The Goals and Benefits for Heart Rate Training
Heart rate
training is a key to good health. Not only does it help you with a strong and
healthy heart it can help you accomplish some of the following goals:
·
Feeling
great physically and mentally.
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·
Doing
the things you have always wanted to do.
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·
Losing
body fat.
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·
Buying
the clothes you want and look great!
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·
Feeling
and looking younger.
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·
Feeling
empowered to do challenging things.
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·
Being
in perfect shape.
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Becoming
the person you truly are.
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Having
lots of energy.
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Feeling
confident in your swimsuit.
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You
Can’t Over Train Aerobically
You
can train aerobically as many times as you want and never over train. It’s
feeding your body oxygen. You’re adding and giving oxygen to your body. You are
being good to yourself. Everything in your body will be oxygenated and relaxed
afterwards. Training aerobically will reduce your blood pressure. Try the
following experiment and see how a little aerobic training can improve your
blood pressure. Take your blood pressure right before you do one hour of
aerobic training and then again after the aerobic exercise followed by 10
minutes of stretching. The blood pressure after aerobic training should be less
after aerobic exercise. Record your
results below:
Date
|
Blood Pressure Before Aerobic
Training
|
Blood Pressure After One Hour of
Aerobic Training Followed by 10
Minutes of Stretching
|
The Holy
Grail
You
can’t over train if you’re aerobic. Aerobic is healing. It’s putting oxygen in
the tissues of your body. What happens to a plant that gets a lot of oxygen? It
grows and comes alive. This is the holy grail of life right here. “Git’er done!”
Anaerobic Threshold: AT
Before you begin training your heart
and lungs, it’s important to know your Anaerobic Threshold (AT). Aerobic means
you are getting enough oxygen. Anaerobic
means you’re not getting enough oxygen. You are aerobic when working at your AT,
in fact, you are at the high end of aerobic. When working at AT you can say a
few words, but can’t carry on a conversation. Talking will be difficult. Measure
your heart rate at this level. What is your heart rate at this level? Your heart rate is the number of heart beats
per minute (bpm). This heart rate is your target heart rate or your AT. It’s highly recommended you use a heart rate
monitor to most accurately determine your heart rate. It’s ideal to hold your
heart rate at your AT, but you can’t because the heart rate goes up and down too
much to stay there. Once you know your
AT you can determine your AT zone. Your AT zone will be your AT at the high end
and 10 beats less for the low end. For example, if your AT is 130 bpm your AT
zone will be 120-130 bpm. When you’re training at the high end of your
aerobic zone (AT zone) you will burn fat as a fuel and this is the key to
getting rid of all the fat stores in your body. Use the following chart
to record your current AT and AT Zone.
Date
|
AT (bpm)
|
AT Zone (bpm)
|
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong has an AT of 185
beats per minute (bpm). His bpm is much larger than the average person. Think
of the oxygen those lungs are moving. Think of how many calories his body is
burning all day. Think of how high his metabolism must be. He is at a point
where his challenge is in getting enough calories in his body to burn. He can
eat whatever he wants and as much as he wants. We think, “Wow, I want that.”
The question is: “Will I do the work to create a set of lungs that can do that?”
The reason Lance won the Tour de France was because he has the biggest set of
lungs in the race. The other competitors are at 172 or 175 bpm. They have to go
to anaerobic to catch up with him. How long can they stay anaerobic? They can’t
stay anaerobic very long, maybe 7 to 10 minutes. Lance and his lungs keeps the
lead and wins!
Listen
to Your Body
Listen
to your body. You need to be aware of how you are feeling and what your body is
telling you. What is it doing? What is
it telling you? For example, let’s say your heart rate is not going up one day.
That means that you’re tired. Maybe you’re getting sick. Maybe you’re under a
lot of stress. You should decide to not push so hard. Instead, take it slow and
move oxygen by training at your AT. By moving the oxygen, you will help heal
your body. Also get plenty of rest and drink lots of water. Now you have more
power to help skip a cold or sickness.
Shaking All Over? Can't
Sleep
“I
don’t know what to do. I’m shaking all over. I can’t sleep. I wake up in the
middle of the night. I’m gaining weight. I’m under a lot of pressure. My blood
pressure is way too high. I’m a mess. I feel out of control.” I’ve heard this hundreds times. Determine
your AT training range and workout aerobically every day for an hour at this
range. Have a massage every week to remove the toxins in your body and help you
relax. After 30 days you will feel calmer, the shaking will be gone, your sleep
will be more deep and into REM sleep. You will also be less likely to eat late
at night and start losing weight. You will have lower blood pressure.
Over Time...
Over
time training aerobically will gradually increase your AT. The ideal AT is 175
beats per minute. At this point, your lungs will increase their ability to move
oxygen at their optimal level. You’ll notice your metabolism increasing and the
ability to burn more calories. You’ll have a lot more energy. Exercise will
become part of your healthy lifestyle and it won’t be a chore. It’s a fun part
of the day! You’ll crave aerobic exercise like you crave food. You’ll start thinking...
“I can’t wait for that bike ride, or walk, or swim, or hike, or… “ Your age and current fitness ability has
nothing to do with not training your heart, start where you’re at and begin
training your heart and start enjoying the benefits.
