Regulars at the gym must be used to the word intensity, but for those who don’t know what ‘intensity’ means it basically refers to the level/amount of physical power a person uses while exercising. It is an extremely crucial component of a workout regime, which if done in the correct amount helps the body become stronger. In turn, there is an overall change in body fat percentage, weight, endurance and strength!
Part of this is measuring your heart rates, while at rest, during the workout and finally its maximum rate. The ranges of different heart rates are low intensity, moderate intensity and high intensity. These zones have specific target areas of the range your heart rate should be within.
Low Intensity: A good choice for your warm ups, this level is a good choice for beginners. Here the heart rate should be anywhere from 60% to 70%.
Moderate Intensity: Known to be between the ranges of 70% to 80%, this zone helps to kick up the intensity level for the activity that you are doing. This particular zone will help your body in its ability to transport oxygen throughout the body as well as condition the heart. It may even be your ‘comfort zone!
High Intensity: Requiring high levels of effort and exertion, this form of training is s progressive resistance form of exercise, done for short periods of time. The heart rates should vary from 80& to 90% here.
Maximum Effort: If you thought high intensity would be the maximum rate, you’re wrong! There’s one step higher and that’s maximum effort! Here, a person would be required to perform at his highest peak. Not only does a person have to perform as hard as he/she can, but this level can only be sustained for very short periods. It is the toughest and most challenging zone to be in; and is most suitable for advanced runners. The heart rate here goes up to 90% or even 100%. This level is also common in high intensity interval training workouts.
However, if you think that high intensity or maximum effort is the WAY to go, in order to lose weight; you’re highly mistaken!
While you may burn more calories, there are chances constant high intensity may damage your muscles and most importantly may become difficult to sustain such a workout on a regular basis. Therefore, it is very important to have variety of low and medium intensity levels, so that you can stimulate all of your energy systems and also allows you to ENJOY your workout as well!
