Equipment - Do You Need a Heart Rate Monitor for Your Workout?

You want your cardio workouts to be effective. Whether it’s on a treadmill, elliptical trainer, or exercise bike, it seems like the only way you can really tell if you had a good workout is based on how you feel afterward. Yet, we all have our “good days” and “bad days” – and using a subjective measure based on how you feel might not be the best way to judge how good your workouts are.

But, there is a solution. If you want to get more exact with your precision cardio, you can use a heart rate monitor in addition to evaluating your rate of perceived exertion. The heart rate monitor will tell you exactly what your heart rate is as you're exercising, which means you can then increase or decrease your intensity to get a precise workout. Many types of cardio equipment have heart rate monitor programs, and you can also purchase your own heart rate monitor (which usually consists of a chest strap and wrist watch monitor) at many sporting good stores (not to mention at Fitness 4 Home Superstore!) And, one benefit of a heart rate monitor such as a Polar® Heart Rate Monitor is that you can also take them with you – perfect for travel, as well as those types you exercise outside.

The secret to fat loss with your cardio program is to work out within the proper heart rate range. Short of getting tested by an exercise physiologist, the best way to figure out the heart rate range you should be working at is by calculating your maximum heart rate and then calculating certain percentages of this rate to work at for your warm up and cool down, your moderate pace, and your interval pace. This will be a good starting point, though keep in mind that this calculation is based on the "average" person -- something that none of us is!

To estimate your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 226. (Men would subtract their age from 220.)

226 - your age = age-adjusted maximum heart rate

Now, take your age-adjusted maximum heart rate and calculate the following percentages for the various parts of your workout.

• 60 percent for your warmup and cooldown
• 65 to 75 percent for your moderate pace
• 75 to 85 percent for your vigorous or interval pace

For instance, a 40-year-old woman's estimated maximum heart rate is 186 (226 - 40 = 186).

• 60 percent of her max = 112
• 65 percent of her max = 121
• 75 percent of her max = 140
• 85 percent of her max = 158

Keep in mind, however, that this calculation can be off by as much as 15 beats, so use the rate of perceived exertion as well. Also take into account that your heart rate can vary depending on which activity you choose. Different activities use different skills and muscle groups, so an experienced swimmer will have a lower heart rate swimming than she does when running. Keep that in mind as you vary your cardio choices. Also, some exercises that you do while sitting down, like riding a recumbent bicycle, won't get your heart rate as high as those that you do while standing, such as walking hills outside. So use your heart rate monitor and evaluate your rate of perceived exertion, but also learn to listen to your body.

Lastly, one nice feature of many heart rate monitors is the ability to calculate the calories you’ve burned during your workout. Remember, the best way to lose weight, is to burn more calories than you take in. It can be pretty easy to figure out your intake, but getting an idea of what you’ve burned during the day can be more difficult. Wearing a heart rate monitor for a few days, can give you an idea of how much you burn during the day, as well as helping you calculate how much cardio you’ll need to do to burn off those pounds!

Exercise - The Secrets Of Becoming Super-Fit

It’s really not that hard to become super fit – it just takes time, energy, and dedication! The hard part is in executing on that. So, let’s take those three parts separately.

Time
Time means many things when it comes to your workout. It means you should time everything. Do your workout against the clock. Whether it’s weight lifting, or cardio – set yourself a plan to do a certain amount of work within a certain time – and then keep track of what that time was. For example, let’s say you’re running on a treadmill. Set yourself a goal for, let’s say, 3 miles in 35 minutes. Then, if you did 2.8 miles in 35 minutes, and the next time you to 2.9 miles in that same time – you can see not only how good you’re getting, but what days you might have slacked off a bit.

Energy
It’s not always easy to get in a good workout – especially if you find it boring. Actually, there is a way to avoid that – break your workout into three stages. First, to a 10 minute warmup. This helps get some oxygen into your system, warms up your muscles to avoid energy, and gets some endorphins going – which gets you to the next part. For that – to 10 minutes of a medium intensity workout. This gets your metabolism going, and gives you the chance to add variety. One day you could do things like pushups, situps, etc., where the next day you could to a weight workout, or pick up the pace on your cardio workout. This second step then prepares you for the third step – Interval Training. This is the brutal, final stage where you’re pushing yourself against your limits (but, make sure before you push your limits – you know what they are!) Do this for another 10-20 minutes – and your done!

