Exercise - Knowing Your Target Hear Rate

Do you want to get the most out of your exercise time? An important factor is to know your target heart rate (THR), which will tell you how hard or easy your exertion level should be.
A simple formula is to take 220 and subtract your age.  The number you get is an approximation of your maximum heart rate.  Now depending on the goals of your exercise your target heart rate should be 60-80% of this number. (70% is the middle and is easy to use for calculation).
For an example I will calculate my own THR.
220 - 38 years old =  182 (max heart rate) X 70 % = 127 beats per minute target rate.
Now my THR range would actually be between 60 % (109 beats per minute) and 80% (145 beats per minute).  If your fitness goals are more 'Fat burning', try to keep your THR more towards the 60 % (lower end).   Otherwise the 80 % level would be more for someone looking to increase their cardiovascular fitness.

Now to calculate your pulse rate without a digital monitor, use your fingers to feel your pulse either at the wrist or side of your neck under the jawline.  Once you can feel the pulse simply count the beats while watching a clock for 15 seconds.  Then take the number of beats and multiply it by 4 to get your pulse for one minute.