Boom boom! Hearts or footsteps?

Have you ever listened to the sound of your footsteps as you run? As your feet hit the ground, one after the other, they sound similar to the beating of your heart. This beating of your heart represents several pieces of information about your pulse, maximum heart rate, blood pressure, and your level of fitness.

This week's class focuses on finding out your Target Heart Rate Zone [THRZ], a range that determines if you are training at an appropriate intensity. For cardiorespiratory training such as our 5km program, our THRZ should be between 60 and 90% of our our maximum heart rate.

In class, we will be calculating our unique THRZ using the Karvonen Method, an equation that takes into account your maximal heart rage (220-age) and your resting heart rate. For many of us in the class (assuming our age is 17-19), our THRZ falls between 150 and 170 beats per minute or 25-29 beats in 10 seconds.

Once we calculate our THRZ, this is the bpm range we want to reach when we are in our 5km training program. This will help to increase our endurance!