Dedication
There are no breaks…unless you’ve hurt yourself (and, if you’re careful with your workouts – the only “hurt” you should ever feel is maybe some slight muscle soreness that goes away after a day). This means no repeats as well – never, ever repeat a workout two days in a row! Try to create a slightly different plan for each day – and stick to it. Not only does having this variety keep you excited about your next workout, it also keeps your body from getting too accustomed to your workouts – and you’ll keep making progress with those workouts!

Be All That You Can Be

So, whether you’ve just started running, or you’re an experienced marathon runner, we all run into the same plateau. There is that point where we all realize that there is what we are, and what we want to be, and the realization goes beyond that when we finally figure out that we may not get to where we want to be.

Of course, that happens with most things in life. No matter how hard we work, we may not be able to quite hit that lofty goal we set for ourselves. Now, before that sounds negative – it’s not. The reality is – you are what you are, and you can either spend your life frustrated by what you aren’t, or be grateful for what you are.

When it comes to your exercise program, we all start out with pretty lofty goals. Maybe it's to fit into the clothes we wore in high school or college. Maybe it's to win a marathon. Maybe it's to be the next winner of the Ironman Triathlon! And, it's important to set these high goals - it's a way to get ourselves started.

When you start exercising, you may get overwhelmed initially with your progress. Of course, if you’ve spent 25 years in an unhealthy lifestyle, every positive change in diet and exercise is progress! Yet, as the months go on, your progress seems to flatten out. Where once you could extend your distance by 50% in a month, now it seems like no matter how hard you try, you can’t go any farther!

What’s important is that you set a goal and go after it. And, realize that at any point, you can re-evaluate and change your goals! Rather than constantly battling yourself against unrealistic expectations, you can look at each run, each bike ride, or each gym workout, as “good” or “bad”. You can choose to look at your exercise activities as a way that you enhance your life! You are fortunate because you choose to live a healthy lifestyle. You are fortunate because you have more energy when you play with your kids. You are fortunate because you look and feel younger.

In the end, your biggest competitor is yourself. And your definition of what your best is, is always subject to your own reevaluation! Your goal shouldn’t be to be the next winner of the Ironman Triathlon (although, if you are the next winner – good for you!). Your goal should be to always be the best you can be!

Diet - Tailoring Your Sports Diet

We all know it’s important to eat healthy as part of a healthy lifestyle, and it seems pretty intuitive that the caloric requirement for an active person is greater than that for someone who is more sedentary. But, the diet for a runner or biker might be a little different than for a swimmer.

Susan Kleiner, sports nutritionist and author of "Power Eating" says that although technically there are differing needs between different types of athletes, it's very individualized. "While an endurance athlete does need less protein and more carbohydrates than a weightlifter, few athletes train purely in their own sport; most do some cross-training."

The first think you need to do is to determine how hard and how often you exercise. When you do low level exercises such as walking, your muscles burn fat (mostly) for energy. But as you increase the intensity level, stored fat might provide half (or less) of the fuel your muscles use, and also burn glycogen (carbohydrates your body stores). Glycogen gets converted by your body into glucose (energy) as you need it.

So, to burn fat and build muscle, you need carbohydrates. And, if you’re either planning a hard cardio workout, or competing in an event (like a running event or triathlon), you should eat carb-rich meals for two to three days prior to the event to load your muscles up with extra glycogen. And, also eat extra carbs just after the event to rebuild your depleted stores.

