Your resting heart rate is how many times your heart beats in a minute when you are at rest. When you heart beats it pushes blood throughout the body. People whose heart has to work harder will have a higher resting heart rate than those with a very strong heart. A very strong heart pumps more blood with each beat and therefore requires fewer beats per minute.
 
Your resting heart rate then is a decent indicator of your heart strength. The resting heart rate is best taken in the morning before you get out of bed. By placing your fingers on the neck or wrist to find a pulse and tracking beats per minute you will arrive at your resting heart rate. To avoid counting beats for an entire minute, you can count them for ten seconds and take the result times 6 for the same answer.
 
Many elite athletes have very low resting heart rates. Long distance runners who work their hearts on a daily basis through extended training and cardiovascular exercise may have a resting heart rate as low as 30 in extreme cases. Ideally, adults want to have a resting heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Average resting heart rates for men are typically 70 and for women, 75.
 
 
Because the resting heart rate can be a good indicator of overall cardiovascular health it is something you should monitor. It can be interesting to take your heart rate before beginning a fitness training program and then again several weeks into it. There is no doubt you will see a reduction in the resting heart rate.

Activities that strengthen the heart and therefore lower the resting heart rate are called cardio or aerobic activities. Cardio exercises are an important part of any fitness program, burning calories and increasing heart health. Things like running, brisk walking, kickboxing, and bicycling are all good cardio activities that will aid in the strengthening of your heart.

Your resting heart rate is also used to determine a number called your “target heart rate”. Your target heart rate is the number of beats per minute you want your heart to reach during cardio activities. This number represents a good spot for calorie burning and for increasing heart strength. Check out this blog post for more information about finding your target heart rate.

By using your resting heart rate as a measuring tool in heart health, you can see how your cardio program aids your heart strength over time. It’s fascinating to watch that number drop as your heart gets more efficient at pumping blood through the body.

Exercising for your health is an excellent idea. However, more people exercise with a weight loss goal in mind. For those people, maximizing their calorie and fat burning during exercise is very important. Knowing your target heart rate for weight loss can be a good tool in ensuring that you are exercising at an intensity that will maximize your fat burning and weight loss potential.
 
There are a few ways of determining your target heart rate for weight loss. The easiest is to take your age and subtract your age from 220. This is what is called your maximum heart rate. When doing a cardio workout, you can maximize your calorie burn by working out within 70-80% of your maximum heart rate. To determine this number simply multiply .70 x your maximum heart rate and .80 x your maximum heart rate. This will give you the optimal range for cardio workouts.

Example for a 30 yr. old man:
220-30= 190 (maximum heart rate)
.70 x 190= 133
.80 x 190= 152
Target heart rate: 143- 162 (approximately)

A quick internet search will show you there are several ways to determine your target heart rate for weight loss. Any of them will do as they come up with very similar results. This one is simply the easiest. If you are looking for more precise results, you could try the Karvonnen formula or a newer formula from the Harvard’s Men’s Health Watch, available here.

Once you have determined that ideal range for caloric burn, you can periodically monitor your heart rate during cardio activity. Keep in mind that as you become more fit, so does your heart. The intensity that once brought you to your target range may now not be enough. As you get fit, you will have to increase your level of intensity to maintain your target heart rate for weight loss.

A heart rate monitor is a great tool for staying on top of your heart rate. One that helps keep an eye on your target zone is a perfect companion to your fitness and weight loss goals. There are heart rate monitors available that use a chest strap to send ECG readings to a watch style receiver on your wrist. There are also slightly higher end heart rate monitors that require no chest strap and deliver quick results with the push of a button.

Heart health is just as important as weight loss. By being aware of your resting, target, and maximum heart rates, you can ensure you are working within a healthy range for your goals and your overall health.