The Healthy Heart Blog | Finding tools for a healthy heart!!!

When we do aerobic exercise we are not just getting ourselves all hot and sweaty, we are working toward a goal and we need to measure ourselves along the way. In addition to weight, height, BMI (Body Mass Index), and BP (BloodPressure), we need to know our THRR(Target Heart Rate Range). So much to keep track of.

Our lungs and heart are strengthened by increasing our respiration rate (breathing rate) and our heart rate (beats per minute). The lungs are controled by lots of things, but, they are strengthened by use and like a muscle the strain means gain. The heart is a muscle; and, all of our many muscles are strengthened by use and strain. When my curls are done properly my biceps grow and become defined. I feel my arm burn and know the muscle will tear down and then rebuild in a better shape and strength level. When my heart burns I usually know that it means trouble so I need a better way to measure the exercise limit.

That’s right—THRR. The target indicates my mark to reach, and the range indicates a high and low number of beats per miute. There is a way to calculate the range by doing some simple math. First subtract your age from 220. I asked why and my rehab nurse said “utilize do not anylize”—so I promptly subtracted 59 from 220 to get my maximum heart rate of 161. Next year I wll get to reduce that by 1 BPM (Beat Per Minute).

To figure my BPM I simply take my pulse at the neck or the wrist. I count the beats for 10 seconds and multiply the number by 6 to get the total BPM. If this is done immediately after I wake up and before I gert out of bed, it is called resting heart rate

To realize my target heart rate range I simply take my maximum heart rate (161) and multiply this number by .50= (80) for the low end,  and to get the high end I multiply the maximum (161 ) by .65=104. When doing aerobic exercise I need to maintain BPM of 80 to 104. I monitor this range by keeping track of my BPM.

The major thing to remember is to talk with your physician. Each of us is different, the doctor knows how our medicine is efecting our heaqrt rate, and how much we can tolerate in our condition. Each of us is a different individual and the doctor is monitoring for the best result for us as individuals.

There are several good heart rate monitors available. From high end to a mid-range heart monitor—the expense of the monitor is worth the result. By knowing and monitoring our THRR we can be safer and more precise HealthyHeartFolks.

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