How Tracking Your Heart Rate Helps

Your heart rate can tell you a lot about your health, and thanks to wearable technology like smart watches, fitness trackers and even smart rings, it’s easy to keep tabs on yours. Wearable devices are a popular, easy way to monitor your activity level and track your heart rate during exercise.

For most adults, a normal resting heart rate is between 60-100 beats per minute, but there are factors that affect each person’s numbers. Athletes or people in good shape may see numbers as low as 40 beats per minute. Too high or too low outside of the normal limits while at rest could be a sign that something abnormal is going on and is worth getting checked out by your doctor.

Many people focus on their heart rate as an indication of how effectively they’re exercising, using a monitor or smartwatch to keep their heart rate in a certain range. The general formula for calculating a maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age, and many people measure their workout intensity by how close they come to the maximum.

During moderate-intensity exercise, your target heart rate would be about 50% to 70% of your maximum heart rate. For a 40-year-old, that’s 90 to 126 beats per minute.

During vigorous activity, target heart rate is about 70% to 85% of the maximum, or 126 to 153 bpm. These are general guidelines, and your targeted heart rate may vary.

Tracking heart rate during exercise is especially important if you a cardiovascular condition so that you stay within the safe but effective range of intensity discussed with your doctor.

Using a smartwatch to track steps is another good way to set an easy, achievable goal each day to increase your activity. Physical inactivity is a contributing risk to many health conditions, so a step goal can be a positive change for just about anyone.

Your heart rate is only one part of your overall health, and high blood pressure, obesity, smoking and other risk factors play a part in the big picture. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups, so finding safe, effective ways to improve your cardiovascular health is so important. Remember that wearable devices like smartwatches and chest-strap heart rate monitors aren’t as accurate as approved medical devices and shouldn’t be used in place of medical care.