Several methods can be used to monitor intensity during the aerobic portion.
MONITORING THE HEART RATE:
- Take the pulse either at the wrist (radial artery) or at the neck (carotid artery).
- Use the first two fingers, not the thumb because it has it's own pulse.
- Do not press too hard otherwise, you will get a false slow reading.
- If using the neck, do not use both hands.
- Start counting with zero. Use either 6 or 10 seconds.
- Remember that there are differences in individuals - some people will have a high pulse rate and still feel like they have not worked hard enough. Others may be on medication that will affect their heart rate.
- For a given amount of work, the fitter the individual, the lower the heart rate. The more unfit, the higher the heart rate.
Low intensity = 40% to 65% of maximum heart rate.
Moderate intensity = 65% to 75% of maximum heart rate.
High intensity = 75% to 90% of maximum heart rate. - To calculate your proper intensity, use the following formula:
220 minus your age = your maximum heart heart.
Maximum heart rate multiplied by your desired intensity percentage.
RATINGS OF PERCEIVED EXERTION (RPE):
Perceived
exertions means "how hard the intensity seems to you". This method was
developed by Dr. Borg, a Swedish doctor and is sometimes called "Borg's
Scale of Perceived Exertion".
Low intensity = between "fairly light" and "somewhat hard"
Moderate intensity = between "somewhat hard" and "hard"
High intensity = between "hard" and "very hard"
RPE SCALE (6 to 20)
6
7 Very, Very Light
8
9 Very Light
10
11 Fairly Light
12
13 Somewhat Hard
14
15 Hard
16
17 Very Hard
18
19 Very, Very Hard
20
TALK TEST:
Low intensity exercise feels very
comfortable. You are breathing easily, you can carry on a conversation,
you feel like you could go on for hours. Walking at a leisurely pace
would be a good example.
Moderate intensity would feel like you are breathing a little faster, you can still carry on a conversation but you are huffing and puffing a bit. An example would be brisk walking.
High intensity exercise is when you can feel your heart thumping, you are breathing hard and you can talk but only in very short sentences. Running, an advanced aerobics class, or a singles tennis match would be a good example.
Super-high intensity would be hardly being able to talk and gasping for air. The 100-meter dash would be an example.
An important fact to remember about exercise intensity is that it depends on the fitness level of the individual. An unfit individual may perceive brisk walking to be a high intensity exercise while an extremely fit individual may find the same activity to be very low in intensity.
SIGNS OF OVEREXERTION:
- Overly breathless
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Red or flushed face
- Disorientation
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