Times to beat

There is no way to get around it. The cardiovascular component of exercise is what we need to do everyday, 30 minutes a day, no matter what. It is the aerobic part of our program. It takes time to do it, because you need to keep your heart rate above a certain level for the entire 30 minutes. Many of my patients say to me that they walk back and forth to their car everyday from work, or they walk the kids to school or take the stairs instead of the elevator and think this is enough cardiovascular exercise. These are all good things, but they are not enough. They are not an aerobic exercise that benefits your heart and lungs as we need to everyday. They burn some calories, but they do not have the time frame and rate of exertion at a consistent level that is necessary.

Aerobic exercise happens when our body utilizes oxygen to meet the energy demands during exercise. Aerobic means "living in air" and the body uses the oxygen to fuel its metabolism. In general it is a moderate level of intensity and it occurs over a period of time. Golfing would not be considered an aerobic exercise your target heart rate where biking around Hayden Lake would be considered an aerobic activity. Singles tennis and rowing your kayak could be considered an aerobic exercise if your target heart rate was reached for the entire 30 minutes.

When we are doing our aerobic exercise it is important to know our target heart rate then because we will know our heart and lungs are working to the level they need to for our age and health status. How do we figure out what our target heart rate is for our aerobic exercise program? Well the first thing you need to know is your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is found by subtracting your age from 220. So say you are 40 years old. You would then take 220-40 and that number of 180 would be your max heart rate. Then you would use your max heart rate of 180 to determine your target heart rate. This is what you should be working at while you are doing your aerobic exercise program. Your target heart rate is your optimal heart rate that you should work out at, and this would be 65 percent to 80 percent of your max heart rate.

If you are a 40-year-old that would mean you would times 180 by 65 percent and 80 percent and then you would have a range for your heart rate during one minute of your exercise program. Your target heart rate would be between 117 beats per minute and 144 beats per minute. You could then take your heart rate for a 10-second count at your neck or wrist and see how many beats for the 10 seconds and then times it times 6. That would allow you to know if you are working at the level you should for your age and aerobic capacity. If you are working below the 65 percent amount then the activity is not a aerobic activity for you. If you are working above 144 beats then most likely you are working at too high of a rate for your current health status.

So what aerobic exercise do you think you could do everyday? You will need to change it up and you will need to be willing to think outside the box sometimes. Sometimes Zumba might be in order and other times a walk to the park and back may be enough. Maybe a bike ride after school with the kids to break up the day before dinner or a jog with your hubby after work. Whatever you decide, just make a plan, chose a partner, get a second hand on your watch to take your pulse and get moving. Now with school starting and our routines getting back on track from all our summer fun it is time to make our health a priority, because we have times to beat. 30 minutes a day is our time to beat!

Sheree DiBiase, PT, and her staff can be reached at Lake City Physical Therapy (208) 667-1988 and they can help you find your target heart rate so you can have your optimal health for 30 minutes everyday.