I got an email question from a reader who’s interested in learning how to use their heart rate as a way to gauge intensity for their interval training versus just the easy “timed” formula I outlined in my previous posts.
If you have a heart rate monitor and want to use this method for creating your own intervals, here’s how to do it:
First, find your maximum heart rate by using the basic 220 – your age formula. For example, if you are 40 years old your maximum heart rate (estimate) will be 180 beats per minute (BPM).
Second, you should then multiply that number (180) by .90. If you are a 40 year old, you will find that 90% of your max heart rate is 162 BPM. You can now use this 162 BPM as the upper limit of how high you will want to push your heart rate when you’re completing the “work” phase of the interval.
Third, multiply your maximum heart rate by .60. Again, if you’re 40 years old you will see that 60% of your max heart rate is 108. This will be the approximate number you’ll want to get your heart rate down to during the “rest” phase before you start back up your next round of intervals.
Although this method may look a little more complicated it’s actually quite easy to use once you find out what 90% and 60% of your max heart rate is. Remember, though, that these numbers can vary depending on your fitness level and whether or not you’re actually hitting both the peak upper and lower numbers during each interval.