Recovery

1

July 28, 2013 by little hurdles big race

We’ve all heard so much about maximizing your cardio by measuring your heart rate, finding your fat burning zone, and training your heart through intervals.  Well, if you haven’t heard about any of these things – this is not the blog to explain them to you.  I’m going to talk about your heart beat recovery after exercise.

I was recently told by a Dr. that I had a runner’s pulse.  This in simple terms means my average resting heart rate (RTR) is below 60 beats per minute.  The average/normal RTR is between 60 – 100 beats per minute.  I had suspected that I had a slower pulse when I went to see Jillian Michaels back in April.  She had everyone in the audience count our pulse for 10 seconds – right after she counted the 10 seconds I then counted my six count.  No one around me had even a 6 or a 7…I just figured everyone was a little too excited 🙂

Normally you find a very low RTR in athletes – low 40’s and low 50’s.  While I am no conditioned athlete – I do a daily run of 60 minutes on the treadmill at a pretty healthy incline.  When I first started my heart rate was through the roof – but now it seems I’ve trained my RTR down.  But more importantly for me and for you is how you recover from your elevated heart rate during exercise/cardio.

To find your target heart rate during exercise use this chart.

Age	Target Heart Rate* Zone During Exercise (Heartbeats per Minute)
20–29	120–160
30–39	114–152
40–49	108–144
50–59	102–136
60–69	96–128
70–79	90–120
80–89	84–112
90–99	78–104
100 or older	72–96

If you’ve got a heart rate monitor great, or most cardio machines at the gym have a heart rate monitor on the handles, if not then using two fingers count your pulse at your carotid artery and count for 10 seconds and then multiply by 6.  The two most important times for measurement after you have found your exercise groove is immediately after exercising and then two minutes later.  This will give you your heart rate recovery – the faster your heart rate goes back to your normal then the healthier your heart.

If the difference between the two numbers is:

Less than 22: Your RealAge is slightly older than your calendar age.

22–52: Your RealAge is about the same as your calendar age.

53–58: Your RealAge is slightly younger than your calendar age.

59–65: Your RealAge is moderately younger than your calendar age.

66 or more: Your RealAge is a lot younger than your calendar age.

This number says more about your health than how fast you are on the elliptical, how many miles your rode on the bike, or how many stairs you can climb.  If you can’t recover within two minutes of rest then it’s all just window dressing and you’re not training your heart correctly.

Recovery – that’s what it’s all about.  Exercise, life, love, and goals.  Everyone is going to have a bad day, someone who makes a jab to hurt your feelings, maybe you didn’t get that job you wanted, maybe you …oops…had ice cream while you are on a diet, or just fill in the blank______.  What really matters is what you do next – how you recover.  You’ve only got one chance at this life – don’t give up.

I believe in you.  🙂