The stakes have been raised. In today's world, being a firefighter means being able to handle tremendous amounts of mental stress to function and get the job done. That's in addition to the physical beating your body has always taken when adrenal pumps through your veins as you don your sixty pounds of gear, and get ready to go to work at God-knows-what. It's essential you protect yourself, and prepare as much as possible by taking care of your most important muscle, the heart.
Training aerobically, that is, in the aerobic or target heart rate zone, is the safest and fastest way to increase overall fitness, and heart health. Aerobic exercise has also been shown to lower serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels (two heart attack risk factors), as well as blood pressure. And let's not forget the added benefit of fat burning.
The body's main fuel supply is fat. In order to get the body to burn a higher percentage of fat during exercise, you need to pay attention to your heart rate. At a certain heart rate range, the muscles will burn an increased amount stored body fat. This aerobic, or fat burning heart rate is between 65 and 90 per cent of your maximum heart rate. In response to whatever activity you're performing, your heart must beat at a rate that is between 65 and 90 per cent of its fastest possible rate.
Target Heart Rate
You need to maintain this 65 to 90 percent of maximum heart rate for 15 to 30 minutes, at least 3 times per week. To estimate your maximum heart rate (MHR), take the number 220 and subtract your age.
For example, a 40-year-old man would subtract:
220 minus 40 equals 180 (ESTIMATED MHR)
Take 65 and 90 per cent of 180 (108 and 162 beats per minute). What this means is, in response to exercise, a 40 year old would have to get his heart to beat between 108 and 162 beats every minute to get an aerobic workout. The higher in the zone he trains (without going over the 90 per cent mark) the more fat he'll burn and the faster he'll get fit. At a lower, gentler pace, he'll still see good results, just not as fast. For beginners it's not recommended exceed 80 per cent of your MHR.
Pulse Check
During exercise, you need to stop and take a quick pulse check for 10 seconds, at either your wrist or neck, and multiply by six. The result will now be converted to beats per minute.
To check your pulse simply:
- Use the index and middle fingers only
- Press lightly on the underside of the wrist or side of the neck until you feel a pulse
- Count for ten seconds
With a little practice this becomes a simple process. You might consider purchasing a heart rate monitor, a useful little gadget that will keep track of your heart rate for you, while you can view the beats per minute on a handy little wrist watch.
Not everybody can use the 220 minus your age formula. To determine maximum heart rate, a certain percentage of the population would have to run full speed for 20 or 30 seconds and then do a pulse check -not recommended, especially if you're out of shape. For these individuals there is another alternative.
Talk Test Method
Use your breath as another way to determine if you're in the aerobic zone. This is a convenient method to see if your body is working aerobically, and burning maximum fat. Pay attention to how you're breathing and your ability to speak and breathe.
- At subaerobic levels:
You can breathe comfortably. At this pace you can carry on a full conversation. Your heart rate is probably about half it's maximum or below. Great for long gentle workouts like walking.
- When working aerobically:
You can speak but not extensively -about three words. A great way too see if you're training aerobically, is to attempt to sing a few words from a familiar song, and see how many syllables you can get out before you need an in breath. Any more than three words you'd be training sub aerobically.
- At anaerobic levels:
You're gasping for air. You can't get out three words without taking an inhalation. Remember, at higher levels of training, at above 90 per cent of your maximum heart rate, your muscles switch to sugar as their major source of fuel supply. This kind of training has it place. It will tone and tighten, exactly what we want when resistance training and looking to tone up, but when exercising aerobically our goal is to burn fat.
Some Common Aerobic Exercises
- Jogging
- Brisk Walking
- Swimming
- Stair Master
- Circuit Training
You spend your whole life saving others. Do something to protect yourself, invest twenty or thirty minutes a day, three of four days a week in a sensible aerobic exercise program, and train for life.
Related:
The Firefighter's Workout Book contains over 50 illustrated exercises and routines, including strength, aerobic and stretching programs for every level of fitness.
