Working out isn’t just about weight loss and body building. For most people, whether they realize it or not, working out is also about improving their heart health. Your heart is a muscle—undoubtedly, it is the most important muscle in your body—and it needs to exercise to stay in shape just like all the rest of your muscles. When not in shape, a layer of fat can develop around your heart that causes it to work harder and slower and can result in heart attack or death. Doing all the aerobic exercises that keep your heart fit and in shape will help prevent the layer of fat from developing and will keep your ticker feeling good and your circulation productive.
But how do you know when you have worked out enough or at the level necessary to get your heart healthy? First you have to determine what your target heart rate is. Your target heart rate is the rate at which your heart should beat to feel maximum results from your work out. It is not so low that it means your heart isn’t doing much of anything and it is not so high that your heart is beating too fast and straining itself. Your target heart rate depends on your age and fitness level and should be discussed with your primary care physician before you begin a new workout routine.
Of course, once you find out your target heart rate you need a way to consistently monitor your heart and make sure you have achieved it and sustained it for a dedicated period of time. The best way to do that is with the use of a strapless heart rate monitor.
A strapless heart rate monitor is like a watch that reports your heart rate. The strapless heart rate monitor is attached to your wrist and it measures your pulse. Just like a nurse might if he or she put his or her fingers on your wrist, the strapless heart rate monitor feels that pulsating beat as you exercise and tells you how quickly your heart is beating. Some strapless rate monitors come with a chest strap that goes around your chest to measure your heart beat there, but these are more inconvenient and are not considered strapless.
One of the best features of most strapless heart rate monitor is that they begin to beep when you reach your target heart rate. That way, you do not have to consistently watch the monitor to figure out when you have finally reached the holy grail of exercise numbers. Once the watch indicates that you have reached your goal, you know that you must continue at the pace you are going in order to maintain it.
Another important feature of strapless heart rate monitor is that they also tell you when you are exceeding your target heart rate. It is dangerous to push your heart too hard. Anything below the target heart rate just indicates that you are not exercising hard enough—but anything over the target heart rate indicates that you are exercising too much and could be causing damage to your heart rather than improving it. Even the most physically fit athletes are not encouraged to exceed their target heart rate.
As we mentioned before, while you may have decided to begin a new workout regimen that will improve your heart health, you must not actually act on it until you have a visit with your primary care physician. If you have been diagnosed with heart disease or have suffered a heart attack, you should consult your cardiologist about a cardiac rehabilitation exercise program offered by a local hospital. These programs allow you to exercise and reach your target heart rate while under a medical staff’s supervision, and may be covered by your insurance policy.
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