3. Fitness
What is fitness? In general a fitness exercise can be described as an activity
that makes your heart pump more oxygen from your lungs to your muscles by
means of circulating the blood. The more strenuous the training, the more fuel
(oxygen) the muscles need and the more work the heart has to do to pump
oxygen rich blood to the muscles. If you are in good physical shape your heart
can pump more blood to the muscle with each contraction. This means the heart
doesn't have to contract as many times to transport the necessary oxygen to your
muscles. Your resting heart beat and heart beat when exercising will therefore
decrease.
3.1 Training by heart rate
While training it is important to monitor your heart rate. The heart rate is essential
for the result of your training. Your best training heart rate depends firstly on your
age. Your maximum heart beat can be determined by this. Secondly the most
effective heart rate depends on your training goals. If your training goal is to lose
weight, then the most effective training is at 60% of your maximum heart rate. If
your training goal is to improve your stamina, then you should train at 85% of your
maximum heart rate.
The body stores energy in two forms: carbohydrates and fat. When we exercise
we use a combination of these two energy supplies. If the training intensity is at a
high level the body will mostly choose the energy that burns fast: carbohydrates.
Since there is a limited supply of these carbohydrates you can't continue this for
a long period of time. When training at a low intensity the body will mostly choose
to use a long lasting source of energy: fat. Since this is stored in large quantities
in the body, you can continue this kind of training for a longer time.
Below you will find a schedule allowing you to calculate the best heart rate for
your training. In this schedule each age category has a range that your heart rate
should be in during your training. The middle column has the values you should
60 and older
42 - Manual Turner DHT750 Hometrainer
Age
(beats per minute)
20 -24
25 - 29
30 - 34
35 - 39
40 - 44
45 - 49
50 - 54
55 - 59
Weight loss
60%
120 - 118
117 - 115
114 - 112
111 - 109
108 - 106
105 - 103
102 - 100
99 - 97
96 - 94
Improve stamina
(beats per minute)
85%
170 -167
166 - 163
162 - 158
157 - 154
153 - 150
149 - 145
144 - 141
140 - 137
136 - 133