Why Monitor Heart Rate
“start with a physical exam”
The best way to start cardiovascular activity is by first consulting with your doctor, and hopefully you will receive a clean bill of health. Than you can incorporate the following methods of HR monitoring to maximize your results.
I feel heart rate monitoring is very important to your fitness program. Gradually increasing heart rate over a period of time not only conditions your heart it also determines how many calories are being burned in an exercise session. There is a direct correlation between heart rate and calories burned. Listed below are several good ways to monitor heart rate:
- RPE- Rating of Perceived Exertion (see below)
- Age- adjusted manual HR monitoring (see next page)
- Using a good HR monitor.
RPE- Rating of Perceived Exertion:
The RPE scale is used to measure the intensity of your exercise. The RPE scale runs from 0 – 10. The numbers below relate to phrases used to rate how easy or difficult you find an activity. For example, 0 (nothing at all) would be how you feel when sitting in a chair; 10 (very, very heavy) is how you feel at the end of an exercise stress test or after a very difficult activity.
0 – Nothing at all
0.5 – Just noticeable
1 – Very light
2 – Light
3 – Moderate
4 – Somewhat heavy
5 – Heavy
6
7 – Very heavy
8
9
10 – Very, very heavy
In most cases you should exercise at a level that feels 3 (moderate) to 4 (somewhat heavy). When using this rating scale, remember to include feelings of shortness of breath, as well as how tired you feel in your legs and overall
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/exercise/rpe.aspx