Heart Rate Zones

Healthy Heart Zone
· This zone is 50 to 60% of your maximum heart rate. This is an easy and comfortable zone to exercise in.
· You will be able to carry on a full conversation in this zone, although you may be breathing a little heavier than usual.
· Walkers are often in this zone unless they press themselves to walk faster. Fitness walkers may alternate days of walking in this zone with days of exercising in the higher heart rate zones, to give a recovery/easy day.
· Your workout in this zone is less intense and won't give the most cardiorespiratory training benefits. But studies have shown that it works to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol.
· In this zone, the body derives it energy by burning 10% carbohydrates, 5% protein and 85% fat.

Fitness Zone
· This zone is from 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate.
· You will be breathing heavier but will still be able to speak in short sentences.
· You burn more calories per minute than in the healthy heart zone because the exercise is a little more intense - you are going faster and therefore covering more distance. The calories burned depend on the distance you cover and your weight more than any other factors.
· In this zone, your body fuels itself with 85% fat, 5% protein, and 10% carbohydrate.
· You get the same health benefits and fat-burning benefits as the healthy heart zone.

Aerobic Zone
· This zone is from 70-80% of your maximum heart rate.
· You will be breathing very hard and able only to speak in short phrases.
· This is the zone to aim for when training for endurance. It spurs your body to improve your circulatory system by building new blood vessels, and increases your heart and lung capacity.
· Aiming for 20 to 60 minutes in this zone is believed to give the best fitness training benefits.
· You burn 50% of your calories from fat, 50% from carbohydrate, and less than 1% from fat.
· With the increase in intensity, you burn more calories in the same amount of time, as you are covering more distance in that same time. Calories burned depend most on distance and your weight. If you go further in the same time, you burn more calories per minute.
· You may not be able to achieve this heart rate by walking, you may have to use racewalking technique or switch to jogging to get into this heart rate zone.

Anaerobic Zone - Threshold Zone
· This zone is 80 to 90% of your maximum heart rate.
· You will be unable to speak except a single, gasped word at a time.
· This intense exercise will improve the amount of oxygen you can consume - your VO2 maximum.
· This exertion level takes you to the limit where your body begins to produce lactic acid. Racewalkers use this zone to build their ability to go even faster.
· Workouts in this heart rate zone should be in the 10 to 20 minute range, or part of an interval training workout.
· You burn more calories per minute than with the lower heart rate workouts, as you are covering more distance per minute.
· The body burns 85% carbohydrates, 15% fat and less than 1% protein in this zone.
· You may not be able to achieve this heart rate by walking, you may need to use the racewalking technique or switch to jogging/running.

Red-Line Zone
· The top zone is from 90 to 100% of your maximum heart rate. You can't go any higher, and most people can't stay in this zone for more than a few minutes.
· You will be unable to speak except for gasping single words.
· This zone should only be used for short bursts during interval training, where you work intensely for a minute and then drop back down to a lower intensity for several minutes, and repeat.
· You should consult with your doctor to ensure you can work out at such a high heart rate safely.
· While you burn lots of calories per minute in this zone, 90% of them are carbohydrates, 10% fats, and less than 1% protein.

Which zone should you work out in? It is best to vary your workouts for length and intensity, and allow a recovery day between days of intense exercise in the aerobic, anaerobic, and red-line zone.

Sources: Chad Tackett, Global Health and Fitness, 2005. Dave McGovern racewalking workshop, 2006.

Fat Burning Zone

Do you exercise because you want to lose weight? If so, you probably know that cardio exercise is a key factor in helping you lose weight. Many people are warned to stay within their 'fat burning' zone for the best results, but do you really burn more fat if you work at lower intensities? Is it the most effective way to help you lose weight?

The body does burn a higher percentage of calories from fat in the 'fat burning zone' or at lower intensities. But, at higher intensities, you burn a greater number of overall calories which is what you should be concerned about when trying to lose weight. The chart below details the fat calories expended by a 130-pound woman during cardio exercise:

Low Intensity - 60-65% MHR High Intensity - 80-85% MHR
Total Calories expended per min. Low 4.86 High 6.86
Fat Calories expended per min. Low 2.43 High 2.7
Total Calories expended in 30 min. Low 146 High 206
Total Fat calories expended in 30 min. Low 73 High 82
Percentage of fat calories burned Low 50% High 39.85%

From The 24/5 Complete Personal Training Manual, 24 Hour Fitness, 2000

In this example, the woman burns more total calories and more fat calories at a higher intensity. This isn't to say that low intensity exercise doesn't have it's place. In fact, endurance workouts should be a staple of a complete fitness program along with shorter, higher intensity workouts or even interval workouts which are a great way to burn calories and build endurance. To figure out your own intensity levels, start by calculating your target heart rate zone.

