Feel the Beat
What you need to know about your heart and exercise
Your heart is the most important muscle in your body. To get fit, you need to increase your heart rate when you exercise. Your target heart rate or the “Training Zone” is the amount of beats per minute required to get the best results from your workout – safely. If you don’t get your heart rate up high enough you won’t get the best results. If it’s too high, it could be dangerous.
How do you check your heart rate? It’s easy.
First, take your pulse on your wrist
.
Turn one hand over so the palm faces up. Now take the first and second finger of your other hand and place them on your wrist near your wrist bone. Don’t press too hard. Can you feel your heart beating? If you don’t find your pulse right away, just sit quietly and move your fingers slightly until you feel the beat.
Count the number of beats for 10 seconds. Now multiply that number by 6 for the total number of beats in a minute. That’s your resting heart rate.
Take your pulse during your workout to see if you are in the Training Zone. Just take your pulse for 6 seconds and multiply that number by 10. That will give you the beats per minute. The chart below will help you determine if you’ve reached the Training Zone.
Age Resting Average Exercising
3-4 Years 73 108 137
5-7 Years 65 100 133
8-11 Years 62 91 130
12-15 Years 60 85 115
(beats per minute)
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