Exercising and playing sports every day is a common recommendation from doctors and specialists in physical well -being to keep our heart in shape, which is essential to extend our life and its quality, and avoid all kinds of cardiovascular diseases?
There are sports especially indicated to take care of the health of our heart, such as swimming, cycling, walking or running, which at the same time consume all those calories that we have left over. When you start a physical activity you are in a different shape than other people, and it is not the same to start cycling with 5 kilos more than with 20, or with 25 years than with 55. It is always indicated that you start gently, little by little and increase according to your physical capacity.
To evaluate and calculate the way and times to increase your physical exercise, the technique comes to your aid, and today we have several devices that allow us to monitor the degree of effort you make at all times.
For example, the heart rate monitor can be a great ally when it comes to regulating the intensity and duration of your exercise and the way to climb each time. Here’s how to use a heart rate monitor.
What do you need to use a heart rate monitor?
- a heart rate monitor
Instructions for using a heart rate monitor
- What is a heart rate monitor? It is an electronic device that measures the frequency of the heartbeat in real time, and tells you the heart beats per minute. It is an elastic strap covered with electrodes that is adjusted to the chest, at the height of the heart. The electrodes record the heartbeat and send the information to a device, a kind of digital watch that is worn on the wrist. In this watch you will see the frequency of pulsations, a fundamental data to control your exercise or in case you have it, a coronary disease. The most modern heart rate monitors also include a GPS with which you are geographically located, a calorie counter or an odometer.
- What is heart rate? Heart rate is the number of times the heart contracts per minute to pump blood throughout the body, distributing the necessary oxygen and nutrients to all corners of our body. An optimal frequency for our health is defined by blood pressure -the famous tension- and the number of beats. Healthy blood pressure is below 160/95, measured by the blood pressure monitor. The pulsations of a healthy person at rest move between 50 and 100 per minute. The point is that when exercising that frequency goes off and then it is necessary to control them so as not to make an excessive effort that is harmful to our health.
- What is the maximum heart rate? The one that we should not exceed without danger to your health. There is a rule to be able to calculate it, and that is to subtract your age from 220. This rule shows you that the younger you are, the more beats per minute you can achieve in an aerobic exercise within a range that does not involve risk to your health. For example, if you are 60 years old, subtract them from 220 = 160 will be the maximum heart rate that you can reach with physical effort. Or, if you are 20 years old, you can reach 200 beats per minute in your exercises. However, it is very important to leave a margin and not exceed 170 beats per minute in a short period of time, minutes, and depending on the physical state of each person.
- Why use a heart rate monitor? There are many reasons to use a heart rate monitor, given the usefulness of this device. Of course, a heart rate monitor can become a daily accessory, like a watch, for those who suffer from heart disease or who have suffered a cardiovascular accident, such as a heart attack, angina, etc. In these cases, a gentle exercise is usually recommended and in order not to overdo it, a heart rate monitor is an essential monitor. Likewise, it is an accessory that will greatly facilitate your work if you are an amateur or professional athlete or if you are a personal trainer. When carrying out an exercise routine that you will later want to study to evaluate your progress and its level of hardness, the heart rate monitor will become an inseparable companion.
Tips for using a heart rate monitor
- To lose weight and burn fat, you must not only perform a hard and intense exercise, but it must last a minimum of time. For this reason, nutritionists always tell you that to start losing weight, you should do the exercises you want but for a minimum time, at least 30 minutes. Therefore, the pulse rate should not exceed 120 or 130 beats per minute. You must combine the intensity of the exercise with the time of the exercise, without exceeding the mentioned pulsations.
