Exercise and Your Heart: Find Your Target Heart Rate

February 10, 2014

   As a fitness trainer helping people to maintain a healthy heart is truly close to my own heart. In the interest of your own heart health, before jumping into an exercise regimen you should clear it with your doctor.

   Regular exercise that gets your heart beating is the key. But how much? Here are some basics about understanding how to gauge the right amount.


Resting Heart Rate

   First, know your resting heart rate, which is the number of times your heart beats per minute while doing no activity. It’s best to check it in the morning after you’ve had a good night’s sleep and before you get out of bed.

   The average resting heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute. There are some factors to consider. The better fit you are, the lower your resting heart rate will be. And as you get older it will test higher. But in general, too low or too high of a pulse could be a sign of something that needs a doctor's attention.

   Take your pulse on the inside of the wrist on the thumb side. Use the tips of your first two fingers (not your thumb) to press lightly over the blood vessels on your wrist. Count your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply by 6 to find your beats per minute.


Maximum Heart Rate

   Maximum heart rate is the highest rate your heart should be allowed to go during a workout. Exercising at this level is awesome if you're training for the Tour de France or the New York Marathon. But for the rest of us maximum heart rate is important because it's the data point that helps map out a program.

   To find your maximum heart rate, take 220 and minus your age. If you're 53, for example, your maximum heart rate is 167.


Target Heart Rate

   Your target heart rate is the key to exercising for heart health whether it's on a stationary bike or in a sea kayak. A range between 50 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate is your target heart rate.

   So, for the 53 year-old with a maximum heart rate of 167, you multiply .50 x 167 for the low end and .85 x 167 for the high end. Rounded it's a range of 84 to 142 beats per minute. Exercise you do that gets your heart beating in the range of the target rate is what you want.

   That's a pretty wide margin. For my clients who are just starting out, I train them at their lowest end of the range and develop a program to help them to higher levels over time. A heart rate monitor is the piece of equipment that will help you keep tabs on how fast your heart is beating.


Rules of Thumb

   If you're straining at, say, 75 percent of your maximum heart rate, you're probably taking on too much and you should back it down. You don't have to exercise that hard to get a heart benefit and to stay in shape. Some people can actually achieve 50 percent of maximum heart rate with a brisk walk. Everyone is different.

   If your workout feels light at 50 percent of maximum heart rate - if you can have a conversation without having to stop talking to take breaths - the intensity is probably too low. Push yourself to exercise at a higher target heart rate.


The HF Connection to Heart Health

February 17, 2014

   During this American Heart Month it's been good even for me to take a moment and consider my own health as I write these blogs and post to Facebook. I love finding a new recipe or a new angle on fitness to promote heart health. But there does come a time to be reminded of the reason for lifestyle changes and that is to avoid heart failure, the number one cause of death in the United States.



   I like Wikipedia's entry on heart failure and I quote the definition in the first paragraph which defines it pretty well:
"Heart failure or HF (often called congestive heart failure, CHF, or congestive cardiac failure, CCF) occurs when the heart is unable to provide sufficient pump action to maintain blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition is diagnosed with a physical examination by your physician and confirmed with an echocardiogram."
There are a number of causes of heart failure and here are the most common ones:

  • Coronary artery disease, a narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart weakening the heart over time or suddenly

  • High blood pressure leading to problems with stiffness or eventually leading to the heart weakening

  • Heart valves that are leaky or narrowed
  • Infection that weakens the heart muscle

  • Congenital Heart Disease, the most common kind of heart birth defect

Here are a number of lifestyle changes that can make a difference to avoid heart failure:
  • Exercise. Heart healthy exercises include things like handcycling, rowing, walking, hiking, swimming, spinning, aerobics, Zumba, basketball, jump rope, stair or elliptical training, cross country skiing, Nordic walking, inline skating, cycling, etc. See your doctor and begin a program of exercising within your target heart rate.
  • Eat heart healthy foods. Vegetables and fruits are powerful allies in keeping your heart healthy.
  • Lower your salt intake. It can make a significant difference and I think it's the easiest change to make. Sodium helps the body to  hold excess fluid creating an added burden on the heart. The recommended daily allowance is 1500 mg daily. Purchasing fruits and vegetables at your local farmers market and cooking things yourself helps you control sodium intake.
  • Lower your sugar intake. There's a high degree of connection between too much sugar consumption and cardiovascular diseases. Careful choices about the processed foods you eat, sodas and desserts can make a big difference.
  • Stop smoking. Smoking increases blood pressure, decreases HDL (good cholesterol), decreases exercise tolerance and increases the tendency for blood to clot. Smoking also increases the risk of recurrent coronary heart disease after bypass surgery.

  • Cut down on alcohol. Heavy alcohol consumption has detrimental effects on blood pressure.

