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23 November, 2009

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Exercise intensity

Exercise intensity refers to how hard your body is working during physical activity. For maximum health benefits, the goal is to work hard but not too hard. There is a variety of ways to measure your exercise intensity to make sure your body is getting the most out of every workout.

If you have a medical condition, are overweight, are aged over 40 years or haven’t exercised regularly in a long time, see your doctor for a medical check-up before starting any new exercise program.

The body’s response to exercise
Your body’s response to moderate intensity exercise normally includes:

Faster heart rate
Faster breathing
Feeling warmer
Slight swelling of the hands and feet
Mild to moderate perspiration
Mild muscular aches for a day or two afterwards, if you are not used to the physical activity.

Warning signs
If you experience any of the following symptoms, stop exercising and seek medical help:

Extreme breathlessness
Breathing problems such as wheezing or coughing
Chest pain or pressure
Extreme perspiration
Dizziness, fainting
Severe muscle pain or cramps
Nausea
Severe pain in any muscles or joints
Extreme and long-lasting fatigue after exercising.

Measuring exercise intensity
You may need to experiment to find out which method of measuring exercise intensity suits you best. The different measurement methods include:

Target heart rate
Talk test
Exertion rating scales
Self-monitoring.

Target heart rate
Target heart rates for fitness and health gains are between 40 and 85 per cent of your maximum heart rate (maxHR). Maximum heart rate is calculated as 220 beats per minute (bpm) minus your age. A heart rate monitor is an easy way to keep track of your heart rate while you’re exercising.

Keep your heart rate at the lower end of your recommended range if you are just starting regular exercise. Gradually increase the intensity of your workouts as your fitness improves. Your heart rate should also stay in the lower ranges during warm-up and cool-down periods.

If you have a medical condition, are overweight, are aged over 40 years or haven’t exercised in a long time, see your doctor. Your heart rate target range may need to be professionally recalculated to take your health and general fitness into account.

Some medications can alter your heart rate response to exercise, so make sure you discuss the medications you are taking and how they may affect your exercise plans with your doctor. It may be necessary to use another option for monitoring exercise intensity if you are taking certain medications.

Target heart rate chart

Age (years)	Heart beats per minute target range (40-85% of maxHR)
20	80-170
25	78-166
30	76-152
35	74-157
40	72-153
45	70-149
50	68-145
55	66-140
60	64-136
65	62-132

Pulse rate
Taking your pulse at regular intervals lets you know whether you are exercising within your target heart range. Some tips:

Take your pulse before the warm up.
Take your pulse again when you’ve been exercising for about 5–10 minutes. Continue taking your pulse at regular intervals.
Take your pulse at the end of your activity bout and then again 2–5 minutes after you have stopped exercising – a drop of approximately 12 bpm after you stop activity indicates that your recovery is adequate.

How to measure your pulse
The radial pulse is located on your inner wrist. To measure it, you should:

Put the first three fingers of one hand against the inner wrist of the other hand just below the thumb.
Move your fingers slowly across the wrist until you detect a tendon.
Press your fingers into the hollow next to the tendon on the thumb-side – your artery lies just beneath the skin.
Don’t push too hard when taking your pulse or you’ll squash the artery and impede blood flow.
Using a watch with a second hand, count your pulse for 15 seconds. Multiply this figure by four to get your beats per minute. (For example, 31 pulse beats over 15 seconds equals a pulse rate of 124 beats per minute.)

You can also take your pulse by pressing your fingers lightly against one of your carotid arteries, located on either side of your windpipe. Once again, don’t push too hard.

Factors known to influence heart rate
It’s not just exercise that affects your heart rate. Your beats per minute could be raised by a number of internal and external factors including:

Hot weather
Caffeine intake
Time of day
Hormone fluctuations
Stress or anxiety
Cigarette smoking
Medications.

Talk test
Talking is a reliable way to measure exercise intensity. Suggestions include:

If you can talk and sing without puffing at all, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough.
If you can comfortably talk but not sing, you’re exercising at the right intensity.
If you can’t talk at all without gasping, slow down the pace.

Exertion levels
This method requires you to rate how hard you’re working by observing your body’s physical signs. Aim to experience the exercise signs 3–7 in the chart below to keep within your target heart rate. You can keep a diary of your exertion ratings to monitor your fitness progressions. As an activity becomes easier, the rating should decrease and then you know it’s time to increase the intensity of the activity.

Level	Exertion	Physical signs
0	None	None
1	Minimal	None
2	Barely there	Sensation of movement
3	Moderate	Stronger sensation of movement
4	Somewhat hard	Warmth or light sweating
5	Hard	Sweating
6	Harder	Moderate sweating
7	Very hard	Moderate sweating, but can still talk
8	Extremely hard	Heavy sweating, can't talk
9	Maximum effort	Very heavy sweating, can't talk
10	Maximum effort	Exhaustion

Self-monitoring
Recent studies show that paying attention to how you feel while you exercise may be one of the most effective ways to measure exercise intensity. Researchers have found that study participants who pushed themselves past their optimum exercise threshold felt uncomfortable. Signs of discomfort that suggest you’re working too hard include:

Breathlessness
Muscle weakness and fatigue
Feeling like you’re just not enjoying yourself anymore.

Becoming aware of the intensity of your exercise will help you to ensure that you exercise at the right intensity to achieve the many health benefits associated with moderate exercise.

Where to get help

Your doctor
Exercise physiologist
Physiotherapist
‘Go for your life’ Infoline Tel. 1300 739 899 www.goforyourlife.vic.gov.au

Things to remember

You can measure exercise intensity using target heart rates, the talk test, exertion levels or self-monitoring.
If you have a medical condition, are overweight, are aged over 40 years or haven’t exercised regularly in a long time, see your doctor for a medical check-up before starting any new exercise program and watch out for the warning signs listed above.

You might also be interested in:
Exercise - injury prevention.
Exercise safety.
Exercises that could be harmful.
Physical activity - it's important.
Resistance training - advanced.
Resistance training - beginners.
Resistance training - health benefits.
Running and jogging - preventing injury.

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