ASSESSING THE "5TH" VITAL SIGN, EXERCISE

"I exercise , but don't know whether I fall within the optimally desired range or not." If that's YOU, THEN ,THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE MISSING!


The link between exercise and good health has long been established, as hinted at by Hippocrates more than 2000 years ago and supported by reams of more recent research. Exercise can however seem difficult to quantify, unlike an individual’s blood pressure or pulse rate, which can be represented in simple terms. It may be for this reason that physicians are notoriously poor at recording an individual’s exercise load, or it may simply be that they consider it less “vital”.

When your Physical Therapist, prescribes your exercises, ALWAYS stick to that protocol. Performing below or above a prescribed range will NEVER benefit you.

KNOW YOUR TARGET ZONE Don't do your exercises blindly, use the following parameters.

  • Subtract your age from 220 to get your maximum heart rate. 
  • Calculate your resting heart rate by counting your heart beats per minute when you are at rest, such as first thing in the morning. It's usually somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute for the average adult. 
  • Calculate your heart rate reserve (HRR) by subtracting your resting heart rate from your maximum heart rate.Now multiply the upper and lower ranges of exercise intensity prescribed.
  • Add your resting heart rate to these numbers.
  • These two numbers are your training zone heart rate. Your heart rate during exercise should be between these two numbers.
For example, say your age is 45 and you want to figure out your target training heart rate zone. Subtract 45 from 220 to get 175 — this is your maximum heart rate. Next, calculate your HRR by subtracting your resting heart rate of 80 beats per minute from 175. Your HRR is 95. Multiply 95 by 0.7 to get 66.5(for moderate intensity of exercise), then add your resting heart rate of 80 to get 146.5. Now multiply 95 by 0.85 to get 80.75, then add your resting heart rate of 80 to get 160.75. So your target for your training zone heart rate should be between 146.5 and 160.75 beats per minute.

check your heart rate during exercise : DIY.

  • Stop momentarily.
  • Take your pulse for 15 seconds. To check your pulse over your carotid artery, place your index and third fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe. To check your pulse at your wrist, place two fingers between the bone and the tendon over your radial artery — which is located on the thumb side of your wrist.
  • Multiply this number by 4 to calculate your beats per minute.
Here's an example:You stop exercising and take your pulse for 15 seconds, getting 33 beats. Multiply 33 by 4, to get 132. If you're 45 years old, this puts you in the middle of your target heart rate zone for vigorous exercise, since that zone is 123 to 149 beats per minute. If you're under or over your target heart rate zone, adjust your exercise intensity.
Talk test is one of the subjective tests that helps us to decide the exercise dose.
Feel free to share your views.
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 Happy Health!
YUVAAN

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