Keep Your Finger on the Pulse

The most critical muscle, the heart thrives on attention and founders through neglect. Knowing how your heart beats under pressure and at rest, and by applying what you learn, you’ll help to ensure efficient operation of your heart and enhance your overall fitness level and athletic performance, too. Although most athletes have a low resting pulse, heart rate – subject to the influence of factors such as age, temperature, diet, emotion and illness – isn’t always reliable in ascertaining cardiovascular fitness. By monitoring your heart rate, however, you can accurately measure the intensity of your exercise routine.

A heart rate monitor is the best choice for achieving accurate and continuous results, permitting you to train more intelligently. To determine your true heart rate, you can submit to supervised scientific testing; a less formal, less accurate approach is to subtract your age from the number 220. The resulting figure will give you your target heart rate — the heart’s maximum output per minute. If you’re 40, according to the formula, your target heart rate is 180 beats per minute.

If you’re beginning an exercise program, aim for 50 to 60% of your target heart rate. For long-distance sports, 60 to 80% is appropriate. Runners should work to increase their anaerobic threshold — the point at which your muscles produce excessive amounts of lactic acid — and train at 80 to 90% of their maximum heart rate.

By working within your target heart rate range, you’ll derive the most your cardiovascular system has to offer.

“Increasing your efficiency as it pertains to heart rate and aerobic capacity is exercise-specific. If you would like to increase your heart rate performance as a runner then you must do it with running exercises, as a cyclist, with cycling exercises, and so on. Of course, any exercise you do will increase your aerobic capacity in some manner but if you’re an elite athlete, you’re not just looking for ‘some’ increase. You’re looking for the maximum available increase for your body, in your sport,” says John MacLaren, personal trainer and creator and master program designer of Elite Training Systems, based in Los Angeles.

MacLaren, a former Navy SEAL who used to instruct other SEALS and civilians in sports and endurance training, recommends a different approach for the all round fitness enthusiast.

“Do numerous activities — running, walking, cycling, soccer and just about any other exercise you can think of to benefit your cardiac efficiency and cross train you to be more efficient in many different activities. Although there’s no substitute for sport-specific training, adding cross training to your program will give you advantage over other athletes that train only in sport-specific activities.”

Increase Your Aerobic Efficiency:

• Do continuous aerobic exercise using John MacLaren’s method: 20 seconds of exercise done at 90% maximum output, followed by 10 seconds of recovery exercise. On a spinning bike, for example, pedal at a fair degree of resistance at approximately 90% of your output for 20 seconds, then lower the resistance and pedal fast enough so that you keep moving for 10 seconds. Turn it up and do it again. This method can apply to indoor sprints, swimming, running, cycling, elliptical training and just about any other exercise where it’s possible to create the change from 90% output to active recovery.
• Spend 15 minutes each on up to four different machines. Begin with the treadmill for a 15-minute run, move immediately to an elliptical trainer, then cycle and finally work out on a Stairmaster or running machine. “Cross training during your aerobic work can break up the monotony of cardio work and train your system for better performance in almost any direction with any combination of muscles used,” says MacLaren.

“For beginners, walking or run-walking, a one-minute run followed by one-minute walking is an excellent way to begin creating the fitness level you desire,” says MacLaren. “Don’t be fooled into thinking that cardio must be difficult to be useful. Some of the greatest benefits come from the lower heart ranges.”