TRAINER SPOTLIGHT

Maintaining a Healthy Heart

Have you checked in with your heart lately? No, not just emotionally, but physically? Do you feel that you are functioning at your optimal capacity? Could you improve how you take care of and maintain your heart? Maintaining a healthy heart can drastically reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, heart attacks, and other serious health issues. A healthy heart is also essential in living a full and active lifestyle. There are many actions you can take to keep yourself and your heart happy such as eating a healthy diet, managing stress, getting enough sleep, and exercise.

In the gym, how do you know if you are doing the right exercises, correct number of reps, or sufficient amount of cardio to improve your cardiovascular system? The reality is, any exercise is good for your heart, but here are a few tips, tricks, and class formats best suited for keeping your heart happy and healthy.

Track that Heart Rate!

Tracking your heart rate (HR) ensures you are working at the right intensity for your fitness level and specific goals. Trackers measure the intensity or your aerobic metabolism to break down glycogen and fat for fuel. It really can change the game for many people who are looking to improve their health and fitness level.

When your HR is too low, you may not be pushing yourself hard enough to achieve the desired results. Conversely, a HR that is too high, particularly for long periods of time, might warrant moving to a lower intensity and more optimal fat burning for a beginner or someone aiming for weight loss. However, if the goal is improving sprint times, a higher heart rate zone might be just right.

How Can I Track My Heart Rate?

Many gadgets can track your HR like an Apple watch, Fitbit, or MyZone. Even with one of these gadgets, how do you know what to look for and what to track? Let’s take MyZone for example:

Myzone utilizes five zones to represent a percentage of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). This is calculated specifically to you and your body.

The grey, blue, and green zones are best suited for warming up, low intensity movements, meditation, flow exercises, strength and conditioning work, and cool downs. These zones are vital to determining your heart’s ability to recover during more intense workouts.

The red and yellow zones come into play with high intensity physical activity and cardio workouts. Whether you’re running, performing plyometric movements, taking a spin class or interval training, pushing yourself into these zones will burn more calories and increase your cardiovascular abilities. Using these zones will help guide you through each workout and ensure you are maintaining the correct HR for the exercise you are performing.

What Classes are best suited to maintain a healthy heart?

Now that we know the importance of tracking your HR, what classes can we take to put this to use in the most effective way possible? Here’s a list of classes offered by the Village that are optimal for keeping your heart healthy:

There are so many options and formats to choose from when it comes to maintaining a healthy cardiovascular system! Implementing even one of these classes into your weekly routine coupled with a MyZone tracker will positively impact the health of your heart. As always, the Village instructors and trainers are always available to help guide you or get you started with a tracker and program that best suits your needs.

Remember to treat your heart with kindness and life is healthier at The Village!