Evaluating Your Current Fitness Level Through Heart Rate Monitoring

What is your current fitness level? Are you in shape or out of shape? Let your heart answer that question.

Simple measures like weight and BMI (body mass index) give little information about someone's fitness level. A top athlete in a sport such as American football may have a very high weight and an abnormally high BMI, but be in excellent physical condition. Someone may have an ideal weight and BMI, but be in very poor shape.

To accurately evaluate fitness you need a set of measurable standards by which you can compare different individuals. Two popular, and easy to measure indicators of someone's fitness level are "resting heart rate", and "recovery heart rate". People in good physical condition generally have a heart that beats slower at rest than more sedentary people. An athlete in top physical form's heart may beat, at rest, only 40 to 60 beats per minute. A sedentary adult, in comparison, heart may beat 75 to 100 times per minute. A fit heart has to work less to maintain a body at rest.

Another general indicator of fitness is how fast the heart recovers from or returns to its resting heart rate, this is called the recovery heart rate. In out of shape individuals once the heart reaches a high BPM (beats per minute) it tends to stay their longer. An in shape or athletic persons heart recovers from exertion quickly, returning to the natural resting HR more quickly.

If you compare someone's resting and recovery heart rate to patterns for the corresponding age group you can understand how their fitness level and heart health compare to established norms.

If you want to know your own resting and recovery heart rate there are many affordable and wearable heart rate monitors available today. Many have built in features that will help you evaluate your fitness level. These tools are useful, however, they are no substitute for the assistance of a trained professional who will be able to guide you safely through the process and best interpret the results.

Knowing where you are today heart-health wise will be of great benefit as you progress toward your individual fitness goals. Your heart will become more efficient working less while at rest and recovering more quickly from exertion. Seeing this progress represented in real numbers is a great motivator, allowing you to see the changes in your body. Also, it can shift you away from relying on less meaningful numbers like weight and BMI as an indicator of health.

My name is Cody Handlin, and I work with a company called Myers Mobile Fitness. They offer mobile fitness solutions to individuals, corporations, and small groups in the Brazos Valley and immediate Bryan / College Station area.

Visit the website for more information http://www.myersmobilefitness.com
If you live in the Bryan / College Station area you can schedule a free fitness evaluation