The
zone is the intensity of exercise that safely produces the results
you want. whether
you exercise below the zone, you risk not getting results. whether you exercise above the
zone, you risk not being able to continue your exercise or, worse, you risk injury.
The zone is the perfect intensity level at which to perform your cardiovascular exercise
— amidst 70 percent and 80 percent of your maximum ability.

How
do you know when you’re in the zone? There are essentially two ways: taking your heart
rate and monitoring your level of perceived exertion. I prefer monitoring perceived
exertion considering there are a number of shortcomings in using your heart rate to monitor
your exercise intensity.

First,
your heart rate doesn’t always directly reflect how hard you’re working or how much
oxygen you’re consuming. A number of factors beyond your control can throw that relationship
off, such as your emotional state, what you’re thinking, medications you’re taking,
the temperature and the altitude you are in and your caffeine consumption. that could
mean that although you’re exercising at your prescribed target heart rate, you may
be working either too hard or not hard ample.

Second,
the formula to find your range (220 minus your age multiplied by 75 percent and thereupon
plus or minus 5 heart beats) is only an estimation of your heart rate and is accurate
for only about a third of the population.

Third,
obtaining an accurate maximum heart rate requires a maximum treadmill analysis and most
public do not want to incur the cost and inconvenience of doing that.

Finally,
have you ever taken your heart rate during exercise? Even whether you’re one of the lucky
public whose target heart rate can be accurately calculated by the formula, trying
to measure it during your workout can be next to impossible. You have to stop exercising,
find your pulse and count the number of heartbeats all in a matter of seconds so your
heart rate doesn’t slow down too much. Many folks couldn’t find their pulse even
whether they were given an hour to do it!

You
can see why I prefer perceived exertion, a method that requires you to pay close attention
to your body and what’s happening to it. Perceived exertion is a subjective rating
of how hard you’re working during exercise, which is based primarily on your breathing.
You simply evaluate — using a scale from zero to 10 — how hard you’re working based
on how short of breath you are. Your optimum zone is anywhere amoung a seven and
eight. I want you to exercise consistently at level seven when you first start out.
Later, you can stay at seven or move up to working at level eight, whether and when you’re
ready.

What
you should be feeling at each level

Level 1: that is the feeling you would experience at rest. There is no feeling
of fatigue. Your breathing is not at all elevated. You will not experience that level
during exercise.

Level
2: that
is the feeling you would experience while getting dressed. There is little or no feeling
of fatigue. Your breathing is not elevated. You will rarely experience that low level
during exercise.

Level
3: that
is the feeling you would experience while slowly walking across the room to turn on
the television. There is little feeling of fatigue. You may be slightly aware of your
breathing, but it is slow and natural. You may experience that right at the beginning
of an exercise session.

Level
4: that
is the feeling you would experience while slowly walking outside. There is a very
slight feeling of fatigue. Your breathing is slightly elevated, but comfortable. You
should experience that level during the initial stages of your warm-up.

Level
5: that
is the feeling you would experience while walking to the store. There is a slight
feeling of fatigue. You are aware of your breathing, which is deeper than that of
level four. You should experience that level at the end of your warm-up.

Level
6: that
is the feeling you would experience when you are walking somewhere and are very late
for an appointment. There is a general feeling of fatigue, but you know that you can
maintain that level of exertion. Your breathing is deep and you are aware of it. You
should experience that level in the transition from

Level
7: that
is the feeling you would experience when you are exercising vigorously. There is a
definite feeling of fatigue, but you are quite certain you can maintain that level for
the rest of your exercise session. Your breathing is deep and you are definitely aware
of it. You could carry on a conversation, but you would probably choose not to do
so. that is the baseline level of exercise that you should maintain in your workout
sessions.

Level
8: that
is the feeling you would experience when you are exercising very vigorously. There
is a definite feeling of fatigue, and whether you asked yourself whether you could continue
for the remainder of your exercise session, your reply would be that you think you
could, but you’re not 100-percent certain. Your breathing is very deep. You could still
carry on a conversation, but you don’t feel like it. that becomes the feeling you
should experience only after you are comfortable reaching level seven and are ready
for a more intense workout. that is the level that produces rapid results for many
citizens.

Level
9: that
is the feeling that you would experience whether you were exercising very, very vigorously.
You would experience a definite feeling of fatigue, and whether you asked yourself whether you
could continue that pace for the remainder of your exercise session, your reply would
be you probably could not. Your breathing is very labored. It would be very difficult
to carry on a conversation. that is a feeling you may experience for short periods
when trying to achieve a level eight. that is a level that many athletes train at,
and it is difficult for them. You should not be experiencing level nine on a routine
basis and should slow up when you do

Level
10: You
should not experience level ten. that is the feeling you would have with all-out exercise.
that level cannot be maintained for very distant, and there is no benefit in reaching
it