When I began my Insanity Workout I upgraded my heart rate monitor to one with a chest strap. This is something I highly recommend to get the best accuracy of your heart rate. You will notice even in the P90X workout that Tony Horton recommends a heart rate monitor and asks you to check it often. But, even if you have a heart rate monitor do you know your target heart rate? I pay really close attention tp my heart rate making sure I’m not “dogging it” as Tony says. With your Free Team Beachbody account you can view your target heart rate zone in the fitness tools section. All you need to enter is your age and sex. The calculator will do the rest.
Your target heart rate is a range of beats per minute that helps you determine if you’re exercising at the right intensity. If your pulse is too low, you won’t get the maximum benefit from your workout; if it’s too high, you won’t be able to train as long.
This calculator will give you suggested heart-rate ranges for various workout levels, based on your age and gender. Keep in mind that these are general numbers—different people may have different ranges. As you become very fit, you’ll be able to handle higher heart rates for longer periods of time.
The picture below is from the Team Beachbody Target Heart Rate Calculator. This is my personal targets zones. During Insanity I try to stay in the minimal side of the threshold and average the aerobic zone.
Why is monitoring your heart rate important?
Many Team Beachbody workout programs are meant to take you through the correct heart-rate ranges automatically, from Recovery (for warming up and cooling down) through Aerobic (for extended cardio) through Threshold (for “extreme” workouts).
But it still helps to know your personal target ranges—especially if you’re doing a continual cardio exercise where it’s easy to alter the intensity. It’s also important to know for interval training, in which you work out at a high intensity for a short time, then have a low-intensity recovery period.
A target heart-rate zone is a certain percentage of your maximum heart rate (Max HR), the highest number of times your heart can beat in one minute. Because the zones vary quite a bit from person to person, you can also decide what zone you’re in by the “perceived exertion” of an exercise. If you’re breathing a little hard but can talk easily, you’re probably in the Healthy Heart Zone. If you’re breathing very hard and can’t talk well, you’re probably in the Aerobic Zone. And if you can only gasp one word at a time, you’re probably in the Threshold Zone.
Heart Zones
| Zone Name | Percentage of Max HR | Perceived Exertion Difficulty |
| Z1 Healthy Heart Zone | 50%-60% | 2-5 (perceived exertion) |
| Z2 Temperate Zone | 60%-70% | 4-5 (perceived exertion) |
| Z3 Aerobic Zone | 70%-80% | 5-7 (perceived exertion) |
| Z4 Threshold Zone | 80%-90% | 7-9 (perceived exertion) |
| Z5 Redline Zone | 90%-100% | 9-10 (perceived exertion) |
In the lower zones, you can train for longer periods of time. But, as you move up to higher-intensity zones, you need to decrease the amount of time that you spend at those levels, particularly in the top two (the Threshold and Redline Zones). Overdoing it increases the likelihood of injuries or burnout.
In the lower zones, you can train for longer periods of time. But, as you move up to higher-intensity zones, you need to decrease the amount of time that you spend at those levels, particularly in the top two (the Threshold and Redline Zones). Overdoing it increases the likelihood of injuries or burnout
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