P90X - Plyometrics

Today I felt great doing this workout. I felt like I was much more explosive this week. If you are doing P90X, you should know your Maximum Heart Rate and figure out your Target Heart Rate (thr) or your training zone for the Plyos workout. If you don't you will never know if you are progressing.

My suggestion is to invest in a heart rate monitor, you can get a strapless heartrate monitor watch for about $45.00 if you look around. The strap and watch combo is more accurate, but it really depends on how anal you are and how much you are willing to spend. Here is a quick and easy way to find your Target Heart Rate (thr). Subtract your age from 220 (226 for women) to calculate your Maximum Heart Rate (mhr). Find your training zone percentage below and multiply that number times your maximum rate.

Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --- 50 - 60% of max - burning 85% of fats
Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --- 60 - 70% of max - still buring 85% of fats
Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --- 70 - 80% of max - only 50% of fats burned here
Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --- 80 - 90% of max - only 15% of fats burned here
Red Line (Maximum Effort) --- 90 - 100% of max (WARNING: I don't recommend training at this level, seek doctor clearance prior to considering this!!)

Example: My optimal range is b/t 70% and 85%. I like to maintain my rate at the higher of the range once I've worked up a good sweat and my lungs are ready. My heart rate was as high as 162 this afternoon during plyos, which is approx. 88% of my max. I was only in this zone for brief moments during certain exercises. This is obviously higher than 85% of my max heart rate (183). Most of my workout I maintained a working zone of 150 to 158. So I was right where I wanted to be, somewhere between Aerobic & Anaerobic.

If you can't get a monitor, then you can do the carotid artery method:

Place your index finger on the side of your neck between the middle of your collar bone and your jaw line. You can count the beats for a full 60 seconds or count for 6 seconds and add a zero at the end. If you felt your heart beat 14 times in 6 seconds the number would be 140 for a full 60 seconds. This is not as accurate, but you can get an idea of the zone your in by doing this.

Play around with this and I guarantee that you will see and feel results!