  • Lose weight. If you're overweight then weight loss can make it easier on your heart. Your heart pumps blood through your veins and arteries. Your lungs take in oxygen and send it to your blood. The stronger your heart is, the more easily it pumps more blood throughout your body. If your heart is weak it has to work harder to provide you with fresh blood and oxygen.

  • Lower your cholesterol. Like small tumors, plaques of cholesterol and other substances form in the artery walls and eventually the passageway for blood becomes clogged. Less blood flow means less oxygen for the heart muscle. Chest pain (angina) occurs, usually following exercise or excitement. When the blood supply is completely cut off, a part of the heart muscle dies—this is a heart attack.
  • Get plenty of rest. Our lives have become so busy and full that we forget to take time out to sit quietly and rest. And we often don't get enough sleep. Our hearts need time for rejuvenation. If we want it to last it needs to rest.






6 Ways to Lower Sugar Intake and Take Care of Your Heart

February 8, 2014

   A report in The Journal of the American Medical Association just a few days ago showed that over consumption of sugar is bad for the heart. The good news is reducing your intake of sugar doesn't have to be painful.

   I'm a big believer that fitness and health changes almost always result in the feeling of getting some years back. And cutting down on a high sugar intake is one of the biggies in terms of impact. I'm also a believer that it's best to make small permanent changes than attempting something radical. Here are my top 6 ways a person can wean themselves off of sugary foods.


[1] Take it Slowly
   Don't delete everything on the first day. Eat half a dessert, put half the amount of jelly you'd normally have on toast, cut the sugar in your coffee in half.

   Mix sweetened and unsweetened foods together like soy milk (which is sweetened) with unsweetened soy milk. Mixing like that is a great way to cut down on your intake. Start half and half, and over time decrease the amount of the sugared food and increase the unsugared.

   Give yourself time, like a month or two, to let these changes become how you simply do things. Your taste buds will acclimate to less and less sweetness. Choosing fresh fruit over a piece of cake will be a no-brainer.


[2] Drink Water

   Drinking water, especially in the morning, is a healthy thing to do. And when it comes to warding off sugar cravings, water is one of your best friends. The body can confuse thirst with a sugar craving so it's easy to down a candy bar when, in fact, your body actually wanted water. Stay hydrated throughout the day and fire a preemptive strike at sugar cravings.


[3] Make Your Own

   You may feel you don't have the time to make food but if heart health is important enough to you, you'll find you are able to make lifestyle changes and wonder why you never did it earlier. If you have a sweet tooth, learning to cook could be one of the best lifestyle changes you could make. Recipes for low and no sugar pies, cakes and desserts like these are all over the Internet.

   One great way to wean yourself off sodas is to switch to ice tea which you make yourself. Don't feel guilty about sugaring it in the beginning but cut back on the amount you add over time. Your taste buds will adjust.

   Making your own also enables you to stay away from processed foods which often have a surprisingly high amount of sugar added. Avoid all that and, for example, make your own spaghetti sauce or your own salad dressing from olive and balsamic vinegar. Incorporate these heart healthy foods into your diet to replace those processed foods.


[4] Eradicate One Big Source of Sugar

   Okay, I wrote "take it slowly" earlier but in this case targeting one big villain, like candy, ice cream or soda can give you a sense of a great head start. Let's say ice cream is the target. Make it off limits. Have a bad breakup, before suffering a literal heart break, and never go back. The next time you're in the grocery store and you pass by the ice cream, instead of looking at it wishing you could take some home, see it as something you used to know but it just didn't work - been there done that, you've moved on.


[5] Eat Breakfast

   Often times the desire for sugar throughout the day is a result of not having enough fuel in the morning. Eat a healthy breakfast full of whole grains (especially oatmeal) and fruits, and it will help you turn down candy and sugary energy bars later in the day.


[6] Exercise

   An exercise program can help you feel more invested in making healthy food changes like reducing sugar. And if you're putting in the miles walking, running, hiking, swimming or cycling you'll get the benefits of a chemical that rivals sugar (and a lot better for you) in terms of how it makes you feel: endorphins. When your body releases endorphins it gives you a good mood lift to help quell the withdrawal symptoms of sugar reduction.


American Heart Month: 14 Powerful Heart Healthy Foods

February 4, 2014

   By now it should be common knowledge that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. All this month I will be sharing great ideas here on my blog and at my Facebook page on how to get fit and eat right for your heart.

   Here is a chart of 14 of the most powerful heart healthy foods you can eat which are easy to start including into a regular diet. There are other great foods, too, so when we made the chart we had to draw the line somewhere. There are two excellent websites to get more information at the American Heart Association and the Center for Disease Control. I encourage you to explore these sites for literally a wealth of life changing information.