Breathe Magazine

It is important to track the intensity of your workouts to make sure you are working out hard enough to see results, and in some cases, not so hard that you set yourself up for injury or over training.  Being mindful of your intensity cuts down on wasted time and effort, and makes sure you get the most from your workout.

There are 3 ways to track exercise intensity:

RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion)

RPE is the quickest way to gauge how hard you are working. Its a 1-10 scale, and is used to measure how hard you feelyou are working.  One is the intensity of sitting on the couch, watching TV and 10 is the intensity of climbing Mount Everest and you feel like you are about to die.  As a trainer, I probably use RPE the most on clients, because its simple to ask in the middle of the session “scale of 1-10, how hard was that.”  It depends on the individual and their limitations, but generally 7-8 is the range you want to be in: anything higher and you want to drop the intensity and anything lower you know you need to crank it up.  You can use this on yourself during your own workouts.   In the middle of your workout, ask yourself- how hard am I working? Don’t think about it too much, just say the first number that pops into your head. The key is to be honest and crank up the intensity when you are below a 7.

Talk Test

The Talk Test is more for cardio workouts.  Basically, you should be working out at an intensity where you can still hold a conversation, but you are winded.  If you are on the treadmill and you can;t respond when someone asks you a question, you are working too hard.  This is actually a measure of your breathing- you shouldn’t be gasping for air throughout your workout- your breathing should be regulated, but labored.  If you are able to chat away without a second thought, however, that is your clue you need to increase your intensity.

Heart Rate

Your heart rate is the most accurate way to gauge your exercise intensity, because it isn’t suggestive.  Your heart rate is measured in BPM (beats per minute) and, as you can probably figure out by its name, is how many times your heart beats in a minute.  The higher your heart rate, the more blood and oxygen is being pumped into your exercising muscles to keep them going.  There are a lot of ways to track your heart rate.  You can purchase a heart rate monitor that reads your heart rate throughout your entire workout.  Many cardio machines track your heart rate for you when you hold onto little sensors attached to the machine, or you can use a good old fashioned clock and your pulse.  Find your pulse and count how many time your heart beats in a minute- and, viola!, that’s your heart rate.

But what heart rate should you be aiming for?

To figure out your target heart rate (the heart rate you want to see to ensure you are working out hard enough to see results), you must first figure out your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is the highest heart rate you can safely achieve. 220 minus your age is the standard equation to find your maximum heart rate. Your Max heart rate is 100% of your heart’s working capacity. To get a good cardio workout you want to work in about 65%-80% of your maximum heart rate. This is your .

SO:

220- AGE = MAX. HEART RATE
MAX HEART RATE X .65 TO .8 = TARGET HEART RATE

Next time you workout, use one of these methods to see how hard you are working. Are you working out intensely enough?