Q: When manually logging a cardio exercise, one of the questions on my log asks for my recovery heart rate. Why? And how do I figure out what mine is? - S.D., Orland Park, IL

A: Recovery heart rate is important in helping predict your aerobic fitness and the health of your heart. It's defined by the American Council on Exercise as "the number of heart beats per minute following the cessation of vigorous physical activity." As cardio-respiratory fitness improves, the heart rate returns to resting levels more quickly. Within the first minute following cardiovascular exercise, the heart rate should drop dramatically. It continues to gradually decline, and in a person with high aerobic conditioning the heart rate will be very close to resting heart rate levels within two minutes following cessation of cardiovascular exercise.

Recovery heart rate has a linear relationship to aerobic fitness. That is, the quicker your heart rate decreases after aerobic activity, the higher your aerobic fitness level is. Aerobic fitness is related to the cardiovascular efficiency of your heart: The more aerobically fit you are the lower your heart rate will be for any given activity. This means that the more aerobically fit you are, the easier tasks (running, weight lifting, hiking, any type of activity) are on your heart muscle.

To determine your recovery heart rate, wait one minute after you've finished exercising, then count your pulse using your radial artery on your wrist. To access this artery, turn your forearm so your palm is facing upward. Take the index and middle fingers of your other hand and place them on your wrist in line with your thumb (between the radius bone and the large tendon you can feel just to inside of the bone). Count your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply by six to get your heart rate per minute. After several weeks of regular aerobic exercise and monitoring your heart rate, you should see a significant decline in that number.

An easier way to monitor your heart rate is to invest in a heart rate monitor. Use of the monitor is a great addition to your aerobic workouts. These devices are easy to use and are a very reasonably priced addition to your fitness wardrobe.

Source: fitlinxx.com