Fitness Questions

I am often asked various fitness questions so I thought I would share some of the common ones today. People often ask what is better weights or machines? And my reply is neither is better, they are just different. And it depends on the circumstances and the goal. For people new to exercise, machines force the exerciser to practice good form most of the time, whereas free weights allow for much more error.

Another commonly asked fitness question is how fast should my heart rate be when doing cardio. That also depends on the goal as well as the physical shape the exerciser is in. But assuming there aren’t any limitations and the exerciser is in good physical shape, using the Karvonan Formula will give you the correct heart rate range based on your age and resting pulse. Here is the formula: 220 minus your age minus your resting pulse, multiplied by .60 plus your resting pulse. That will give you the lower end of the range, then you repeat the same thing substituting in .75 to calculate the higher end of the range.

This is part of an ongoing series called Question and Answer, hope you enjoyed it!

Your friendly health & fitness expert,