New Target Heart Rate

I'm linking back to another bloggers post on the subject of THR. I have never really found a correlation between my heart rate and how I feel. Do you remember back when we used the exertion scale? 1-10? Aiming for a level of 7-8 for aerobic exercise? I have purchased and used my Polar heart rate monitor for two years now. Its illuminating because I discovered that there are times when I feel fine at 170 beats per minute and times when I feel tired at 150 beats per minute. Go figure. Apparently, the old equation was for men, not women. Any-who-dy-hoo-hoo, according to this my heart rate zones should be as follows:

206-(.88*my age)= max.

206-28.1= about 177

70 percent= 124

80 percent= 142

85 percent= 150

I had been aiming for 185 at my top which would be 96% of max. I normally see my peaks during interval style workouts, either jog/walking or Cathe Friedrich Imax workouts. I rarely feel great when I'm in the warm up, I usually feel fine about 2/3 of my workouts.

EDH Technique #2 State your goal before your workout

Before every workout, state to yourself or to others, what it is you are trying to accomplish in the next hour.  For me, each workout satisfies several goals.  I have both intensity and duration goals.  I also want to improve mental outlook, burn calories, and increase my metabolism.  I am also meeting a promise to myself, to give diet and exercise my all before I resort to a medication alternative to improve my mood, blood sugar, blood pressure, or insulin sensitivity.  The only way I know of to properly meet all of those goals is to use my heart rate monitor.  I wear it on almost every workout.  I use it to help me know when I have achieved my goals for that day.  I use it to help me run intervals and to stay in a tight range on steady state cardio days. Knowing what it is I am trying to accomplish before each workout really helps me stay on target.  Sometimes I don't meet my daily goals.  Thats a disappointment every time.