reached during any aerobic exercise which enables ones heart and lungs to receive the most benefit from the workout. Your heart rate needs to be elevated to its maximum during the cardio exercise for the fat to burn then whether it is walking, jogging, aerobics or cycling. Each one of us has our THR zone depending upon our age and their training intensity. It might sound really technical and complicated here but it really isn’t. It’s got a very simple formula to it. All you need to do is subtract your age by 220 which will give you your maximum heart rate. Now you derive 60% and 90% of that number. Those two numbers will be your THR zone.

For instance, if your age is 20 yrs, then your THR will be calculated as below.

220 - 20 = 200 (Maximum Heart Rate)

Now 60% of 200 = 120

And 90% of 200 = 180

So, ideally your THR is between 120 and 180 and your heart rate per min should be between 120 to 180bpm.

The real “Burn – Out” will happen here! The real “Benefit” will happen here!

After about 30 to 40 mins of performing your cardio vascular exercise all you need to do is count your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply it by 6. You will know if you’re in your THR / Fat burn zone or not. If not you will now know that you need to push yourself harder.

For an easy reference you can follow the chart below. The heart rate column shows what your heart rate per 10 seconds should be. No further calculations required.

So let’s get started all over again, this time for The Real Burn – Out!!!

Age	Heart Rate / 10 sec
15 to 19	25 to 30
20 to 24	26 to 30
25 to 29	26 to 29
30 to 34	25 to 28
35 to 39	25 to 28
40 to 44	24 to 27
45 to 49	23 to 26
50 to 54	22 to 25
55 to 59	22 to 24
60 to 65	21 to 24