What is Your Target Heart Rate?
In order to figure out which zone you're in, you first need to figure out what your own target heart rate is. You can do this by using the Karvonen Formula. You can also use any number of target heart rate calculators to get your heart rate zone, but many of them do not incorporate your resting heart rate (which makes it a bit more accurate).

Below is an example of the Karvonen formula for a 48 year old person with a resting heart rate of 65 beats per minute (*to get your resting heart rate, take your pulse for one full minute.):

220 - 48 (age) = 172
172 - 65 (resting heart rate) = 107
107 x 65% (low end of heart rate) = 70 + 65 (resting HR) = 135
107 x 85% (high end) = 91 + 65 (resting HR) = 156

The target heart rate zone for this person would be 135 to 156
For this person to work in the 'fat burning' zone, he would need to stay around 135 beats per minute or lower. To work within the 'cardio' zone, he would need to work at 136 bpm or higher.

Are You an Optimist or a Pessimist?

I've been giving some thought lately to optimism and pessimism. Basically, these are attitudes. Attitudes that shape and formulate our lives. In short, our optimism or pessimism is this: The way we interpret the past. The way we experience and view the present. The way we imagine the future.

Have you given much thought about how your attitude, whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, affects your family, business, church, organization or school? Have you thought about how it affects you personally?

What is optimism? It is a belief that things in our past were good for us, even if that means they were hard and taught us lessons. It is also the belief that things will be better in the future.

Here are some contrasts between optimism and pessimism and how they affect us:
Optimism breathes life. Pessimism drains you.
Optimism helps you to take needed risks. Pessimism plays it safe and doesn't accomplish much.
Optimism improves those around you. Pessimism drags them down.
Optimism inspires people. Pessimism deflates people.

There is only one way that optimism and pessimism are the same, and that is they are both self-fulfilling. If you are an optimist, you will generally find that good things happen to you. And if you are a pessimist, you will find yourself in the not-so-good situations more often than not.

So can a person just become an optimist? I believe with practice YES. We can choose to look at the world any way we want to. We can choose to look at the world and think the worst, or we can tell ourselves the good things about each situation. As you find yourself looking at your life, begin to view it through the eyes of an optimist, and you will reap the rewards, and so will the people around you.

There are tremendous benefits to being an optimist. But there are some pessimists out there who will say, "But that isn't realistic." I say "Who cares?" If things go awry, at least I have spent my time beforehand enjoying life and not worrying about it. And, being an optimist, I would view the "negative" situation as an opportunity to learn. So I can even look forward to my failures because they will be stepping stones to my future.

Feel proud

What have you done today to make

yourself feel proud?

Questions? Thoughts? Ideas? Words of Wisdom?

Emails keep popping in asking how can you post things you want to share, whether it is a question, an idea or an experience. Let's try this. I will add a monthly "Adventure" post that way each month we can add to it. Give it a go!

How Old Would You Be, If You Didn't Know How Old You Were?

Think about that question. If suddenly your birth date was stricken from your memory, how old would you feel? Consider your physical health, your mental health, and most importantly, how you feel about yourself. Would you be younger or older than your birth date?

Now consider those people that you know in your life of whom it's often said, "he/she is so young for their age." Why is that? Generally these are people who are fully engaged in their lives. They "make" rather than "take" time for the things they care about-despite the same pressures we all have. Chances are they to have jobs, children, aging parents, and a mortgage. In spite of this they participate in forms of exercise, and leisure activities that they enjoy. They get sick, and have work deadlines, but get right back at it, once these pass. They also make conscious decisions about everything from their eating habits, to letting go of worry, and laughing.

Every one of us has the capability of living this way regardless of our circumstances. It takes a conscious decision to start making changes that serve us, one "simple step" at a time. Keep in mind that these do not have to be enormous, life changing habits that require a complete schedule re-write. They can include starting a bedtime ritual so you can sleep more peacefully, drinking less caffeine late in the day, bringing whole fruit to work every day, beginning a walking ritual at least twice a week, or performing some strength training exercises for 10 minutes in the evening.

Here's an exercise for you to try that can be life changing. Think about 2-3 things that you could start doing today that would have the greatest impact on your personal health, and write them down. Now look at your weekly schedule, and see where these new habits might fit, or, where you might write down a reminder for yourself, e.g. "Drink more water", "Last caffeinated beverage by 2:00 p.m." Make these appointments with yourself and treat them with the same sense of purpose that you do those with others. If you have to cancel for some reason, re-schedule immediately.

Remember to start with small changes. These are the ones that will build your confidence, and lead to larger ones. Are you younger, or older than your birth date? Start today, and start feeling younger.