Heart Rate Monitor
A
heart rate monitor is the most accurate way of reading your heart rate. It’s an
essential investment to be successful at heart rate training. I recommend a POLAR heat rate monitor. The
average cost for a basic model is about $55.00 and it’s available at most
fitness and sporting good stores. A basic one will work for your needs.
Getting
Started
·
Tell your doctor what you’re doing. He will jump for joy!
· Take your blood pressure. If it’s over 120/80, talk to your doctor and
make sure you’re safe to begin training. If your blood pressure medication is a beta blocker your heart
rate will not go up like normal. Work with your doctor to determine what your
target heart rates should be when on a beta blocker. Always follow his
recommendations.
·
Purchase a heart rate monitor.
·
Establish your AT and AT zone.
·
Play an iPod/MP3 player with your favorite music or find a
friend to train with. The day you don’t want to train is often the day that he
will.
·
Try it for 1 hour two times a week for a month.
Different
Training Options:
Warm Up
Always,
start with a warm up for about 5 minutes. Get the blood and oxygen moving and
then choose one of the training options.
Heart
Rate Training is Heart Rate Training
Heart
rate training is heart rate training. Anything that causes you to move oxygen
works. What do you like to do? Swimming, biking, hiking, walking, water skiing,
snow skiing, tennis, golf, group fitness, etc. Put your heart rate monitor on
and know where you’re at so that you’re most effective at developing your
lungs.
AT Training (Fat Burning)
A typical AT training session
will include: warm up for 5 minutes, working in your AT zone for 45 minutes and
then cool down for approximately 10 minutes or longer. The cool down/recovery
time should feel good.
As you continue to train in your
AT zone you will burn fat as a fuel source and you will increase the size of
your lungs. Your lungs have 300 million little air sacks called alveoli. The
blood vessels which surround each air sack transports oxygen into the blood
stream. They are about the size of this dot ( . ), but you want to make them bigger
like this dot ( o ). When the alveoli or air sacks increase in size your AT
will start to increase and go up. As you increase your AT you are moving more
oxygen throughout your body. Your metabolism will increase. Your body composition
will change and you will burn more calories all day long. What happens to a
fire when it gets more oxygen? When a fire gets more oxygen the fire gets
larger and burns more.
The same is with your body, the
more oxygen you have the more calories you burn. Increasing oxygen in your body
is the key to staying in shape, burning the fat off and keeping it off. Record
your current AT and AT zone below.
Date
|
AT (bpm)
|
AT Zone (bpm)
|
Making
the Heart Muscle Stronger
Your
peak heart rate is when you are working above your AT zone. Your peak is
basically moving your heart as fast as it can go. Peak can be different from
day to day based upon what is happening with your body at the time. So just
take it as high as you can for that day. Then, drop it as fast as you can. Take
it to a walk without resistance. Keep walking, taking big breaths. Drop your
heart rate 30 beats from peak and then go to peak again. Peak recovery time will
be lower this time, which is okay. It’s your peak. Then drop 30 beats again. Do
not go to peak until you have fully dropped 30 beats and recovered.
Each time you do this, the peak number gets lower and the recovery takes
longer. Recovery means that you have dropped 30 beats from peak. It’s the
recovery that makes the heart muscle stronger. The stronger your heart is the
quicker you will recover. Make a game out of it. How many times can you recover
in one hour? The goal for optimal heart strength is to reach peak and be able
to drop 30 beats within one minute. If you can do that, you have a strong
heart. Now give it a try and record your
results below.
Date
|
Peak (bpm)
|
Peak Recovery Time
(drop 30 beats)
|
Endurance
Endurance
is hard work. Endurance training is typical training for running and biking long
distances. Take your heart rate up to peak. Remember that your peak is
different every day. Then hold for 5 minutes. Then drop 30 beats as fast as you
can and stay there for 20 minutes. That is the recovery zone. Then go up to
peak again. Remember that it will be lower. Hold for 5 minutes and then drop 30
beats for 20 minutes. Repeat as many times as you can. You also can go to peak
and hold for 10 minutes, doing the same thing.
Heart Rate Control
As
you strengthen your heart you can train yourself to have more control of your
heart and it will help you in all areas of athletics you want to excel in. Heart
rate control is taking your heart rate up to your AT, dropping it 5 beats, then
back up to your AT, dropping it 5 beats, and so on for 45 minutes. Cool down for
10 minutes or more. You’re training the heart to beat the way you want it to.
You’re still developing your lungs. You can also drop your heart rate from your
AT 10 beats and back to your AT or drop 15 beats and back to your AT for 45
minutes, this is also controlling the heart response. Make it fun! Enjoy the
process!
Record Your Progress:
Date:
|
AT:
|
AT Zone:
|
Peak
|
Peak
Recovery Time (drop 30 beats)
|
References
Johnny Goldberg from South Africa 3 times champion bike tour across America.
Lance Armstrong from America 7 times champion Tour de France.
Johnny Goldberg from South Africa 3 times champion bike tour across America.
Lance Armstrong from America 7 times champion Tour de France.