Most Americans eat 5 to 6 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight per day (one kilogram translates into 2.2 pounds). Says Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, "If you eat a low-carbohydrate diet your muscles will feel chronically fatigued." Susan Kleiner, author of "Power Eating," offers the following rule of thumb for daily carbohydrate intake:

• Working out for one hour: 6 to 7 grams per kilogram
• For two hours: 8 grams per kilogram
• For three hours: 10 grams per kilogram
• For four or more hours: 12 to 13 grams per kilogram

Now, this doesn’t mean that you can cut back your protein requirements. Protein is essential for building and repairing muscles, and it can be used for energy if you've exhausted your carbohydrate supply. To make sure you’re keeping the right amount of protein in your diet:

• If you are training primarily to maintain muscle: you'll need 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram. That's about 70 grams for a 125-pound person.
• If your goal is to build muscle: you'll need 1.4 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram.
• To maintain or even build a little muscle and lose fat: you need to eat fewer calories while making sure you're getting 1.8 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram.

Note - to convert kilograms into ounces, mulitply the kilograms by 35.274.

Exercise - The Fat Burning Zone

So, you’re trying to lose weight, and are curious to how best to accomplish that goal. And, you also know one of the best ways to accomplish this is through a strong cardio program – and whether it’s on your treadmill, your elliptical trainer, or your exercise bicycle, you may have wondered how you put together a program that actually burns fat!

The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you’re working in the “fat burning zone”. It’s easy to assume that the harder you work, the more fat you’ll burn – but, that’s not necessarily the case. Your body actually burns a higher percentage of calories at lower intensities. For example, a 130 pound woman burns calories during exercise in the following fashion:

Low Intensity Workout: 60-65% Mean Heart Rate
Total Calories Burned per minute: 4.86Fat Calories burned per minute: 2.43Total Calories Burned in 30 minutes: 146Total Fat Calories burned in 30 minutes: 73Percentage of Fat Calories burned – 50 %

High Intensity Workout: 80-85% Mean Heart Rate
Total Calories Burned per minute: 6.86Fat Calories burned per minute: 2.7Total Calories Burned in 30 minutes: 206Total Fat Calories burned in 30 minutes: 82Percentage of Fat Calories burned – 39.82 %

From The 24/5 Complete Personal Training Manual, 24 Hour Fitness, 2000

What is Your Target Heart Rate?

Now, how do you find out what your heart rate should be for the maximum fat burning? Simple. It’s called the Karvonen Formula. First, calculate what your resting heart rate is by counting your heart beat for 10 seconds, and multiply the result by 6.

Below is an example of the Karvonen formula for a 23 year old person with a resting heart rate of 65 beats per minute:

220 - 23 (age) = 197197 - 65 (resting heart rate) = 132
132 * 65% (low end of heart rate) OR 85% (high end) = 85.8 OR 112.2
85.8 + 65 (resting heart rate) = 150 112.2 + 65 (rhr) = 177
The target heart rate zone for this person would be 150 to 177

For this person to work in his 'fat burning' zone, he would need to stay around 150 beats per minute or lower. To work within his 'cardio' zone, he would need to work at 150 bpm or higher.

How Often Should You Exercise?

When it comes to cardio, it's up to you and your goals how much you do and how often. For weight loss, most experts suggest 60+ minutes of moderate intensity activity most days during the week. If you're a beginner, you may need to start at a lower level of exercise. For beginners, you might start with three days of cardio exercise for 20 or more minutes, adding time each week.

Below is a chart detailing a SAMPLE week of cardio workouts for a person who exercises five days a week. This is simply an example of how to incorporate different types of cardio workouts into a typical week. Modify the workouts according to your own fitness level, time constraints, and likes and dislikes.

Monday:
High Intensity-Duration: 20-30 minutes
Alternate 1-min sprint with 2 min walking.Perceived Exertion (PE) sprints: 8-9, walking: 5-6

Tuesday
Medium Intensity- Duration: 45-60 minutes
Walking or joggingPE: 5-6

Wednesday
Low-Medium Intensity - Duration: All day
Use a pedometer and try to get 10,000 steps

Thursday
Medium-High Intensity - Duration: 30-60 minutes
Treadmill / Running PE: 5-7

Friday
Medium-High Intensity - Duration: 30-45 minutes
Elliptical Trainer PE: 4-5

Saturday
Low-Medium Intensity - Duration: 30-60 minutes
Walking or aerobics classPE: 4-6

Don't forget to warm up and cool down for each workout, drink lots of water (take a sip every 15 minutes during your workout), stretch after your workout, and eat a small, well-balance snack an hour or two before you hit the gym.

