Heart rate monitors are a great way for you to keep track of your exercise intensity and tweak your performance for the best results. Read on for more information on specific heart rates in this article!

When your heart rate becomes higher than your average, resting heart rate, then this is the moment you begin to burn calories. The only problem is that many of us don’t understand or know when our heart rates are achieving this stage, causing many routines to only be around 75% effective. Heart rate monitors are perfect to enable users to monitor their exercise routines and tweak them for the best, possible results! Monitoring and managing your heart rate are the most effective way to gauge whether your workout or exercise regime is intense enough, or not.

How to Figure Out Your Heart Rate

To figure out what your maximum heart rate should be when exercising intensely, the basic rule of thumb is to minus 220 with how old you are (e.g.: If you are 20, then you should have 200 beats per minute as 220-20=200). If it differs slightly higher or lower, keep calm as there is no cause for alarm. The rule of thumb allows for some minor adjustments to your measurements, not a strict application.

Heart Rate Zones

Once you have carried out the above step, you can begin to work out what level of intensive exercise is required from your workouts. If we go with the 20-year-old example once more, exercising at 50 to 70 out of 200 is recommended, setting 70 to your max heart rate on your monitor. If you are setting the monitor to 85+, then you won’t be able to keep it up for much longer. It is too intense, and you will eventually find yourself resting more than you exercise. Anything lower than this is an ideal zone for many different fitness levels.