Change begins with Choice

Change is a constant choice. Change comes in all sizes. From the simple to the complex. From person to person change is relative considering your place in life at that moment. The changes you make today could be your hairstyle & food choices, weight loss & exercise, still others might be attitude & old habits. All these are simple to some & difficult to others. Whatever your life needs to make a change... it comes down to choice. I read the following article & want to pass it on.

Any day we wish; we can discipline ourselves to change it all. Any day we wish; we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish; we can start a new activity. Any day we wish; we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves." We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth. They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth.

We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives.

And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life - If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life - and it all begins with your very own power of choice.

By: Jim Rohn

Hot Topic: Energy Drinks

The consumption of canned, bottled, or mix your own energy drinks come in all sizes. People drink them for various reasons, but most often I see the bottles being popped at the gym. Anything for a good workout, a better workout, the best workout! They are magically delicious, only not always so magical & not so delicious.

People ask, "What do you do for energy?" Not considerng my ADHD is unmedicated (little laugh)...I start my day with coffee & yes I add creamer & sweetner. When the coffee pot is put away till my head hits the pillow, my energy comes from the foods I eat & water. Oh believe me, I have tried all sorts of energy supplements. Some threw my body into a nervous mess, some made me feel like pinching heads off, every once in a while I got the "all time high" workout, while others made me hungry. None good enough to warrant the expense.

Some time has passed since I last used energy boosters. With all the rave of new "stuff" I decided to try some of the most popular products seen on the market or in my friends hands. Sure there are some I have not tried & will not try. Calorie & sugar content are important. Staying clear of the jiggies & a trip to the ER. And I wanted a decent flavor. Too much to ask?

My conclusion was FRS. You can read about it & go to the website for more info. If you are looking for a pick-er-upper it is pretty good & from information gathered has other health benefits. The price at GNC is nearly $10 for 4 cans. That crazy Redline (some of you drink) is about the same price.

FRS was originally tested and refined by doctors at the Harvard University Dana Farber Cancer Institute as a fatigue fighting and general health drink. It was then discovered by endurance athletes who found that it boosted and sustained their peak athletic performance while supporting their overall health. Now FRS is used by anyone who wants a sustained healthy energy boost.

The key ingredient in FRS is Quercetin. (pronounced: KWAIR-suh-ten) Quercetin is a natural antioxidant found in the skins of apples, blueberries, and onions. It protects the adrenaline that your body naturally creates to give you energy for small daily tasks like staying awake at work and big events like running a marathon. Quercetin allows your body to use energy more efficiently so you feel more energy for a longer amount of time.

All Quercetin isn't the same though. FRS uses only the highest purity Quercetin available and combines it with a patented mix of vitamins, metabolic enhancers, and antioxidants to allow your body to fully absorb it. The Quercetin in FRS is the only Quercetin with official FDA GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.

In addition to boosting energy, Quercetin has been studied by the US government for its immune system boosting properties. You can read about the US DARPA funded study as well as other independent studies at http://www.frs.com/

30 Minute Mood Makeover

Happiness Is All in Your Head

We've got a surefire way to keep the happy feelings pouring in. And you don't have to inhale. Just grab your workout shoes and get going. Research now confirms it: Sustained aerobic exercise can give you a natural high.
Researchers recently noted all sorts of endorphin activity when they studied the brain scans of people who'd gone for a 2-hour run. Their emotion- and mood-controlling brain regions were particularly saturated with the feel-good hormones. But you don't necessarily have to run marathons to boost the natural mood-enhancing chemicals in your blood. In fact, you might not need to run at all.

30 Minute Mood Make-Over

A better mood may be a mere 30 minutes away. Research shows that regular exercise helps alleviate depression and improve well-being over the long term. Now a new study suggests that the mood-enhancing benefits of physical activity may be apparent after a single 30-minute workout. The next time you feel down, grab your gym shoes and give yourself the gift of a 30-minute power walk.
In a recent study, a single 30-minute treadmill workout done at moderate intensity eased depression and increased energy levels. In the study, participants were randomly divided into two groups. People in one group were asked to walk on a treadmill for 30 minutes, exercising at 60 to 70 percent of their maximum heart rate, as determined by age. The other group rested for a period of 30 minutes. Both groups reported relief from depressive symptoms afterward, including a reduction in confusion, anger, distress, and fatigue. However, those who exercised reported significant improvement in their sense of well-being, a benefit not expressed by participants assigned to 30 minutes of rest. Although many kinds of depression may respond to exercise, severe depression may require professional intervention in the form of counseling, medication, or both. If you're feeling depressed, see your healthcare provider for an evaluation.
American Council on Exercise (2008)