Exercise – Beat Stress with Exercise!

We all have stressful days, and after a long, hard day, the last thing anybody wants to do is exercise. Yet, that’s exactly what we should do! Getting in a good workout after a stressful day is a wonderful way not only to work off that stress, but also to keep up with your workout plan!

You may have heard of “Runner’s High”. Many times, strenuous exercise (for example, when running at a moderate-to-high level, and you have a hard time breathing) brings on a feeling of calmness and euphoria. Well, a study in 2004 by Georgia Tech found that Runner's High was likely triggered by a release of naturally produced body chemical, the endocannabinoid anandamide. The body produces this chemical to deal with prolonged stress and pain from strenuous exercise. So, when you have had a stressful day, a good workout actually causes your body to release chemicals that can relax and calm your mind!

Additionally, a new study confirms what many of already know: Regular exercise is one of the best ways to combat daily stress. Researchers at the University of Texas, Houston, asked 135 college students to fill out questionnaires to assess their daily stress loads as well as their moods, physical activity patterns and overall health.

Those who reported exercising less often experienced 37 percent more physical symptoms and 21 percent more anxiety during periods of high stress than those who exercised more frequently.

The results seem to show that vigorous exercise may have offered students a temporary respite from their problems, and helped them to rejuvenate before they had to go back and deal with the pressure of daily stress.

According to lead researcher Dr. Cindy L. Carmack, ''Minor, everyday stress contributes to the development and exacerbation of physical and mental health problems. However, people experiencing minor stress develop different degrees of symptoms, depending on their level of physical activity.''

And, by workout out even when you’re stressed also can help your mental game when you’re trying to stay committed to a fitness regime. The next time you want to skip a workout, you can look back and remember how good you felt the last time you worked out and tried to skip your daily workout – and why you’re glad you didn’t!

Healthy Lifestyle - Training Your Brain!

You want another reason to keep up with your workouts? How about this? Exercise trains your brain to stick to your diet!

University of Pittsburg researchers just did a study, where they kept track of 169 overweight adults for 2 years. Interestingly enough, those who followed their workout plan (which was only 3 hours per week of workouts) –well, they ate less than those who didn’t follow their workout plan. In fact, the ones that didn’t follow their program consistently ate beyond the 1,500 calories of food they were allowed to eat per day!

On top of this, the people that were not consistant with their workouts also had problems dealing with snack cravings. They would sneak snacks when they did actually workout, with further sabotaged their efforts.

According to John Jakicic, Ph.D. (the study’s author) – “One healthy behavior without the other will not work – you need to diet and exercise to maintain long-term weight loss”.

In other words, the more you workout – and stay on schedule with your workouts, the more likely you’ll also stick to your diet!

Exercise – How Much Cardio Do I Need?

So, you’ve got your treadmill, your exercise bike, or elliptical trainer, and you’re wondering how often you should work out? Well, recent studies have shown that it only takes two workout sessions per week to improve your heart health, as long as you train hard during those workouts. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you should only do two workouts per week. But, we all have those weeks where it’s hard to get our workouts in, so as long as you get your “two a week” in, you’ll be doing what you need for “good heart health”!

One way to make sure you maximize your cardio training is to stick with interval workouts. What this means is – treat you cardio workouts like you would your weight lifting workouts. Do your cardio workouts in sets – for example, do 30-45 seconds of near all-out work, then go as a slow pace for 60-90 seconds – and repeat this for a “set”. Do multiple sets, just like you would a weightlifting set. When you’re first starting out, your second interval may shorten by as much as 25 percent – and you can build it up from there. And, the benefit of doing intervals extends to weight loss burns three times as much fat as doing cardio at a slow, consistent speed.

