Am I Exercising Hard Enough or Too Hard?
When it comes to exercise intensity, I am often asked by clients what their heart rate should be while performing aerobic activity. Your target heart rate zone is determined by your age and resting heart rate. But, sometimes it is difficult to determine what your true resting heart rate should be.
Typically, your true resting heart rate should be taken first thing in the morning when you wake up on your own without the assistance of an alarm clock. But, that may not always be the case for those who take cardiac or blood pressure medications such as Beta Blockers. Another way to determine whether or not you’re working out hard enough or too hard while exercising is by using The Borg Scale for Rate of Perceived Exertion or RPE.
“Perceived exertion is how hard you feel your body is working. It is based on the physical sensations a person experiences during physical activity, including increased heart rate, increased respiration or breathing rate, increased sweating and muscle fatigue. Although this is a subjective measure, a person's exertion rating may provide a fairly good estimate of the actual heart rate during physical activity.” (Borg, 1998)
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