Heart Rate Training and Weight Loss

Does heart rate training help you lose weight?

The short answer is yes, definitely.  But even if you don't want to lose weight and just want to get more fit, stronger, or look better in a bikini, heart rate (HR) training is a logical, systematic approach that helps make sure that you don't overtrain and ultimately hurt your cardiovascular system, or under train and have little to no result.

There are two approaches to finding your maximum HR that you can do on your own without special equipment.  Really there's many more, but I'm just going to write about two of the approaches today.

The simplest approach is based on your age and you just use the 220-your age equation.  This would mean that every year your maximum HR is lower and lower. For instance my maximum HR this year is  220-52=168.

In 2002, researchers at the University of New Mexico looked at 40 different formulas to find the most accurate way to calculate maximum heart rate without special equipment and here's what they found:

1. Multiply your age with 0.685
2. Take 205.6 and subtract the result from the first calculation
3. That's your max

Here's mine:
52 X 0.685 = 35.62
205.6 - 35.62 = 169.98 or rounded up to 170

Not much different, really.  There's another one, using the Karvonen formula that takes into account your resting HR which gives you another number - a sort of buffer - which explains why my heart rate is sometimes much higher than my theoretical max.

Heart rate training can help us build a strong foundation.  We call it building an aerobic base.  So even before I have my clients do much in the way of strength training, I like to have them spend at least one week building an aerobic base.

Aerobic base training starts with finding that theoretical maximum heart rate then setting ranges or zones.  The goal is to slowly get the HR into the zone you want to work in, then maintain that HR for a specific amount of time.

For the first week of  training, especially for those of you who are in my challenge group - Five Days of Focus - we are going to stay at or below 85% of the maximum HR for thirty minutes.

If you're new, you'll want to stay at 50-60% of your maximum HR. In fact, the first day of training, we can all stay there.  But that's a pretty comfortable place to be, so, unless you have a medical reason, or are brand new to working out, day 2 to day 5 will be between 60-85%.

So, for me, that means today my heart rate will be staying around 85-102.  Then the rest of the week it will be somewhere between 102-144.  I'm more of a cyclist, and I find running really spikes my heart rate, so for me it's really difficult to keep my HR lower than 144.

Our goal for the week is to do our cardiorespiratory endurance activity for 30 minutes a day.  It's best to do it all at once, but you can definitely break it up into smaller increments of time. Ten minutes three times a day can be effective, or 15 minutes twice a day also works.

Figure out your route. If you're on a treadmill, you know you're not going anywhere, just go for time, but make a note of how far it says you go.  If you're outside, measure it out or use a pedometer to tell you how far you go in those thirty minutes.  At the end of the week, maybe you'll find that you are able to go further with a lower heart rate.  And that's what we mean by saying, "do more, with less."

Since the first day we are only working at 50-60%, that is about the equivalent of a warm up.  On the other days, spend a few minutes in this training zone to prepare for the harder work. It will help you be able to keep your heart rate lower.  I love to do sun salutations before a jog - it warms up the entire body...I have a short video on my Facebook page. Facebook.com/rasayogatherapy

And now explanation of why we really want to start with this...We all know that weight training is really important for reshaping the body and maintaining our bones.  I actually enjoy it more than cardio.  But the heart is a muscle, too, and it is the pump that brings all the nutrients and oxygen we need into the muscles we are working. So this week, especially my challengers, we're preparing the heart to support the work that the muscles are going to be doing to help you reach the rest of your goals.