Healthy Living – Mental Toughness

By Bob Lachniet
President – Fitness 4 Home Superstore

Funny thing about your exercise program – the hardest part of it will always end up being the part where you have to make good on it! Making progress in your fitness plan takes two things – a dedication to executing your plan on a regular basis, and pushing yourself to improve on what you’ve been doing. In other words, Mental Toughness – the drive to go beyond your limits, which often means the ultimate difference between success and failure for your program.
The problem is, although we understand that drives a triathlete has to survive the last mile of an Ironman competition, the question often is: How do I get that drive? Well, let’s define mental toughness first. It’s simple, really. Its keeping focused on achieving your goal, no matter how difficult. And, the ability to accomplish that differs from person to person, so if you find yourself having difficulty keeping yourself focused on your fitness goal, you’re not alone!

What it all comes down to is how you motivate yourself. There are those who need little encouragement to be a self-starter, while the rest of us (actually, the majority of us) that need a little pressure to force us to get motivated. That pressure can be either a desire for success, or a need to avoid failure. Another way of putting this is, you either believe you’ll succeed by busting your butt, or you’ll do it to avoid being humiliated.

Understanding which type of personality you have is the first step in coming up with the best way to build your motivation. Here’s how:

-If you’re the “success driven” kind of person, paint yourself a mental picture of what “success” looks like to you. Remind yourself of the great opportunities being fit will bring you, whether its clothes fitting better, more energy, or that flat stomach you’ve always wanted.

-If you’re the “avoid failure” kind of person, talk to yourself! (Actually, you probably shouldn’t do that out loud to avoid funny looks from people around you!) Be positive. Remind yourself that you can do this – that the only way you can fail is not to try. And, when you do have the occasional negative thought, push it aside and focus on the positive ones. And, one of the best ways to find that “positive” thought is to write down “why” you want to improve your fitness level, whether it’s to run a marathon, loose 10 pounds, or whatever your goal is. Then, repeat that goal to yourself as you train.

Lastly, get uncomfortable! That’s right, as funny as that may sound, getting yourself uncomfortable is important – it’s how you’ll improve! Think about all the times in your life where you were afraid to try something new, but once you did it, it became easier. Yet, had you not tried it, you never would have found that out! The same holds true for fitness. When you exercise, you need to push your body a little farther than the last time, otherwise your body won’t adjust and improve. Yes, this sounds corny, not to mention obvious. But if you keep in mind that the momentary discomfort you may feel, is worth it when you’ve accomplished your goal!

Exercise – Starting your Cardio Program

by Bob Lachniet
President - Fitness 4 Home Superstore

Whether you’re new to exercising, or you’ve just never really put a plan together for your existing cardio workouts, the best way to make cardio exercise a habit is to put together a plan that you can achieve.

Creating a schedule of regular times that you’ll commit to your cardio exercise program is important – in fact, it’s just as important as what kind of cardio exercise you do. So, here’s how to put that plan together.

1. Remember that the best time to exercise is when you CAN exercise. Choose a time that works best for you, whether it’s in the morning, over lunch, or at the end of the day.

2. Write them down – treat them as an appointment! And, if you write it down, you’ll find you’ll be more committed to following through with your workouts!

3. Now, choose your exercise. If you just purchased a treadmill, maybe start with a walking program (you can always advance to jogging or running as your fitness level improves).

4. If you have any reservations so far about the plan you’ve built – now’s the time to talk to your doctor and get their final approval –BEFORE you put your plan into action!

5. Now – time to start your workouts. Make sure you start each workout with at least 5 minutes of stretching for your warm up – and at the end, at least 5 minute cool down and stretching as well.

6. Start slow. If you find that you can only start with 5 to 10 minutes, start there. And, once your workout is done, write down your results!

7. And, finally – add a couple of minutes to every workout!

What to watch out for

Now that you’ve got your plan in action, remember that your goal is to improve your health. If you feel like your resting heart rate is higher than usual, you feel tired all the time, you dread your workouts, or you can’t sleep, you might be overtraining.

If that happens, take a couple days off and ease back into a light program. Maybe try a different exercise routine. And, don’t be afraid to stop for a couple days and concentrate on something else. You’ll find yourself re-energized for your workouts – just don’t forget to start back up again!