The Smart Woman's Cheat Sheet: 10 How-To Tricks

8. How to Monitor Your Heart Rate

You read FITNESS, so you know that monitoring your heart will give you the best cardio and fat-burning benefits. But tackling those percentages can turn off all but the most die-hard athlete. If you absolutely don't want to deal with the math, you can buy a monitor that automatically calculates your best heart-rate zones using a simple formula based on your age.

However, you'll end up with a more accurate number if you follow this 20-minute cardio workout:

• Start out slow and easy and increase your pace every two minutes, checking the monitor regularly to make sure that your heart rate is increasing in a steady line.
• During the last two minutes of the routine, push yourself as hard as you can, looking at the monitor every 20 seconds to check your peak, or highest, number.
• You might have to round off, but essentially that's your maximum heart rate.

Bonus Tip: To prevent overtraining and possible injury, never exercise at more than 95 percent of your maximum heart rate (60-85 percent is a good range).

Source: Roy Benson