Heart rate sometimes also known as pulse rate. It is described as number of heart beats per minute of a person. Heart rate varies from person to person and depends on the individual’s age, body size, heart condition. It also depends upon person’s activity such as exercising, sitting or moving. Even emotions too have impact on heart rate. how to calculate heart rate is explained below.
We must have knowledge about heart rate so that we can easily monitor our fitness level as well as spot the health problem if experiencing any.
How to calculate heart rate
Heart rate can be measured by keeping fingers on wrist or side of the neck for a minute or for 20 seconds and multiply it by 3. Basically by fingers we feel the movement (beats) of blood veins on wrist and neck. A normal heart rate for adult of 18 years or older is between 60 to 100 beats per minute. For children of age 6 to 15 the normal heart rate is between 70 to 100 bpm (beats per minute). A person who does exercise or is physical fit often has lower heart rate of 40 bpm, because their heart muscles don’t need to work as hard to maintain a steady beat
Average Resting heart rate is the heart pumping the lowest amount of blood you need.
Most commonly, maximum heart rate is calculated by subtracting your age from 220:
220 – Age. For a 30-year-old person, for example: 220 – 30 = 190.
The target zone for a 30-year-old person would be between 50 and 85 percent of his or her maximum heart rate:
50 percent level: 190 x 0.50 = 95 bpm
85 percent level: 190 x 0.85 = 162 bpm
The formula for maximum heart rate works well for people under 40 but for older people it may overestimate their maximum heart rate, Bauman said. For older people, a better formula for the maximum heart rate is:
208 – (0.75 x Age)
You can either manually calculate your heart rate during exercise or use heart rate monitors that wrap around the chest, or are included in sports watches.
